Recent reviews by [MPR]Chain

Not done with the "endgame" at time of review, but got to room 46 in about 16 hours (and have now played more than double that - with a lot to go).
I can strongly recommend the game. Getting to room 46 (the stated objective of the game) isn't too hard, and I think for many players, this will be sufficient to get enjoyment from the game. You will however notice there being *a lot* of unfinished puzzles and lose threads at that point (most of the playtime in fact) - and you can continue if you want more of challenge (to figure out the rest of the story). This part can get quite hard, and maybe even a bit tedious at times, but it's nice to have some actually challenging puzzles.

Recommendations for the developer to make the endgame less annoying (without making it easier):
* Once you have opened a safe, it should stay open (like bank boxes, etc.). No reason for them to become locked again every day.
* Consider if some tweaks could be done to make connecting steam room a little easier? I see many struggle a bit with it due to the randomness. Maybe make it so that when drafting from a room with a powered steam vent, *one* of the drafted rooms will always have vents? Maybe also show what rooms have steam vents whenever drafting from a room with a vent (even if it's currently unpowered)?

Excellent game. Well written, interesting world and storylines that aren't boring and overly predictable and shallow.

The main downside that might turn some people away:

Leveling can be overwhelming when you start out due to the huge number of complicated feats/abilities and unfamiliar mechanics – and you level up after what feels like every other combat encounter. My recommendation is to just find some build for your characters online, and more-or-less follow that until you get familiar enough with it to start making your own choices. By the end of the game you might have found some combination of equipment/abilities that feed into eachother and makes you overpowered. I had to eventually increase the difficulty to max by the end of the game to get a hint of challenge in combat...

Note: The game has been review-bombed quite a bit, so it's not as bad as the total reviews might suggest.

To get the most out of the game I would strongly recommend focusing on following individual missions, and visiting unique locations, and minimise free roaming on random planets (you start getting the same procedurally placed locations repeated very quickly). Move the main quest ahead a bit to get more companion options.

Positive:
* A large world, with a lot of missions and activities. Many varied towns/cities and random locations to visit.
* Ship-building
* Graphics are decent
* I have only encountered insignificant bugs (if we ignore base/outpost building)

Negative:
* NPCs and storytelling can feel quite flat. It's OK, but not that _engaging_. I am not sure why. The emotional investment is lacking. To be fair, we have been spoiled by games that to this perfectly (like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3), but this is my main critique of the game. Many other minor issues would be easier to fix.
* Becomes a bit of a fast-travel-simulator at times.
* The base/outpost building is just ... really ... bad. Feels only half finished, and the controls are so clunky that (at least on PC) feels like someone just assigned keys by having a cat walk across the keyboard. I literally have to concentrate for every little button press. The least intuitive I have ever tried. It can be used as the most boring way to get resources to sell for money, or as an XP farm, but for me it is not fun, and the setup time isn't worth it for me. Maybe build a landing pad where you can build/customize ships, and a bounty clearing kiosk, then go do other things.

Some things the developer should focus on improving ASAP (low-hanging fruit):
* NPCs talk over each other way too often. Don't have random NPCs and companions deliver random commentary while I am getting quest dialogue... It really ruins the mood when it happens.
* When showing "all" mission markers, it doesn't show *all* (that's fine), but it should always show the currently active quest, and prioritise missions in the nearby area.
* During ship-building/modification, don't move all lose items in the ship to cargo unless I actually modify the hab modules they are in. It removes all incentive to decorate the ship interior with items.
* When viewing an crew/companion inventory, when previewing items (like clothes), show them on the actual NPC and not on *me*. The way it is now is just weird, and you have to keep exiting inventory to see how it looks on them (not me). This would also make it easier to tell who's inventory you are currently viewing.
* Completely overhaul base/outpost building (at least the controls on PC)

It's just straight-up excellent. And very unique.

The game is not hard. More of a relaxing title. Decent art style.
It can be a bit slow and grindy, and not for everyone.

