Within the Cosmos

EDIT 3: As of 5/10/2025, this game is not worth your money or your time. It is one of the most heinously broken RPG's I've ever played and on one last attempt to actually push through it, I got softlocked at a f*cking door 3 hours in. I swear to God, a new bug happens every time I play it. Quest markers don't work, dialogue doesn't work, NPCs don't stay dead, everything about this feels like one man biting off more than he can chew, and the utter lack of bugtesting prior to release is honestly shameful. You do not put out a game in this state. I can respect the effort done here, but I come to the indie scene to not have to wait months before the game is playable. Very sorry to give up on this game, but its a mess. Old Review below REVIEW PENDING, THIS IS A PSA. From what I can tell, this is a one man project, and an impressive one considering the scale and pricepoint. However, there is currently a plethora of bugs hampering an otherwise solid experience. There has already been a day one patch, and I expect these remaining bugs will be fixed in due time. So while I hate to leave a negative review for a game I haven't dug deep into, my first day playing I think I spent more time writing bug reports than actually getting anywhere. Some shopkeepers lock up the game or don't function, my custom character reset to the default character model of the opposite sex (It's a solid character creator for a solo dev though), the questlog randomly freezes the game, I could go on. I will be changing my review as I manage to complete more of the game. Was looking forward to this one, and while I still think there is a fun game in here, it was not quite ready for release. Don't write it off just yet, but I can't recommend you buy in right now either. EDIT #1: Alright, it's 4/12. There have been a rapid amount of patches and every bug mentioned in my original review on 3/29/2024 has been fixed. But I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I am still finding more gamebreaking bugs as I continue. As of writing, there is a sidequest NPC in a storage facility who refuses to leave the closet he was stuck in due to a scripting bug that just repeats his opening dialogue. I had the code for the door on a nearby computer, but the keypad didn't accept it and I had to hack it open. Not that it mattered. Ended up shooting him in the head and the quest didn't progress or fail at all. This game continues to need more patches, but I'm not writing it off yet.

I'm unsure how this has mixed reviews? You are talking about a solo dev making a game that systems wise is on par with a lot of studios. 14.99 is a very good price for where this is currently at. Is there some jank? yes, but I just played for an hour before bed and I didn't have one game breaking bug, I think once, I had to switch weapons real quick because my weapon wouldn't fire, but that was about it. I am playing on controller. I'll start with the stuff that isn't up to par with big game studios. The voice acting is exactly what you would expect from a game made by a single dev, likely some AI stuff. The story is fine though, most indie's would just not put voice acting in it. I typically read faster than most voice overs so I just skip the voice dialog mostly right now. Lip syncing is just lip moving, once again, some indie's would likely just not move the characters mouth and give you some words on screen. Meshes and Models in the game are not the best but are very good for being from a single dev and better then some AA games I've seen (looking at you Elex 1 and 2). UI with controller support is good enough and better than a lot of games that bigger studios put out. When a mouse is needed it auto switches to a pointer that you can move around with your joystick. So if you think the UI is stuck because the DPAD isn't moving, just use the joystick to move the cursor and the bottom face button to select. Stuff that is better than a lot of mainstream games: The dev has already made released multiple updates (much faster than most multi-person studios could have). Loot is good and scratches the itch if you like games like, outer worlds and fall out types. I went up a random tower and there was loot up there, little things like that where not even Stalker 2 had loot up in most of the random towers. Buildings have some vents with multiple ways to get into places, if you like that type of imm-sim aspects. The crafting system just uses generic material for the things currently unlocked, which I like (some might not). Makes it worth looting but gets rid of the tedious nature of underlying material systems which can plague open world RPGs. I return a lot of stuff (mostly within 1 hour) from AAA/AA/Indie, but there was nothing in the first hour of this game that would make me return it. Leveling and upgrading aren't too slow, in just under an hour I had already leveled up a couple times and got upgraded two abilities. Unlike atom fall which I played for like 3.5 hours before being able to upgrade my first ability.... And just a note to the Dev, you made an amazing base game, all the system foundations and world design are very well done. It just needs some polish, little things like when you take all from an enemy, a little sound feedback or something would go a long way, like you get when you loot single items in the world. Also, if you are fighting multiple enemies in a grassy area, its easy to lose the bodies in the grass (maybe a visual indicator or outline of bodies that haven't been looted would be another easy win for the dopamine hits). Overall, I look forward to all the polishing you have already started doing.

