Scrapnaut

Very linear game with no real story. Craft is very limited as explanation on each item. I can't recommend it since it become very boring around 5h of play.

Summary: the game is fine, a 3/5 star game through and through . Suited for kids and people that just want a quick game to relax. Good for a few dozen hours of playtime. If you are a fan of the genre (exploration/survival/crafting), it might be worth the full price. For others that are curious, buy it on sale. In other cases, skip this one. Performance and stability: 4/5 - I encountered only one or two rare bugs or glitches - no crashes - performance was consistent, but a bit low for what you get Gameplay: 3/5 - fun gameplay loop, but quite simple - controls are janky and inconsistent and should be better (I used an Xbox controller) - some features could usean update to make them work more intuitive - targeting and collisions need some work - combat is too simple, there is no tactics whatsoever - boss fights are all the same - there are some pacing problems with resources and upgrades IMO, which are common in this genre - crafting is unnecessarily laborious. It should just use what you have in your base - having to have a quest item equipped to complete a quest objective is frustrating. If an item is in my inventory it should work Story: 1/5 - there is none to speak of - only serves to get the player from one area to the next Graphics: 3/5 - graphic style is enjoyable and consistent - not particularly pretty though, more cartoony - quite heavy on the hardware for what you get - there are different biomes, sort of, but the differences are minimal Audio: 3/5 - excellent music - not many tracks, it gets repetitive - audio effects are simple and not great, but they serve their purpose All in all I list a lot of negatives, but I want to make clear that I had fun playing. The game isn't bad at all, it just isn't great either. It could be a lot more enjoyable with more development and gameplay optimizations. That said, it's from a small studio and I think they did a very solid job. This game can be a fun and easy introduction into the genre for new players.

I completed Scrapnaut on Normal difficulty. It was relaxing but got a bit repetitive. I persisted to get to the big reveal at the end, but it was such a letdown. Gameplay critiques: I only really built one base, and never had to upgrade the walls or the weapons. I did build extremely minimal satellite bases to the extent necessary to build special stuff that is limited to a single location. After defending my second base, I realized these are never attacked and stopped bothering. I don't think I crafted a single potion and didn't need to. Enemies are very easy to outrun, which is good because it cuts down on the tedium, but bad because c'mon. . . I never collected enough skill books to craft the obsidian chest piece and discovered I absolutely didn't need to. After my initial harvests and processing, I never ran out of seeds again. Seems like these should be more scarce. In summary, the core mechanics, graphics, and music are solid, but it needs a bit more variety and tension, and a far more compelling story.

What I wanted was a nice base building game with somehting to explore and not too much pressure and this game certainly has that. I have really not explored much but seems very promising. It took me a bit to get the hang of the camera angles and how that relates to the compass headings though.