Stardew Valley best mods guide: Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, Undertale and more

Stardew Valley Mod Header — What will they mod in next? E.T.? Stardew Valley

The rising popularity of Stardew Valley seemingly knows no bounds, as it currently holds the mantle of being one of the most watched video games on Twitch and is selling on Steam by the bucket-load every day.

As with any PC game that reaches a growing audience, the modding community are having a field day (or farm day if you like) with the indie farming sim, producing helpful mods that enhance the gameplay and add new features.

There are also cavalcade of cosmetic mods you can add to the pixelated agricultural hit, transforming the various NPCs and farm animals into some of the most beloved characters from the gaming world and popular culture.

We decided to list our favourites so far at IBTimes UK, because even after some hard and heavy work cultivating crops and endless hours of fishing, these mods will bring a smile to any budding farmhand. If you are struggling with the labours of the first year of the harvest then our fantastic guide may help.

Before we start, here are the steps you need to follow to mod the game with new skins:

Back up your game save just in case. This isn't actually part of the process, but always worth doing before ever changing any root files for a game. The default location will be:

C:Users[User name]AppDataRoamingStardewValleySaves

Download the XMB file you want to mod into the game.

Find the equivalent XMB file in the Stardew Valley content folder. The default location will be:

C:SteamsteamappscommonStardew ValleyContent

Make a copy of the original, just in case you ever want to remove the mod

Replace the original XMB file with the new mod file

With that out of the way, on to the mods:

Pokémon

Stardew Valley Mod Pokemon — Ponyta, I choose you!

Whenever there are animals in a mod-friendly video game there are inevitably calls for the arrival of the hundreds of stars in Nintendo's mega-franchise, Pokémon.

There are plenty of Pokémon mod cameos you can add to the Stardew Valley experience, including turning the Duggy enemies into Digletts, the cows into Miltanks and your cat into an adorable Meowth.

The best of the bunch, however, is the Ponyta horse mod which turns your steed into a flaming pony. How the firey mane does not burn the rider is a question we do not want an answer to.

Animal Crossing

While Stardew Valley is a concoction of RPG and simulator features that make up a charming whole, the influence of Harvest Moon for its farming heritage and Animal Crossing for its charming social-life gameplay cannot be understated.

Almost in honour of this, a mod created by the Stardew Valley forum user Lechet turns the wriggling worms into the traditional Animal Crossing digspot. A nice touch that gives props to another classic Nintendo franchise.

Undertale

Not content with having one indie hit in one game, modders have added characters from the wonderfully subversive independent RPG Undertale.

Seeing the stock Stardew Valley cat turned into the skeletal, hoodie-sporting Sans or your canine friend into the Annoying Dog is pure brilliance.

Final Fantasy 7

Stardew Valley Mod Final Fantasy — Disclaimer: Does not perform Limit Breaks

With a PS4 episodic remake on the distant horizon for Final Fantasy VII, what better time to have Red XIII help out on the farm?

The talking wolf/lion hybrid replaces the dog in Stardew Valley and the trusty Final Fantasy companion (known also as Nanaki, or just Red) is a bizarre, but welcome fit around the crop fields.

Shadow of the Colossus

A legitimate masterpiece, Shadow of the Colossus from the legendary Team Ico is one of the finest games ever made. Agro, protagonist Wander's only real friend in the bleak colossi filled expanses of the PS2 game, is also arguably one of the most beloved horses to grace the video game landscape (maybe second to Epona from Zelda, which there is also a mod for).

Thankfully, a file uploaded by Zhuria to NexusMods transforms the vanilla horse into the star-adorned mare. Now you can shout her name to your heart's content just like Wander, even if it really is not necessary.

Adventure Time

Climb into your tree fort and journey through the Candy Kingdom with this inspired mod from the aptly named Stardew Valley forum member EpicAdventure.

While the user has also uploaded a Doge mod for the meme lovers among you, it is the Jake sprite that will delight Adventure Time fans who are partial to a bit of agricultural work. Jake the magical dog looks perfect as a replacement for the standard pooch, although he unfortunately does not have any stretchy powers to show off just yet.

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