I have only played two hours so far and those were painful. Graphics and Performance are good but it has bugs and the gameplay loop feels like a chore. Keys cannot be rebound. Default Controller scheme also feels too esoteric (R1 for Menu). Enemy corpses bounce away after death with no way to harvest them, AI of the creatures sporadically forget you're fighting them. These things can be patched but the core "Survival" element feels massively unbalanced, you lose your stamina (Hunger) permanently and need to feed constantly, even more than in some more "hardcore" Survival games/sims. The sailing also didn't really feel like sailing. It's feels like you're moving in a tub of lard. Not really great when it's a theme of the game... I'll play again and update the review after a few patches.
The game looks and feels really good, but: You can't change the keybindings which means you can only play with WASD! Since I play left-handed, this ruins the entire game for me, I just can't play it. And no, I won't use a controller. Having customizable keys is the most basic configuration element, every cheap indie title has them, why not this game?
If the developers patch this issue, I will edit my review!
Some constructive feedback for the devs: allow for rebindable keys, that's just basic functionality. Food rots way too fast (frankly, I don't find the rotting mechanic fun and think the game would be better if it was just removed entirely). Inventory space is too small. Let me swap an item from my inventory for an item in a basket, don't make me drop an item just to switch it out. Make items float on the water (or just make sure if you drop an item on the boat, it stays on the boat). Dropping an item and watching it sink is never fun. Inventory space is too small. Yes, I know I mentioned that one twice. It's probably the biggest problem in this game. Inventory space is too small. Let me replace a part of my boat instead of having to deconstruct it and assemble a new part, this becomes especially annoying with attachments.
The balance seems off. I don't know if I'm supposed to be using the same weapons I built in chapter 1 in chapter 3, but that's the boat I'm in (no pun intended). I've been collecting every resource the limited inventory has allowed for, but I still can't craft anything more than a spear and a sling. I can't say if this is intentional or not, but it doesn't feel like it. I've picked up numerous items that seemingly have no use, as nothing in the crafting menu uses them.
I'd also suggest you do some good old fashioned bug hunting. I haven't encountered many, but I have encountered an infinite loading screen
The game is fun. I am enjoying my time with it. But it's far from perfect, and it's not for everyone. I really hope this game gets some good updates, because I do like it. Sailing is fun. Building and upgrading your boat is fun. I genuinely want this game to be the best it can be, but at time of writing, I don't think it is.
My recommendation at the moment is completely neutral. If you're interested in this game and want to get it, I won't try to talk you out of it. If you aren't interested in this game, I won't try to talk you into it.
I do like survival & craft but this game is clearly in early access state !
Game mechanic are weird like restarting on the firts island every time you die, even in "story" diffficulty, is a hasle and tend to kill the fun after only a few minutes. Animation are slow, can't move or dodge after hiting with a spear, stamina management is weird and the crafting HUD is really not pratical with the 2 windows instead of doiong like any other survival game !
On and on, after the first hour of game, I was fully discouraged to go further. Having your boat 'exploding' at sea because you touch something underwater has convince me to uninstall and forget this game.
