Rating: 9.5/10

I would say this is like a love child between Terarria and Stardew Valley, but I haven't beaten either of those games so I'll keep it a bit more original.

I took the time to 100% Core Keeper (heads up this was like 160 hours, my time playing on Steam Deck wasn't added in idk why) and it was absolutely worth it. The game has so many different facets; farming, mining, fighting, fishing, base-building, collecting, etc. all built into a graphics style that makes me reminisce the GBA. It's hard not to find a reason to love this game.

You can tell the dev put a lot of time and effort into crafting the littlest details about Core Keeper into something enjoyable. For example, I usually don't notice subtle sound effects and music transitions but with Core Keeper it's hard not too. The sounds are built seamlessly into the game and make it so satisfying even when meandering around doing pointless little tasks.

The combat is no joke either. If you go into this game thinking you're going to stomp on all the enemies since you've played Elden Ring or similar like I did you will be humbled quick. You actually have to put time into leveling your character, looting gear, and matching up sets to get bonuses that make just that little bit of a difference to put your character over the edge. Plus, you can get a variety of pets that give stat bonuses and it follows you around everywhere. S'cute.

The one and I mean the ONE drawback this game has it can be extremely grindy. Especially if you're looking to 100% it. For example, leveling up your stats to 100 takes forever depending on which stats you focused on throughout your play-through. This isn't deal-breaking by any means but still, it can be a bit annoying when you already completed everything else. But hey, beggars can't be choosers, especially when hunting for achievements.

Aside from the grindiness, it was an amazing game. 9.5/10 for me. I'm sure this game is great in Co-op. I just didn't have friends to play it with.

TLDR: Core Keeper is one of the defining titles in pixel art / farm life RPG genre, and an indispensable part of a player's collection.

Core keeper is a fantastic, cozy, pixel art masterpeice. it combines crafter/survival with the fun of farming, mining, fishing, cooking, melee, ranged, and boss fights (also your character gains skills in those as well)

this review has been a long time coming because it was difficult to find words to describe it. I just really enjoy playing it. the latest updates really made me pull the trigger on this positive review, the changes are positive, intuitive and well thought out.

The premise is that you awaken in an underground strata of some type, and there is a large monument nearby. You begin crafting the basic structures, and start bossfighting&mining&crafting&production-ing your way to victory. The xp required to reach mastery in each skill is substantial.

However, you don't need to create a new character each time. you can move your character from world to world (including classic worlds created during the early access period, i did appreciate that choice to not invalidate previous savegame states, thanks devs!)

There are various difficulty levels, and a creative mode, for those who want more or less challenge, or no challenge at all.

the map is procedural, and after you reach the final area and its open, the map will self-generate until you run out of memory on your pc. (untested, 32gb of ram takes a really, really long time to burn through. even with 4 people trying to burn it, too lol.)

doing production in the crafting structures is fun, and can also be automated if one is so inclined.

fishing. FISHING. there is fishing. and it is good. (sometimes i'll just play a fishing minigame inside a game instead of the actual game.) I rate this fishing game high on the list of fishing minigames i've played, unfortunately breath of fire 3 takes the top spot still, but core keeper is hot on its heels. it removes more tedious aspects of the process but allows you full flexibility in your approach. for example, bringing the different biome waters to your favorite fishing spot. can do.

current favorite thing to do:
set up an automated extraction outpost, and fish/farm/roast food for hours while the ore extracts AND while one of the best soundtracks i've ever listened to plays in the background? Yeah i'll take 10, please waiter.

performance wise, there's a high performance experience awaiting you, i haven't tried to play it on an old laptop yet, which is really the true test, but i believe it would run really well, with some settings reduced. (the water graphics are beautiful. whoever did that is a genius.)

anyways, i can blather on about this game for years. if you like the genre type that includes games like minecraft / stardew / animal crossing etc, I think you'd enjoy core keeper, and in my opinion it is absolutely one of those legendary titles in its own right, and very unique, you'd be missing out not to bring it into your collection.

this game smells weird but it's chill i love it