Recent reviews by LongBranches

A lot of fun and a fantastic follow-up to Fallen Order. There are definitely still some bugs that should be fixed asap, but it's not nearly as bad as when I played on release.

An unexpected gem. Easily one of those games that you play again a decade from now.

A worthy expansion to Rimworld. This expansion feels like a love letter to all of us who harvested and cannibalized our enemies.

This game was a lot of fun when it came out in 2015, but it was quickly abandoned by Code}{atch (the devs) after a short amount of time despite the quick success of the game. Hackers were a major issue and they made it completely unplayable.

You are better off purchasing any other game and not supporting this developer.

It's a lot of fun to play either solo or with friends. Even in the current early access state, there is a plenty to see and do. The devs have done a fantastic job of expanding upon the various aspects that make this game great and I look forward to what they will add next.

I did not play this game at launch, so I'm going to review it based on the game it is today. This review is going to be relatively spoiler-free.

Current Update as of this review: Desolation
My Bias: I enjoy exploration games that let me do whatever I want like Subnautica
Current PC Specs as of this review (For your comparison):
CPU - Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor
GPU - Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card
RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB of DDR4-2800 CL15 Memory
SSD (Where I put the game) - Crucial MX500 1TB

The Pros:
+ Consistent Updates - Instead of dropping the game like a bag of bricks, Hello Games has decided to keep rolling with it and provide new and interesting updates to the ever-growing playerbase. The game already feels solid, so every update is just a bonus at this point. The developer actually takes direct bug requests via their zendesk website to continually fix/improve the game.
+ Radiant Missions - I can choose to take missions or I can choose to skip them. The radiant missions offered add to the gameplay and make it easier to create goals for myself in-game.
+Base-Building - You can create a base however you like from a gigantic tower to a tiny hovel. The developer could probably add even more options, but there is a lot there already to create the base of your dreams.
+Exploration - There are literally trillions of planets in this game. Each solar system seems to have at least one interesting planet with something I have not seen before.

The Could Be Improved:
+/- Multiplayer - Somehow adding a network connection with a friend or randoms causes the game to lag heavily sometimes. In the case of my friend, it would sometimes break whole aspects of their game - not allowing them to progress unless they completely left our gaming session and tried again on their own.
+/- Main Missions - They feel like they could be fleshed out just a bit more. There is a lot of interesting aspects about the gameplay and story that I would like to see improved on/added to. My favorite characters should not just stop talking to me because I finished their quest line.
+/- Enemies - The AI for this game is not very advanced, but I did not expect a whole lot with a procedurally-generated game. I would like to see more aggression and more health to make the AI a bit more challenging to deal with.
+/- Variety - The subreddit loves to constantly harp on this, but I actually agree with them. After a while, a lot of planets feel very similar with biodiversity and environment. It would be nice to see some more of the interesting planets as described in the storylines like blood oceans or giant gelatnous mega-fauna that absorb everything in their path. I got tired of seeing the same venus flytraps/bursting plants and your run of the mill predators. However, anomalous planets are incredibly interesting, and something that I always went out of my way to go see.

The Bad:
-Enemy Attacks - Certain enemies are able to attack through objects. This is incredibly annoying, but thankfully avoidable once you figure out which enemies do what.
-Exploits/Bugs/Glitches - This game is definitely not Bethesda-level of keeping the game a buggy mess, but it definitely needs improvement. Please remember to report the bugs to Hello Games directly on their zendesk website and they may actually fix issues (see Consistent Updates under The Pros). Making money (units) is trivial once you figure out how to cheese the economy, but thankfully the game still ramps up costs over your playtime to make it worthwhile to do different things.

Overall, I loved the game and will definitely come back for future updates.

I didn't expect to like this game, but it's actually a lot of fun if you enjoy progression-type games. Definitely worth a shot if you can get this game on sale.

A great way to practice different songs and learn a few more techniques. Tabs and sheet music are still invaluable, but this is great to really hear how it all sounds together (if you don't have a group yourself to play with).

Definitely take what you learn here and go play with a group of friends.

Generally a pretty fun game. They used to have a very fun mode called "rumble" that Psyonix decided to remove entirely from casual play. Now it's just too serious of a game to play unfortunately.

If I could refund the game, I would.

Updated Review - Apr 29, 2020:
After all these years, I decided to finally finish the game 100%. I still recommend that you experience this game at least once in your life because it is truly an experience to behold.

My only concerns have to do with relative buggyness towards the end of game/story. I recommend that you save often and always - especially as you go deeper.

Original Review - Nov 21, 2018:
This is one of the few games that I didn't realize that I wanted until they announced it for early access. It is simply amazing to explore and also terrifying at times. It has a robust build-system that started out as very wonky, but everything has been updated and your bases make the game feel like home.

Definitely pick this up if you enjoy survival or exploring games.