Voyagers of Nera

A pretty game, but it did not click for me after nearly two hours of trying to figure out why I was doing any of the things on my todo list. There's all the parts of a good game here, probably, but something left me feeling like I was doing chores. Nothing felt rewarding. Nothing felt like I was making progress. In fact, I started to feel like I was doing the washing up according to someone else's plan. When I develop games, I like to make sure the player has a motivation, not a task list. Something they want drives them to solve or seek a solution. This one just felt like I was doing what the developers had set up for me (smoke and mirrors can really help give a game apparent depth). This was all compounded by an inaccurate name or vagueness to the direction (sunken trial vs the actual name somewhere I could see on the map) which felt too hard, even after mastering the blocking. I think this game could be captivating, excellent, and rewarding, but right now, they need to work massively on the core game flow. Early game is so important and right now, it feels like if there was little effort into onboarding new players in an engaging way.

What a journey! I finished the EA story line today, solo play, and feel a bit sad that there is most likely quite a wait until the other part will be released. 158 hours in, having taken my time with exploration, searching (although I still have some items to find) and gear upgrading. Edit: Played on Normal with the ‘loose your main inventory’ on death. Settings can be adjusted at the beginning of the game. 1. The game progression and story line is very well thought out. Food plays a major role here as do potions that you need to unlock and craft on top of gear, tools and weapons. 2. Traveling is made easy by the introduction of various items, including fast travel which I absolutely loved (unlockable as an item). 3. Scenery: Stunning! Above ground and underwater. I so enjoyed all the little details of each area that made the areas special and different from each other, including sunrises/sunsets, plus rainy or foggy weather. 4. Underwater/free diving aspect: LOVE IT!!! At first a little bit challenging, but as one progresses, made much easier (food/potions). 5. The imagination the devs have put into the different almost puzzle like areas to explore is exceptional, have your thinking cap on  6. Building: This has its challenges but overall, not too bad. Decorations are plenty, good looking and free placeable as well (CTRL button). 7. Enemies: Each new area has its own type and also from the previous one(s) levelled up. Are there items in this game to improve? Yes, of course, and I am sure there are lots of comments on Discord and Steam. For myself though, my complaints are minor and I truly recommend this game whole heartedly!

My biggest issue with this game is the poorly implemented online requirement. Even though the developers added an "offline mode," it is incredibly clunky. The game forces Epic Online Services in the background, meaning you are forced into an online session by default unless you manually block the game in your firewall or disconnect your PC from the internet entirely before booting. A true single-player game should simply give you a clear offline choice in the main menu without these workarounds. On top of that, the game pushes aggressive marketing tactics like Twitch Drops. Gating item appearances behind external streaming platforms excludes players who just want to enjoy their game independently. Before anyone uses the tired shield of "it's just cosmetics"—visual customization and cosmetic progression are a core part of the player experience for many of us. Locking these options away feels unfair. As for the gameplay itself, it still needs a lot of work to stay engaging. The world currently feels quite hollow and dead, lacking real NPCs to talk to or functional cities to discover, which makes exploration a bit tedious after a few hours. The activities labeled as "puzzles" are unfortunately too basic to offer a real challenge, and the combat quickly becomes repetitive since you fight the same few enemy types over and over. The game has potential, but the forced network dependencies and marketing choices completely ruin the experience for me right now.

This is what happens when Conan meets Outward meets Valheim meets Breath of the Wild meets Windbound...sorta'. We're definitely enjoying it.

I stopped playing after hitting tier 2 and having to deal with clay. I wanted to build a nice base but some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ idiot decided the basic resources for construction should be a massive pain in the ass to get. Even the coral wood is a ♥♥♥♥♥ to get and involves scaling mountains. Just completely ripped out my desire to keep playing, went from a reasonable grind to a completely massive slog to build anything.

I don’t usually do reviews but me and my partner have been absolutely sucked in to this game. It’s so lovely especially if you love building, hunting and oceans. We both love the content and there so much to unlock and so much to find. The only thing I would personally add in, is levelling in skills so gardening or armour stuff like that only because I have done a lot of planting of trees and seeds.

Needs controller support before it’s really playable, awful pain trying to sort it out

I love this game. I returned it, but it has all "the right stuff". This is the right game. Because it is early access I won't say why. It will get fixed. This is the right idea for a survival game. I love the tropics and goofy-funness of the game. There's something intensely satisfying about all of it. It's also compelling. I woke up this morning dreaming of it. That just doesn't happen for me. Good, good, game. The only thing I would critique about it are these: - "Get with the times." - climbing should just be a default thing. Stamina bar if it messes with your plans. - "Just a taste" - I got lightning early on, but couldn't figure out how to use it. ** A lot of abilities seem great, but how? A jump boost would be more helpful than a lightning boost. ** Infinite Nikki pretty much got everything right when it came to Miracles ** Combat isn't as satisfying as Utility. YOU did that right. REMEMBER IT. It's your golden ticket. - "Why am I ugly." ** This is pretty much standard for games now. a) I'm a clone of my friends. b) I can't look like me. c) I'm not me. ** One of the core things I look for in a game is the ability to transport myself "there". ** When it doesn't do this it is typically a western game since Enshitification is everything to them. ** This isn't Enshitification. It's most like... "same-ness". ** Sliders to look more "me" even if the height is just a default-head's length difference and slightly less bulk would just add to the sense "I'm here".