The next big free upgrade for Stardew Valley now has a release date in March and there's plenty to look forward to. Stardew Valley also just celebrated its 8th anniversary.
On the topic of Stardew Valley do people recommend doing a first playthrough unmodded? I feel like there's probably some decent quality of life mods out there
The game is pretty perfect without mods. I don't think it really needs any QoL changes as there's no mechanics I found to be frustrating. The skill and tool progression feels natural and rewarding.
I played it normally a couple times and then installed some mods (like one that auto crafts from chests for future runs). Both were fun, but the modded runs were for specifically minmaxing
There is a handful of QoL mods such as an ingame encyclopedia so you don't have to alt-tab to the wiki. But I've completed the game a few times and would definitely say mods aren't nessecary at a.
Which mods would help with that? My big issue with Harvest Moon FoMT was how much of a guessing game the game was without a Wiki.
Cursed tools for example. You need to mine to the at least the 29th floor and every ten floors after that and they have a chance of not being there. If you aren't save scumming you can spend in-game years getting them! I ended up editing the ROM just so I didn't have to write down the birthdays.
Oh gosh, it's been awhile since I played. But Lookup Anything was what I had in mind when I wrote that comment. Might be impossible to FULLY separate from the wiki, but things like this certainly cut down on it.
Stardew Valley Expanded is a fanmade expansion for ConcernedApe's Stardew Valley. This mod adds 27 new NPCs, 50 locations, 260 character events, 27 fish, reimagined vanilla areas, two farm maps, a reimagined world map reflecting all changes, new music, questlines, objects, crops, festivals, and many miscellaneous additions!
I'd avoid stardew expanded for a new player. It adds a lot that changes the tone and adds clutter to the world. It's not bad for when the basic game gets stale.
Lookup anything, the npc map mod, and better ranching are good ones to start with.
With the new update coming out, it may be a while before some mods get updated to be compatible with the new release version.
I'd recommend starting your game unmodded, then look for mods that benefit your play style once you have a feel for the game and how it plays.