Stardew Valley's newest update, 1.5, has just rolled out for PC users and it is massive. According to the blog post, console users will have access soon enough with developers aiming for an early 2021 release. This update is all about beaches and the tropics, adding a brand new farm with plenty of fishing opportunities, new fruits, cosmetics, builds, quality of life changes galore, and even split-screen co-op.
The biggest part of this update by far, however, is the inclusion of a new region, the Ginger Island. Naturally, with any new location comes events, minigames, puzzles, quests, NPCs, and dungeons. For example, in-line with the tropical theme, there's a volcano dungeon that can be visited. On top of this, there's also an unlockable resort, golden coconuts, and, naturally, gem birds that appear when it rains.
On the other hand, it's not all sunshine and rainbows in the latest update as a variety of perilous foes have also been thrown into the mix, with a Dwarvish Sentry, Magma Sparker, Stick Bug, and Tiger Slime just to name a few.
If visiting the new island isn't your priority, then fear not, as Stardew Valley also has a host of new beach-based additions as well as some general features such as a local, couch co-op mode. This isn't done by plugging in another controller. Rather, you have to build a cabin from Robin's for each player who will be joining with a limit of 4 total. Once cabins are down, you can activate local co-op in the multiplayer game menu.
On top of this, the Stardew Valley devs worked closely with modders by giving them early access to the update so that they could make sure that their mods were ready for release. So, as the blog post stated, "If you play with mods that you can't live without, check to see if they might already be updated!"
For the rest of 1.5, there's the new beach farm layout, home renovations, the inclusion of an ostrich farm animal, movable/replaceable beds, ducks being able to swim in the water, a Dwarvish forge, weapon enchanting, a second Community Upgrade to Robin's shop, a new fishing TV channel, mahogany trees, bananas, and so much more. It's a huge update that adds plenty for Stardew players to dig into, whether returning, existing, or dipping their toes into the water for the first time, so be sure to check out the entirety of the changelog to see just how extensive the update truly is.
Source: Stardew Valley blog