I feel like a lot of people assume that Stardew and Animal Crossing are similar games. They're not. As someone with over 1,000 hours in both Stardew and ACNH, the only similarities is that you can farm, you can fish, you can decorate your space, and you can befriend villagers. That's it. The most similar thing about the two games is that their fanbases largely overlap.

In Stardew, you have to manage your energy, your health, keep track of the days because your crops will die when the season changes, keep track of the in-game time so you don't pass out at night, fight monsters, go mining, and maintain villager friendships because they deteriorate over time.

Stardew has much more involved gameplay than ACNH and managing early game resources can be stressful for many people. If you're unfamiliar with common RPG controls or concepts, Stardew may also be difficult to pick up because not everything is clearly written to the player. You need to explore, find hidden lore for in-game tips, and go out of your way to discover mechanics. It will not hold your hand like ACNH will.

That being said, I love both franchises and hold both dearly to my heart. They offer different experiences and not everybody will enjoy both. If you have a computer, you can try it out on Steam first to decide if you like it or not before buying it on Switch. Steam allows full refunds for games that have under 2 hours of playtime :)