Within the Cosmos – Early Thoughts from a Supportive Critic Negative (But Hopeful) Review Let me start by saying I won’t be refunding Within the Cosmos. I’m uninstalling for now, but I’m holding onto it because I can see the heart behind the game—and I genuinely want to see where it goes from here. This isn’t a cash grab. It’s a passion project. One person made this (from what i red online), and that alone deserves respect. That said, passion doesn’t always equal polish—and this release simply isn’t ready for the big stage yet. Calling this a "1.0 launch" is... generous. It feels more like a late alpha or early beta, and that’s being fair. The core concept is compelling, but there’s still a long way to go before the gameplay experience matches the ambition. The Good Stuff: Beautiful Visuals & Atmosphere: The environments are genuinely impressive. There’s a strong sci-fi vibe here—lonely corridors, sterile labs, and outer space backdrops that scream "cosmic isolation". Great Concept & Lore Foundation: The setting—humanity escaping a dying Earth, cryo-sleep voyages, fractured factions, mysterious android enemies—is classic space RPG material. The narrative groundwork is solid, and I’d love to see it fully realized down the road. RPG Intentions Are There: Character creation, attributes, skill systems, perks—it’s clear this game wants to offer deep customization and player agency. While not fully there yet, the structure exists and just needs further development and balancing. What Needs Serious Work: Gameplay Feels Rough and Unfinished: Movement and combat feel janky and unrefined. There's no real weight to shooting or melee, and enemy AI is wildly inconsistent. Sometimes they charge you fearlessly, sometimes they get stuck. Animations and hit detection often feel off. Buggy and Unstable: During my time with it, I ran into quest bugs, UI issues, audio glitches, and the kind of wonky physics you'd expect from an early-access project. Doors refusing to open, dialogue events not triggering, and quest objectives not updating properly were common. UI/UX and Quest Flow: Menus are clunky, and quest tracking often leaves you guessing. Sometimes it’s unclear where to go or what’s broken versus what’s intended. It interrupts the pacing and kills immersion. Shallow RPG Execution (Right Now): The skill and perk systems are in place, but they don’t feel impactful yet. Choices don’t seem to carry weight, and many mechanics (like hacking or persuasion) feel more like placeholders than fully functional systems. Final Word: There’s real potential here, and I don’t want that to be lost in the criticism. This is a labor of love from a solo developer, and it shows—but so does the strain of doing it all alone. Within the Cosmos is not a bad idea—it’s just not a finished product. For anyone expecting a polished RPG like Mass Effect or The Outer Worlds, this isn’t that. Yet. I’ll be back for future updates. But for now, it’s getting uninstalled and shelved. I want to see this game succeed—and I sincerely hope the dev sticks with it, refines the systems, and delivers the experience this concept deserves. Rating (for now): 6/10 Still in development spirit. Needs polish, but shows promise.

