*watches lamball calmly walk through the campfire*
We're just going to ignore that.
So, despite the media: this is actually an open world, survival, crafting game. Much in the vein of ark, realistically. Yup, there is a massive monster catching mechanic similar to pokemon (but like pokemon go, where you can actually miss the ******* throw.), which is completely tied to the automation in the game. The upshot to that is: you immediately get into basic automation, and the programming for it is actually pretty good. Pals with appropriate skills and abilities will find stuff in and around you base to do. Whether that's working on stuff in the workbenches, mining local resource nodes, farming, or helping you put in more infrastructure.
The survival mechanics are fairly basic. You cook some food, it'll rot eventually, and you eat it when hungry. Carry too much stuff and you can't sprint. Don't forget to fix your tools and weapons: either repair kits (when in the field.) or at the repair bench (when at home.). Pop out a torch (or a fire pal.) when you're cold, make some better clothes. You gain levels, you get technology points and attribute points. You learn more schemata and make yourself stronger in various aspects (like carry weight, stamina, health and such.), it's all fairly standard and seems to be well implemented.
In fact, there is nothing powerfully outstanding about any individual aspect or mechanic of the game. Survival crafting? Open world? Monster catching? Yeah, all of it has been done before. I haven't played enough to say one way or another if it's done better than other games.
But all of it flowing into the one pot, with the "high technology bordering on fantasy" pokemon aspect, with real time, absolutely frenetic combat? Oh yeah, I am absolutely enjoying it so far, even if the opening few hours is very laid back: chopping trees, weaving cloth, cooking eggs and harvesting berries.
Plus the ridiculous overly cartoony art style for the pals, when everything else is functionally very realistic is just fun. The first thing you do is beat down a cartoon lamb and enslave it. The corpses have rag doll physics, so they just... roll ludicrously. They move when you walk through them, flop down slopes. It's hard to treat it like a serious endeavor, like you're grinding to get to the guns! when you have pink cat bashing its head into a boulder then helping you hammer together a work station.
I am liking this so far. I really am.
We're just going to ignore that.
So, despite the media: this is actually an open world, survival, crafting game. Much in the vein of ark, realistically. Yup, there is a massive monster catching mechanic similar to pokemon (but like pokemon go, where you can actually miss the ******* throw.), which is completely tied to the automation in the game. The upshot to that is: you immediately get into basic automation, and the programming for it is actually pretty good. Pals with appropriate skills and abilities will find stuff in and around you base to do. Whether that's working on stuff in the workbenches, mining local resource nodes, farming, or helping you put in more infrastructure.
The survival mechanics are fairly basic. You cook some food, it'll rot eventually, and you eat it when hungry. Carry too much stuff and you can't sprint. Don't forget to fix your tools and weapons: either repair kits (when in the field.) or at the repair bench (when at home.). Pop out a torch (or a fire pal.) when you're cold, make some better clothes. You gain levels, you get technology points and attribute points. You learn more schemata and make yourself stronger in various aspects (like carry weight, stamina, health and such.), it's all fairly standard and seems to be well implemented.
In fact, there is nothing powerfully outstanding about any individual aspect or mechanic of the game. Survival crafting? Open world? Monster catching? Yeah, all of it has been done before. I haven't played enough to say one way or another if it's done better than other games.
But all of it flowing into the one pot, with the "high technology bordering on fantasy" pokemon aspect, with real time, absolutely frenetic combat? Oh yeah, I am absolutely enjoying it so far, even if the opening few hours is very laid back: chopping trees, weaving cloth, cooking eggs and harvesting berries.
Plus the ridiculous overly cartoony art style for the pals, when everything else is functionally very realistic is just fun. The first thing you do is beat down a cartoon lamb and enslave it. The corpses have rag doll physics, so they just... roll ludicrously. They move when you walk through them, flop down slopes. It's hard to treat it like a serious endeavor, like you're grinding to get to the guns! when you have pink cat bashing its head into a boulder then helping you hammer together a work station.
I am liking this so far. I really am.
