Final score is calculated by weighting and averaging all datapoints across multiple categories.
The fundamental gameplay experience including fun factor, mechanics, and technical performance.
The core experience is defined by a highly enjoyable and engaging gameplay loop, but it is significantly undermined by persistent technical performance issues and inconsistent AI, leading to a mixed player experience.
Story quality, world depth, replay value, and overall content value.
Players feel the game offers substantial content and replay value for its price, with engaging systems and optimism for future updates; however, this is tempered by a perception that late-game progression can become a repetitive grind.
Visual and audio quality combined with creative and innovative design elements.
The game is highly praised for its innovative concept and creative designs, which form the foundation of its strong appeal, though this is slightly moderated by technical performance issues that detract from the overall visual and audio quality.
Multiplayer features, social aspects, and developer support systems.
The community shows strong interest in social features and appreciates developer communication, but the multiplayer experience is frequently hampered by significant technical instability and persistent bugs.
Our True-Review is based on 10 datapoints collected over multiple days. Each datapoint is scored and weighted according to its importance. These weighted scores are then averaged to calculate the final True-Review score.
You can look at the scores and weights and make adjustments to see where we derive the final from. Tinker, play, test and above all else - have fun!
Open Score TinkererOur reviews are based on comprehensive datapoint analysis collected over multiple days of community feedback and gameplay data. Each datapoint is scored and weighted according to its importance in the overall experience.
Learn more about our methodologyPure enjoyment and entertainment value of playing the game.
Players find the game exceptionally fun due to the compelling synergy between its core systems, such as creature collection, automated base-building, and open-world exploration. The freedom to set personal goals and the emergent, often chaotic, fun of multiplayer sessions are major drivers of enjoyment. While persistent technical bugs or performance drops can temporarily interrupt the experience, the fundamental gameplay loop is considered highly entertaining and rewarding.
Quality of primary gameplay systems including combat, controls, and core interaction loops.
Players are deeply engaged by the strategic depth of the game's mechanics, spending considerable time optimizing creature builds, breeding for specific traits, and mastering combat systems. However, this strategic satisfaction is frequently undermined by unreliable companion AI, which can cause well-planned encounters to fail unexpectedly. These mechanical inconsistencies, coupled with performance stutters, create a core experience that players find compelling in concept but often frustrating in execution.
Game stability, optimization, frame rate, bugs, and overall technical execution.
The player experience with technical performance is sharply divided, creating a persistent point of contention within the community. While the game is playable for many, a significant portion of the player base consistently battles jarring frame rate drops, immersion-breaking AI bugs, and game-breaking crashes, particularly on consoles. These ongoing stability problems prevent a smooth experience for all and are a primary source of player frustration.
Overall quality of story, world-building, characters, and narrative pacing across all content.
Players feel the game offers a rich and rewarding journey, largely due to the depth of its content and a satisfying sense of progression. The loop of discovering new creatures, refining their abilities through breeding, and expanding a functional base creates a compelling forward momentum that keeps players invested. While some feel the resource requirements become excessive in the later stages, most find the pacing engaging and appreciate the new content that keeps the world feeling fresh.
Amount of content, replayability factors, and long-term engagement potential.
The game's longevity is rooted in its sandbox systems, especially the intricate creature breeding and base-building mechanics that encourage long-term projects and experimentation. Community optimism for the game's future is high, fueled by the developer's ongoing updates and roadmap. However, this long-term appeal is tempered by a common sentiment that the end-game currently devolves into a repetitive resource grind, causing some players to lose motivation after completing the main content.
Price-to-content ratio, DLC value, microtransaction fairness, and overall monetary value.
Players overwhelmingly feel the initial purchase price is justified by the sheer volume of content and extensive playtime offered, viewing it as a complete and valuable package. The absence of intrusive monetization is highly praised and contributes significantly to this positive perception. The main factor holding it back is the late-game progression, where the time investment for material grinding can feel disproportionate to the rewards, leading some to feel their time is not being respected.
Combined assessment of graphics, art style, sound design, music, and overall presentation.
Players are often drawn in by the game's charming art style and creative creature designs, which are considered a major highlight. This visual appeal, however, is frequently compromised by performance issues like stuttering and frame drops that can shatter immersion, especially in complex bases or during combat. Similarly, while some sound design is effective, players point to inconsistent audio mixing and a lack of ambient sound as elements that make the world feel less alive than it looks.
Originality, fresh ideas, creative design elements, and innovative approaches to gameplay or presentation.
The game is highly regarded for its creative fusion of monster-taming, survival-crafting, and shooter genres, which players feel creates a genuinely new experience. The core innovation that receives the most praise is how creatures are integrated as both combat allies and essential workers for base automation. This unique combination of familiar mechanics into a fresh and engaging formula is the primary reason players celebrate the game's originality.
Quality of multiplayer gameplay, social features, community interaction, and online experiences.
There is a strong and active desire within the community to engage in cooperative play, but the experience is often hampered by significant technical hurdles. Players frequently seek out partners for exploration and building, highlighting the appeal of the game's social potential. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm is consistently dampened by server instability, frequent disconnects, and performance degradation in multiplayer sessions, leaving the fun of playing with friends feeling unreliable.
Developer communication, update frequency, bug fixes, and overall post-launch support quality.
The community perceives the developers as communicative and dedicated, appreciating the regular updates and clear roadmaps for future content. This goodwill, however, is strained by the persistence of long-standing bugs and performance issues that remain unresolved despite numerous patches. This creates a feeling that while the developers are actively working, the impact of their fixes is not always sufficient to address the core technical frustrations players experience daily.