Всё-таки поставлю лайк этой игре, несмотря на недостатки. По жанру Within the Cosmos наиболее похожа на The Outer Worlds (визуал, атмосфера, геймплей), с небольшими вкраплениями Deus Ex и Fallout (открывание механических и кодовых замков, иногда вариативность прохождения локаций). Именно поэтому игра меня заинтересовала. В игре очень качественный level design и визуальная составляющая (особенно дизайн городов), есть хорошо выполненная шутерная составляющая. Приятно изучать локации в поиске полезных предметов ("привет" к Fallout и Deus Ex). Присутствуют основные и побочные квесты, то есть игра нелинейная. Видно, что разработчик вложил много усилий в проект. На мой взгляд, главная проблема Within the Cosmos - это баги, связанные с квестами. А это критически важно для ролевой игры. В играх такого жанра допустимо проваливаться через текстуры, допустимы корявые игровые механики и отсутствие баланса, допустима не самая современная графика. Но всё, что касается квестов, должно работать идеально. Ведь это core механика таких игр. И вот в этом разработчик допустил главную ошибку. В квестах происходят soft lock'и, квесты не переключаются после их старта. Это рушит атмосферу, и ты как игрок начинаешь бояться выбрать не ту опцию в диалоге или взять побочный квест, боясь, что это сломает игру. А ведь не у всех есть личное время, чтобы откатываться на пару часов назад, чтобы обойти проблему квеста. То есть вместо свободного приключения ты начинаешь ходить по основным сюжетным рельсам, боясь сделать шаг влево или шаг вправо. Возможно разработчику стоило бы найти небольшого издателя, и провести бета-тест игры перед релизом. Или вообще доводить проект до релиза на финальной стадии под "крылом" компании-издателя. В видео-трейлере видны еще несколько интересных локаций, которые я хотел бы исследовать, но до которых я не смог добраться, так как произошёл soft lock одного из квестов. Поэтому я технически не смог пройти сюжетную кампанию этой игры. Я ожидал, что разработчик выпустит очередное обновление, но обновления перестали выходить. Думаю, разработчик расстроился и устал чинить свой проект. Могу его понять. Жаль, ведь у игры был хороший потенциал (игра была в разработке несколько лет в full time режиме, насколько я читал). За что еще похвалю игру: С производительностью всё хорошо (хотя у меня мощное железо). Игра стабильна, не вылетает. Сохранения всегда корректно работают. Что бы я еще улучшил в игре: Слишком часто встречаются разные NPC, которые выглядят как один и тот же лысый человек. Создается ощущение, что общаешься с одним и тем же персонажем. Диалоги можно сделать лаконичнее, чтобы легче вникнуть в лор игры. Особенно на первых часах игры. Добавить ambient музыку на локациях. Итог: Я считаю, что разработчик взял на себя слишком неподъемную задачу. Такие проекты не делаются в одиночку. Но с таким проектом ему можно попробовать найти хорошую работу в крупной игровой компании на позицию линейного руководителя с договоренностью получить повышение в должности в случае высокой оценки своей работы как руководителя. Ведь ему удалось довести до релиза сложный проект, что говорит о его понимании различных аспектов разработки, о понимании структуры проектов подобного жанра.

>wake up at start of game >get sent to a mission >go out and do said mission >return to the cave you came from >upon entering your inventory gets wiped and you lose all your stuff >go talk to quest giver >he gives you the quest again Yeah, I'm thinking I'm never going to play this game again

Within the Cosmos still needs some work and a lot of polish however found ways to get around the glitches & Bugs and did enjoy playing however could not get past the point of talking to the leader of the Raven group without the game locking up and requiring a re-start. The vendor transactions really need some work.

A lot of love clearly poured into this project. Fun RPG, love the skill checks. The worlds are beautiful (my personal highlight, cant get enough of taking screenshots lol) The dev is putting out patches on a daily basis (which is really fast considering its a solo dev), so I'm sure the bugs that are left will be fixed. Loving it so far!

Budget indie Outer Worlds. Its alright if you go in with those expectations. It's trying to do a lot, I can tell there was a lot of effort put into making this and while janky, It's not bad for the price.

