Recent reviews by Idlehands

I couldn't stop playing. Despite some glaring flaws here and there, this game has a lot to offer and actually feels worthwhile. I don't typically write reviews but I feel like this game deserves a little balancing of the currently "mixed" reviews.

If you like survival, it's here.
If you like creepy and desolate themes, it's here.
If you like shooter looter, it's here (kinda).
If you like building and crafting, it's here.
If you like open world, it's here.
If you like colossal boss fights, it's here.

It is many things, and while none of them particularly flourish in their own area, this game offers a good synthesis of these elements and makes it incredibly fun to play.

THE GOODS:
- Open world, MMO (separated instances) looter shooter.
- Imaginative theme. Borrowed heavily from Control/Annihilation but done well.
- Building and Crafting. There's so much to build. I inadvertently power levelled my character just because I had so much fun building and crafting my own territory.
- PvE if you don't want PvP. But both are there. Some voluntary PvP events in PvE world as well if you want to dip your toes wet.
- Solo-able. You can play this game without friends.
- Good value: the game is F2P and I don't notice much P2W elements. Stuff you can buy are mostly cosmetics and some rare blueprints that don't really swing the balance either way. Epic/Legendary weapon blueprints are earned through in-game currency. Mostly it's cosmetic or blueprints for your home to show off your wealth, so as a F2P you won't be missing out much except your looks.
- A decent grind: the crafting/collecting resources feels aptly balanced. At times you might feel grindy because you wanted to focus on your build, but otherwise if you balance your adventure and building aspect, you're typically tripping over resources as you go along. There are other deviants (basically pets) that can help you automatically achieve some stuff as well.
- Community seems good so far.

THE BAD:
- The first major thing: some people might experience an input lag (mouse/keyboard) that makes the game almost unplayable. Some have said reducing the frame rate helps, what I find help is reducing my graphic. Seems the input is tied to how heavily your CPU is being used. Not great, but hope they'll fix this soon (it's still just released...) Meanwhile, you can work around it and still play at the cost of graphic fidelity. I suggest at least try it out a bit to see before you decide to uninstall.
- There are other bugs as well: characters voice lines are here and there. Dialogues are read ungodly fast at times, and tutorials (or the lack there of) are poorly timed as well. You can revisit a Survival Guide for tips, but some stuff (like the number on the back of your cradle) doesn't really explain much. A lot of guess work in the community, but people are helpful and chats are across worlds so you should be able to find some help here and there.
- Single character only so far - and tied to a server. Can't delete and redo your character atm, so better think carefully before you make one.

Overall though, I'm about 40 hours into the game and I can't pull myself away from it. Not in a bad way either, not the FOMO type of "I need to do this now!" but "I WANT to do this now". Contents are still being released as we speak, and the pricing of their battlepass is very reasonable and achievable.

Definitely a recommend from me, at least check it out to decide for yourself.