I'll start by saying I do mostly enjoy this game. Even though I don't recommend it overall, if you're really into dinos and can deal with what is effectively a toxic relationship dynamic between yourself and the game, there's probably some good times to be had. Alternatively if you're looking for a game where the goal is to "just be an animal", this is also a rare (dirty, busted, and chipped) gem for those looking.
The game does absolutely no hand holding but it conveys most of its information well enough if you pay enough attention. However, you'll still find yourself going to 3rd party sites to either get map information, or supplement a voice chat system. This game, for all of its intended social features, does not natively support voice chat. Outside of "immersion" I'm really not sure why this is the case. If its for immersion, then why is there a local text to chat? If the point is to only speak dino with the 4 calls your given, then remove the chat entirely. At least it would be consistent. This is a kind of a moot point for myself as I don't usually participate in voice chats but for some this might be good information to know, buying or not.
No in game map but this only comes up as an issue if you're trying to coordinate with friends which, by the way, playing with friends is miserable to set up. Unless you're both the same dino and copy-paste the spawn code that sometimes works if it feels like it, this game is generally hostile to friend groups getting together to do dino things especially if they are different species. If you're with friends and want to do the different species play, make sure everyone is okay with chilling (and potentially dying) by themselves as you initially grow the dino, AND THEN find your group.
I understand the previous point is largely due to a conflict with where spawns happen based on habitats but would it really be so terrible to have the ability to spawn together or direct invite? For a multiplayer game, it really is easier just to play alone.
I haven't played every dino but I have had 3 full grown runs, and 1 run that will shortly end due to old age. I have done the "thing" 4 times total, 1 to dino senior living status, and I don't feel any sense of accomplishment. Just hollow.
I will give this game the benefit of beauty, it LOOKS really good. The dino animations are well done, and its clear that they do care about dinosaurs by themselves enough to make that aspect fun to look at and experience. In that same sentence though, the animations are also buggy as ♥♥♥♥. Yeah "early access" but I remember being 16 and this game was first ENTERING early access. It is now ELEVEN YEARS LATER and I mean, the disclaimer doesn't lie, this feels like an early access game through and through. Why do I have to constantly reposition myself to eat the deer that's DIRECTLY UNDER MY SNOUT? The main gameplay loop is "Chase, Eat, Sleep, Grow, Repeat", you'd figure they would've nailed down step 2 by now since, next to drinking water (also buggy as ♥♥♥♥, to the point I take a trait that lets me reabsorb water while swimming so I don't even have to bother fighting it) it's THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE GAME. If you don't eat, you don't grow, if you don't grow, you will become the food. Adding to the frustration is the odd choice they've made for carnivores not being able to smell the scent of live food, only dead and rotting. Last I checked that is not how predators function. I understand not being able to smell real players, that's fine. But, why not AI? Are you telling me the deer and boar are not at least throwing some scent around? Are they completely scentless? If so, why? It makes the food finding process even more miserable, and if there's one thing that's true for this game, that first meal is SUPER important. Yes, migratory patterns, sanctuaries, patrol zones, I know. They all have food. However, why am I as a predator playing more of a listening game than a scent game? Which the audio itself, while awesome in the sound design department, is terrible in the world for judging distances. Many animals will sound like they're next to you when in reality they are allllllllll the way down the mountain deep in a bush patch. The AI itself is already pretty scant, and don't even get me started on the fish spawns (or lack there of).
At the end of the day, 11 years after initial entry into early access, it is still a bug riddled mess that looks fantastic, and separate from in world distances, sounds fantastic as well. It's the "everything else" that's the problem.
I'll still play it from time to time. I want to like it more than I do. I just currently cannot recommend it unless dinos are REALLY your thing and you can learn to love and live with a toxic relationship cycle. I would not pick this up if the intention is group play with friends unless you all agree on 1 dino and/or can be flexible with how you guys play. This is a social-based dino RPG, where the social aspect must come from within the game, not your private discord server.
