Austin Murphy

Other than some minor mechanic flaws in the character movement, especially fine movement, this is a stellar survival game. You actually have to survive. This isn't Minecraft. You actually have to plan your moves carefully, battle an aggressive hunger and stamina mechanic, wrestle with a very limited inventory, plan ahead for each encounter, know when to run and when to fight. This is not some cute child's survival game where you walk around with 3000kg of items slaying your enemies by the thousands as they cower in fear. The crafting system might be the jewel to the game though the sailing is my personal favorite. As you find a new ingredient your crafting menu automatically updates with the new recipes for that ingredient. The ingredients make sense and the progression of tools, boats, weapons and armor seems well balanced in favor of keeping the game difficult. A lot of people are upset that you can't get the axe until Chapter 3 but there is a very good reason for that. Can't have you sailing around in a top tier craft in the first chapter. Let's talk about actual issues instead of whining about the game forcing you to survive. 1. The story is without much real direction and leaves you confused even after beating the game but I know that is the case with most survival games but I would still like more story. 2. I find the combat to be smooth and free flowing despite a lot of complaints but the combat is very limited. With melee weapons it feels archaic. Lock onto the closet target while holding this button then attack with this button. To switch targets you have to ensure the new target is the closest and retarget. Good thing they added a roll dodge cause you're gonna need it a lot. Haven't we outgrown this style of combat system. With bows the draw gains accuracy and power the longer you hold it. This is very counter intuitive and not very lifelike at all. 3. The sailing is glorious and is one of the best parts of the game but the Chapter maps seem to have a natural headwind and sailing directly into the wind half the game does get tiresome. 4. I have had several hard crashes that forced me to start over. Be sure to save often so if it does crash you don't lose everything. 5. The death penalty is exceedingly steep in the game. The game basically only has a hardcore mode (survival) and a hard mode (story). If you die in survival you go all the back to the very beginning of Chapter 1 with just a few held items. In story mode you restart the current chapter with your held items and your bag inventory items. In both cases you lose your boat and any items stored on the boat. In story mode you are forced to start on an island that may not even provide enough resources to effectively leave the island. I have not had this issue but It might be a possibility. There needs top be an easier mode of some kind for the less skilled players where you restart the current chapter as you started the chapter. On your boat with all the items you brought from the previous chapter.