It’s time to pretty up the farm
Stardew Valley is a visually pleasing game, but that’s not to say some of its visuals couldn’t be altered and improved with mods. This game has inspired loads of players to create new appearances for textures and visuals depending on aesthetics and themes, so there are hundreds of options to choose from if you’re looking to spice up the appearance of farm life as you know it. So whether you’re looking for an entire re-skin of Pelican Town or just some cuter farm animals to add to your barn, there’s a mod to suit your every need. So read on to discover some of the best texture and visual mods for Stardew Valley.
Some Of The Best Visual and Texture Mods for Stardew Valley
Unlike most mods for Stardew Valley, visual mods will not alter gameplay in any way. Instead, they will change the appearance of certain elements to fit your gaming aesthetic. So, before searching, it’s best to know the style you want to adopt on your farm since there is an incredible amount of mods to choose from. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best Visual Mods which apply to villager portraits, animal appearances, and general re-skins of textures throughout the town.
Flower Valley
As the seasons change in Stardew Valley, you’ll discover a ton of new plants to forage and new treats hiding in bushes and trees, but aside from this, the foliage in the game feels pretty limited. Luckily, a mod like Flower Valley adds new greenery to explore depending on the seasons and brings life to the town through plants and trees rather than leaving it bare. It’s a noticeable change, but after playing with the mod for a while, you’ll feel as though this is how Stardew should be experienced from the beginning.
Monster Valley
There are tonnes of mods to change the appearance of villager portraits, but Monster Valley feels like an entirely standalone experience. Rather than only changing the appearance of characters in their dialogue portrait, each NPC you come across within the game adopts a new form. For example, Sebastian becomes a demon, Shane becomes a werewolf, and Elliot grows gills. For a player looking to emphasize the fantasy feel of the title, then this mod could hit the nail on the head. If you like games like Monster Prom, this mod has the same vibe.
Cuter Fatter Cows
Cows in Stardew Valley are adorable, but if you want your livestock to adopt a Harvest Moon-inspired appearance, it is impossible to go wrong with the Cuter Fatter Cows mod. It’s exactly how it describes itself, giving cows a rounder and even sweeter appearance. Although the only livestock affected by this mod are Cows, numerous other equally adorable appearance mods to ensure your barnyard stays cute as a button all year round.
Slime Rancher
Although its title is self-explanatory, the Slime Rancher Mod changes the appearance of all livestock, cats, dogs, horses, and dinosaurs into Slime Rancher-inspired blobs. If you don’t want every animal you come across to appear as a slime, there’s also the ability to mix and match which creatures are affected by this mod to make it unique to your tastes, and yes, they do bounce rather than walk. However, fish will not be affected, so, unfortunately, you won’t be able to reel in sea-dwelling slimes.
Way Back Pelican Town
Pelican Town has its oddities and charms with its default design, but entirely changing the town as you know it can make it feel like you’re experiencing the game for the first time again. Although every location stays in the same place, so you won’t be sent on a wild goose chase to find Pierre’s, the entire town adopts a fantasy feel, and buildings are designed to have an old-timey, almost medieval appearance. So, if you’re hunting for a fantasy farming sim but want to stay within a classic in the genre, the Way Back Pelican Town mod may give you what you want.
Simple Foliage
The trees in Stardew Valley aren’t a significant eyesore, unlike a game like Pokémon, where trees are far from carefully crafted, but there’s still something about them that many players wish to change. The Simple Foliage mod gives the trees a similar appearance to Potion Permit and paired with another building and town re-skin mod, you can utilize these trees to suit any aesthetic perfectly. However, instead of showcasing individual leaves like your standard Stardew Trees, it almost feels like the detail has been smoothed out, making everything look the part.
Seasonal Villager Outfits
The NPCs you meet in Stardew Valley have unique and memorable personalities, but once you’ve spent a decent chunk of time with the game, you may feel like nothing changes about them. Even as the seasons change, these characters visit the same spots, speak the same lines, and even wear the same clothes. So if you’re looking for a subtle way to shift the appearance of the NPCs, sometimes changing something as simple as their outfits depending on the season can turn your experience with the game. Seasonal Villager Outfits is precisely what it says on the tin, and each villager will wear clothing appropriate to whichever in-game season it is.
Visible Fish
Fishing in Stardew Valley can be a tedious challenge for many farmers, and the empty bodies of water you spend hours hunched over doesn’t make the process any easier. If you’re looking to collect a particular species of fish for either Willy or a Community Centre Bundle, life would be easier if you could see if you’re in the correct location. With the Visible Fish mod, the body of water you’ll be looking at will spring to life, and you’ll be able to see precisely which fish are available in that location and which fish you’re catching, even when it comes to the legendary species.
Shardust’s Hairstyles
Character customization in Stardew Valley is surprisingly extensive for a game that appears so simply designed at first glance. However, if there’s one thing that lets it down is the limiting hairstyles available. With a mod like Shardust’s Hairstyles, you’ll be able to find a cut that perfectly suits your farmersona, and you’ll save yourself the trouble of befriending the Wizard to gain access to the appearance-changing Mirror.
Stardew Anime
If you’ve played Stardew Valley for any number of hours, there’s a chance that you have eventually grown slightly tired of the appearance of characters during dialogue. There’s no denying that the appearance of Stardew Valley is charming to start, but having a mod like Stardew Anime to inject slightly more life into character design can completely change how you see certain characters. So, if you’re looking for a way to fall in love again with your favorite bachelors and bachelorettes, this may be the mod for you.
Stardew Valley is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and mobile devices.
- This article was updated on January 5th, 2023
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