Emberville Hands-on Preview: StarDiablo Valley Lives up to Its Many Promises (So Far)

There's one major thing video game aficionados meet with distrust and trepidation above all else: big promises. Over the years, players have been burned time and time again, from Sean Murray's early descriptions of No Man's Sky to the more recent multiplayer mess that was The Day Before. Back when Emberville was first announced, it immediately sounded too good to be true when it was described as "Stardew Valley meets Diablo." That already seemed like a tough balance to strike, and I wondered how Cygnus Cross would manage to combine the cozy with the cutthroat without leaning too far in one direction. Having spent a little time with Emberville, I'm no longer afraid of having my heart broken. On the contrary, my preorder for the game's October 27 Early Access launch quickly seemed like a no-brainer.