I bought this game because I saw the developer talking about it on Reddit and because the screenshots looked good. It was also developed over a timeframe of nine years, so I was expecting something nice. Boy was I in for a surprise. I don't mean to sound rude or anything and as a game developer myself I understand how hard it can be to make a good game, but this game is something else. Please don't take what I write personally Mr. Developer, but I am just incredibly disappointed. First of all the UI is an eyesore. The font itself, the size of the font and the color scheme are really not it. I know the developer was trying to go for a sci-fi look but it just doesn't work. The voice acting is really hit or miss at times and sometimes just cuts out at the end of sentences. The lip-sync also doesn't work. It would have been smarter to just cut costs and implement a Stalker-like dialogue system. No expensive voice acting or buggy lip-syncing needed. The graphics are not good either. In the reddit post the developer said he was getting positive feedback on the graphics during his beta-testing. Please get different beta-testers ASAP. The colors, the models, the weird emissive lights even in environments where they don't make any sense whatsoever just make the experience of playing this game even worse. The first room you wake up in for example: You have a character in front of you with blue armor with a pink gun(?) in a medical room with old wooden floors, but for some reason there are these orange neon lights around the edges of the room(?). The models used for the environment and the actual characters and lights just don't fit together. It seems like there was no art-direction whatsoever. Again, I don't want to sound rude, but there should be an established theme for every space, it's not that complicated. An old medical room? DON'T PUT NEON LIGHTS IN IT! Sound-Design is also atrocious. The supposed "Sci-Fi Assault Rifle" uses a copyright free revolver gunshot sound effect??? There are like hundreds of free Sci-fi sound effects on the internet but the developer decided to use the revolver gunshot sound effect? The background ambience got on my nerves very quickly as well. The big and scary turret also sounds like ass. While I'm talking about the turret: It just doesn't hit right. There is no juice. A big mounted turret should be something that the player needs to watchout for, but with sounds and design like this it's hard to take it seriously. It should make bright lights when shooting (like an actual muzzle flash of a big and heavy gun), It should slightly make the screen shake when it shoots in your direction or if your close to it etc. There just isn't enough juice in the whole game tbh. I shot a guard from point blank in the head with shotgun and he just... collapses in on himself. No knockback, no blood, no sound or anything. Now I would like to talk about the bugs. Those damn bugs. They are everywhere in this game. Like literally everywhere. The animations are completely bugged out and just don't work at all. It gets annoying very quickly. Oh and the guard I killed earlier? The "Press E to talk"- box was still there even after I killed him and no matter how far away I was it was constantly on my screen. The dialogue, as I said earlier, cuts out at times. I have played it for like half an hour and there are more bugs I could list, but I think you get what I am trying to say here. Normally I am forgiving of bugs, especially when the game is made by a solo-dev. But I have to ask: Have you, the developer, actually played your game? These aren't some niche bugs that you might overlook, these are very obvious and incredibly stupid bugs and I am surprised that in the nine years of development there wasn't a single moment you could spare to fix bugs like these. I have made FPS games before and I know these bugs like the back of my hand and I can tell you, this is at max, if you are ass at you are doing, a 30min bug fix. This isn't an honest mistake, it's negligence. The developer tried doing something with this game, but I am sorry to say this, he (or she, I don't care) failed. I really don't understand how he looked at this and thought "This is fine". If you really want to make a good game, which can compete with others, you need to look at it critically. You should also look at other games and (god forbid) compare. I know "comparison is the thief of joy" and stuff like that, but if you want to truly make something good and have success with it, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ do it. This game should never have been released in a state like this and really puts the developer and his skills as a game developer in a bad light. I am not trying to be rude, it's just the truth. I hope for the other games he is going to make, that he finally decides to actually finish what he implements and doesn't just jump to the next meaningless mechanic like a monkey on adderall. Just a side note: This game should have been early-access. It wouldn't fix anything but the 1.0 should not have been released when the game is as unfinished as it is.

Well, this game is really disappointing - it's too raw to buy it. You're not able to rebind sprint button, time ability (or how do call it?) wasn't working for me, inspite of i've changed use button - it always displayed me prev one and etc. First i wanted to keep it just to support devs - but after 0.6 hrs of playing i got some kind of a lock: repairing generator doesn't move the progress. I could ignore that and wait for later updates in case if it was EA game - but it's not. And such quality isn't normal for released products, IMHO. Still, this game "has something" - so, i guess, i'll give it a shot later in the future. Hope devs would work on this game/ But for now - i'll refund it.