Updated Review: They have patched the game several times now. They have released the steam server so people can run their own servers. The game is crashing less (but still crashes). I am seeing fewer graphics issues, but it still runs really poorly on great hardware. The game is beautiful though. A lot of the changes are great. One bug that is driving me crazy is that silica pearls are not lootable in underwater caves where you can find them for some reason now (they also seem to no longer glow?). I can now tentatively recommend a purchas.

Original Review on Day 1: I love Ark Survival Evolved. I own it on Xbox, Playstation, Switch, Mobile, Steam, and Epic Game Store. I wanted to love Survival Ascended from day one, but the game is currently in a really bad place for launch. I have an I9 13900 and a Geforce 4080 with 32GB DDR5 5600 ram and I'm running on a Gen4 SSD. The game is dropping to the 40's regularly with DLSS off at 1080p in Epic settings. Sometimes it dips lower. Tons of graphical glitches and it has crashed on me several times. It needs a lot of work for me to recommend this over just playing the original release.