Aloft Review Summary: Overall, with a few adjustments, this game could be the highest rated game I have written a review for so far. I feel like the only thing holding it back is time. Out of Early Access, I will be revising this review, for certain. I am very excited to see what improvements are in store and will be eagerly awaiting updates. If you are a fan of Raft, don't think, just buy this game. If you like Valheim or Breath of the Wild, I would also highly recommend this game. Please Note: I played until I got through the jet stream, and needed to stop so that I could restart and continue my play through with friends. So this review is being done only after, what is essentially, the first chapter. I have not run into a lot of things that this title has hinted at there being and thus cannot give any +/- about those things. I felt that I had enough to review the basic gameplay loop however. Ending Score: +45 -RECOMMENDED- Pros: +110 This game has so many things to gush over, so I am going to keep this summary pointed. For an early access title, there is way too much that is well done. It shocked me. I went into this expecting a good template and found Raft but in the sky. I may actually like this title more than Raft! You can really tell that the UX of each feature has been thought out and, besides combat and movement feedback, this team has been successful at delivering a solid game. -------------------------------------------------- +5 - Learn by trying crafting system +5 - Interactive swing combo system +5 - Tutorial/Opening mood is very well done. +5 - The game as a whole is just very pretty. I mean, moth lights... come on! +5 - Food based improvements are a solid, tried-and-true, system +5 - Sketch book to learn recipes is really fun and promotes adventure +5 - Designing your glider is a really nice feature. Right off the bat you can have individual choice +5 - building your home island is very satisfying +5 - Waypoints are incredible. +5 - The livestock system shows promise +5 - Wind direction is actually a thing +5 - Early sight of late game progression is well done +5 - Gourmet Recipes can be found and learned so to match crafting recipes +5 - Lost Atlas being used for treasure hunts goes well with the game's mood +5 - Auto draw for current task when hand is empty +5 - You can pass travel time by sleeping +10 - You can leave the helm after setting a course!!! +10 - Flight is incredibly fun and well done +10 - 20 hours in at 25$, and I have only completed the first section. Many things left to do. Well done. -------------------------------------------------- Cons: -50 The largest con that this title has is personal home islands. You see it a lot in the steam reviews that are left as well. It is really hard for people to share a home island, as they are character data. Making it a world option to have the home island saved individually or as world data would be a really strong move on the developer's behalf. Besides that, there is: combat, chest/base ergonomics, and motion feedback. These are really the three areas that this title struggles with. Luckily, there are not enough of these bits to compete with the pros this game boasts, so there will not be a death by a thousand cuts scenario here. Hopefully all of these items are fairly straight forward solves (not easy, nothing in software engineering is easy), but if the developers would like to know more, please feel free to reach out and I will elaborate where ever you would like! -------------------------------------------------- -5 - Falling and Jumping do not have good feedback, like sounds/animations/effects, so they feel off. -5 - Running does not feel faster. It is, but it does not feel like it. Once again, may be an issue of sounds/animations/effects -0 - Combat is very repetitive and does not seem to be fleshed out (On road map reduction) -5 - Blocking is a poor system as it is too slow to be useful -5 - Cooking is painstakingly slow. -5 - No Quick-Stack button -5 - No move button for building (Needed for repositioning full chests slightly) -5 - There is no Take One item button, only split and all. -5 - Inconsistent chest access. -10 - Multiplayer is difficult as home islands are player saved and cannot be shared. -------------------------------------------------- Hrms: -0 (usually zero) Most of my Hrms for this title are probably pretty unoriginal. They are things that someone probably has message din passing or have posted as a feature request in the forum. Not a whole lot to emphasize here. -------------------------------------------------- -0 - Strike marks on trees do not align with where the tree breaks to fall. This feels odd. -0 - Shared chest button is not obvious or explained well -0 - Coffee is made at a work bench and at the cooking station feels weird. -0 - Should allow for tile mirroring. That way the corner tiles do not go one way on one side and another on the other side. -------------------------------------------------- Bugs: -15 (Scored on impact) For all of the features in this game, I am in awe of how few bugs exist, especially in EA. So, before I go into specifics, I want to praise the devs on their clearly shown hard work. The audio cuts were only slightly annoying, and are probably related to the general lag that this title suffers, but since I would experience them while there was no visible lag, I will note them as a separate issue. The lag in this game could be its undoing. It is a pretty severe hit to general gameplay experience. From having to fly back up to an island I missed after the game locked up for a second, to burning my recipe with held the last of my ingredients, all the way to dying multiple times in a row due to the lag, I think this issue may become a larger negative if it survives to full release. I am running a fairly expensive and powerful gaming rig too, without editing any settings. So I am curious as to what this game would feel like on a budget machine. Items found in the wild all give wood, when broken, which is sad in itself, but I can understand the design perspective on it. However, Hay bales should give hay when broken. I will mark this as a zero point bug, because putting it in the Hrms section did not feel right. -------------------------------------------------- -5 - Audio cuts out a lot -10 - Frequent hitching causes me to burn my food, miss landing on islands, or die in combat. -0 - Gathering Hay bales on islands gives wood and not hay --------------------------------------------------
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