My tip: some resources, like ore, only occur on some specific tile(s). Instead of waiting ages for it to respwan, just put down a bunch of those tiles in a row or something, so you can quickly farm that resource.
Actually growing crops is slow and water-intensive to the point where I generally don't recommend spending time on it.

Try the free prologue first to get an intro to the main game mechanics.

It is satisfactory.

* Zombie survival *simulator*. Extremely/ridiculously detailed interactions and amount of things you can interact with in various ways. The most detailed and realistic I've seen in any game.
* It gives you no objectives except to try to survive. You will have to make your own goals or it can become boring/pointless. It can be a bit hit or miss if you like this. It is a bit of a sandbox, and you can customize a lot of settings if you wish.
* Extremely hard at first, and always unforgiving. Learning curve is steep. Expect that you will die *many* times before getting the hang of it, so don't fall in love with you character, and don't worry that much about skills at first. A single unlucky bite from an unexpected zombie is guaranteed death (I can recommend a mod like "they knew" to give you a chance to cure a zombie infection)...
* When you die, and start a new character, it's in the same world, so your base is still there, and your old character is likely a zombie walking around with your gear. But you will lose all skill progression (which stings).
* Personally I think it's most fun in Multiplayer, but do try a bit of singleplayer first to figure out some basics before you start dying over and over in multiplayer and not being able to properly meet up.

Maybe the most enjoyable early-access survival/crafting type game I've played. Same genre as Raft, Grounded, etc. - but much better.

It is great fun with friends (and you are not limited to just 4). I recommend not watching videos/tutorials/spoilers, but gradually explore and figure out the world by yourself. For us that was by far the most rewarding.

The game feels surprisingly good and polished. We've not had any major issues except some late-game server-lag (that I think we might have found a fix for). Eventually though, you will run out of content as this is early access. They have 5/9 bosses (and biomes) implemented, and from what I understand we will only see 1 more arrive in 2021 (but there will be other updates as well).

It never feels like a grind, and the limitations they place are great for forcing you to expand your reach using e.g. ships, and establishing new outposts.

We started over a couple of times until we ended up running a dedicated server. Don't be afraid to start over with a new base or server; you build it better every time! And your inventory/character transfers between servers, so you don't have to start completely from scratch unless you want to.

Combat can be punishing *but fair*. Got to pace yourself to balance that stamina, or you might find yourself in trouble. Stamina is used for attacking, running/jumping/dodging, and when you block a strike. So if you get too eager and hit away at the enemy without taking breaks you will run out, and can't effectively block when someone hits back, and you can't sprint away either. Even with decent gear, you can't just rush into any group of mobs; pull too many and you might find yourself desperately trying to limp away without stamina.

The food you eat determines your max health, regen, and stamina. So hunting for incredients and cooking actually feels important.

There is no character level, but you have different skills (e.g. woodcutting, jumping, or swords) that gradually increase when you perform that activity - giving you a bit of a bonus. The penalty for death is all your skills dropping a bit (and you need to do a corpse run if you want your gear back). It feels punishing without actually being very harsh, as the skills being high is not vital to succeeding. It's a good incentive to be careful.

Building mechanics are excellent. There is a basic system that forces your buildings to actually be supported, so you can't just build endless ramps into the air (hello Raft), or super tall buildings with over-sized halls. You will need columns etc. to support it. This makes the buildings more reasonably sized, and realistic-looking. And honestly more interesting to build.

Highly recommended. Strategy that is complex enough, without ever feeling overwhelming.

It is punishing and hard, but never feels unfair. There is effectively no RNG to mess you up - if you do poorly, it's on you. ;)

And easy to leave for a while, and just pick up again. Easy to stop and take breaks at any time.
The different mech squad combinations you can use unlock a lot of replayability forcing you to use different tactics.

It's good. If you've played the previous Wasteland games you know what you are signing up for (although they clearly had a bit more budget this time).

* Overall good interactions and variety.
* Good combat

Downsides:

* Load screens take a lot of time, and when running through areas just to get somewhere, waiting 30 seconds to enter/exit an building gets annoying.