I love packs that let me buy and sell items, so this pack is perfect for me as that's the core gameplay loop. One of the few packs I've enjoyed playing on public servers. There is so much charm and effort put into every aspect of the pack.

The only reason I can't give it 5s across the board is the performance issues on servers.

Overview

This is a somewhat early review as I've only put a few hours into the pack, However I've honestly been having such a good time with the pack I thought I'd put my thoughts out there.

From the start this pack feel closer to the Stardew Valley experience than any other pack I've played in the past, The custom mods that have been created for it to introduce the Sprinklers, Daily Growth, Fertilisers and various other interesting features do an amazing job of adding to the overall immersion of the pack. The selling bin and currency systems work well however I found that running around the world gathering items seemed to provide a better way to make money than actually staying at home and growing crops.

The custom NPC system for the pack is amazingly well done and feels completely different to any other system I've seen in the past, Big points for this.

The use of Journeymap and Feed the beast Quests did feel slightly out of place in the pack compared to the cosy theme of the rest of the pack, There did also seem to be a number of FTB Quests that were redundant and severed little purpose. However the FTB quests that were done well were done REALLY well, The bundle system works in the same way requiring players to gather items to complete them and in turn being rewarded for doing so, This felt really good and gave me something meaningful to work towards.

There were a number of items I came across that had errors in the tooltips or duplicated text displaying which broke immersion slightly. These are however all small issues, I'm yet to encounter any problems I could consider game breaking or worthy of stopping the pack for!

While most definitely not a kitchen sink pack by any means it does at times feel like there is a little more than is needed, 74 pages in emi, a large portion of which could be removed or hidden in that menu to reduce the overwhelming feeling you get when looking through.

Will update this review as time goes on and I experience more of the pack, While this review may seem to contain a lot of negative feedback this remains one of the best feeling modpacks I've played and would recommend it to anyone looking for that Stardew Valley experience!

Reviewer's PC Specs:
Windows 11
AMD Ryzen™ 9 7900 @ 3.70GHz - RAM: 32 GB
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT - VRAM: 16 GB

I've been trained to read descriptions of mods and modpacks with a grain of salt when it comes to claims of being inspired by or based on other games and media, as I'd come to understand that in most cases this inspiration was very loose and/or weak. But when Sunlit Valley says "A Stardew Valley experience!" it means it. A currency system, important things being ticked by days, selling crops, making mayonnaise, animal affection, and the Skull Cavern?? It's wondrous how many things have been translated from Stardew into Minecraft. Everything is implemented with great care and intention, with an eye on keeping progression (which is based primarily on your money-making potential) balanced and well-paced. My favorite pack I've played.

I have played this, as well as the cobblemon version, more than I have ever played any modpack in my entire life, and I play a lot of them. The progression is paced well, the gameplay feels fresh and unique, and you can really tell that Chakyl and co. really put their heart into this pack. Things like crops and machines progressing daily instead of on random ticks makes it really exciting to set things up and see the fruits of your labor in the morning.

My number one complaint in most farming-related packs is that, other than buffs, there isn't that much of a reason to branch out and cook/grow/produce a large variety of things. Sunlit Valley has a wide variety of foods, beverages, sweets, and crops that all feel worth it for the sake of diversifying your income and truly exploiting all the things that the earth can provide :-) I haven't been able to scratch the itch of wanting my variety of cute little cakes to actually matter with any other modpack.

If anyone asked me to recommend a single minecraft modpack, this would be my choice!

the best capitalism simulator ever created. I love Stardew Valley and the developer did a great job bringing the mechanics to minecraft and making it feel unique

Very cozy modpack that makes tools unbreakable but removes durability on death, its definitely different form most mods. Extremely good for rping purposes, I myself made a wine cellar for cash, however, the amethyst nerf made it so end mining is less profitable than desert mining, which is kinda sad, but makes sense bc of how much more dangerous desert mining is. Good to play in a server or to rp with, but making cash can sometimes get tedious unless you like making factories. Fishing mastery giving you a reward that puts your skills to the test instead of making it easier is kinda funny ngl.

Revisit at 4.0.9 version.

Sunlit Valley (SLV) still holds a place in my heart. It's just good pack, care and love. Properly tailor instead of spamming more mods just for the sake of it's popular to lure people in.

Its Stardew Valley (SV) recreated in Minecraft. It's still Minecraft you know and love, but also Stardew Valley.

Your goal is to try to get rich, build your own way of farming and processing while having a clear goal in the quest book to help guide you.

► Gameplay

Instead of mining and making good gear for boss. You are doing just like SV. Spending most of your time in your farm. Taking care of crops and animals, then spending spare time fishing or mining.

Many elements in SL also make it here. Skill, Skull cavern, NPC (still in process) and more, like Slime ranching. Most of the things in this pack run on the day counter, farm, animals, processing. You'll want to manage your time even more than most survival packs "if you like efficiency."

While there are so many things to do, which can feel super overwhelming at first. But just like freedom in SV. You don't have to be the best efficiency to enjoy the pack. There is no rush, no contest and nothing forcing you to play out of your pace.

Combat is very basic without bloated mod (including mob). So, if you are looking for combat intensive, this pack might not suit your taste. I still wish it had a little bit more, but as we all know. Balance combat in Minecraft mod NEVER exists. Either too easy or stupidly annoying (not hard). It might be a better idea to keep it quite bare-bone too.

► Quest

A little guide that includes both helping hand and the main goal of the pack. There is no storyline (yet?) but the author cares a lot to add even art to the book for a more fancy look.

While some sections are a bit lacking and might miss some pieces. But overall, Quest book helps you get used to the pack nicely, not too handheld and not too vague. If you have experience with the pack, you can even skip it completely.

As with SV. Quest book has a bundle (including reward) set as a soft goal to complete the pack and Perfection that have lot of things to do for the real goal of this pack. So you have a clear goal to chase if you need one when you play any pack.

► Downside

This pack is the most need to be a session base instead of drop-in anytime than any survival with day counter pack. Making multi-player or server a bit weird when not everybody plays together at once and can easily miss out a lot of things or huge follow-up.

NPC still needs more work to make it inline with SV. Since author don't want just a genetic one. We can hope for something much more unique, given enough time.

As we also understand that BGM is very pricey to commission. SLV does lack it while playing. Because the author really cares about licensing and actual work without AI. I guess that is why we didn't have other game BGM slapped in this pack or sloppy AI generate one.

Balancing is still a bit questionable. While author try to adjust a lot, some still stand out and some do get cripple for some reason beyond my knowledge.

//---

This is one of a pack that I give it 5/5 or 10/10 easily. I highly recommend it if you like farming, especially farm game like Harvestmoon, Stardew Valley. While it's lacking romance with NPC like those games. But other elements are here to enjoy, and it is still Minecraft, you know.

Very good pack. You should play it. It is very fun.