Recent reviews by CoLS Firestar

Cute game. The demo was fun but that's where it stops. Every system in the game feels like it was half done.

Only some skill cards work. Leveling combat is really unbalanced compared to others. The game crashes when fast travelling. A lot of quests need to be jiggered in order to work. The lighting and color causes eye strain. I've
honestly played Alphas more put together. It's playable, but there is a lot of jank.

I kickstartered this game and played it in 2018. Thought it was just another generic, but decent RPG like all the others that were flooding the market. Maybe some quirky combat system tacked on to give it some flair. Oh, hey, combat is klunky and kind of difficult. I'm going to go play Terraria or whatever instead. Besides, I prefer fantasy over realistic.
(fast forward 7 years)

I don't even remember why I picked this game back up again but once the rhythm of combat clicked, that was it. The game is so immersive and if you need an example, I wanted to listen to a conversation the NPCs were having so I reloaded and earlier save only to find them hiding under a tree because it was now raining and they didn't want to be wandering around on the roads.
I don't remember the times I've seen load screens other than you died, try again.
I love just riding my horse around. All the quests are pretty memorable and there's very few filler quests. Everything you do impacts the game world in some way. Like, certain quests are impacted by you taking the time to learn how to read or not.
And there's so much replayability. Play kind Henry, Thief Henry, Axe wielding maniac Henry, Devout Christian Henry, Hardcore Henry.

Exploration is very satisfying because the Dev team was so dedicated to realism and getting everything accurate. There's always something new to find: stumble upon a gravestone with some sweet new armor in the middle of a forest. Yay.

Hmm.... negatives? There's a few buggy quests. Not too difficult to navigate around those for the most part, but they can be quite frustrating, especially if you're reading a walkthrough or guide and the NPC listed just isn't there.
Like most all RPGs, be mindful of saving often. You can save anywhere with a drink but for the most part, you need to find a bed to save.
Biggest hassle for me was stairs. I hate trying to go up and down stairs at the castles when they are overcrowded with guards and cooks and whatever else creates a traffic jam every time I have to go talk to some noble at the castle.
I did "need" to download a few mods. The invisible wall bushes and water were super irritating to me, but thankfully there's a mod for that and I'm off on my happy way. I also grabbed the instant picking mod.

Game should not have been released at this point. It's an Alpha at best, missing many key game mechanics and the ones that are there are awkward.

A lot of the controls and mechanics are not intuitive, so read the guide. For example, I had trouble using the hammer to remove something. Apparently you are supposed to hold right click, make a selection, keep right mouse button pressed and hit left at the same time.
Also bread? Made in an oven or hearth? Nope. Cauldron.
Farming seems to be hit or miss. Bows don't seem to work yet.

Leveling is slow to start but thankfully that painful process does not last too long.

It would be nice if the building ui was red if you did not have the items and grey if it's something you can actually do instead of having to escape out and check your inventory for pieces.

The map also needs work. Yes, I can see my icon. That's good. But why is the trader blocked with a hard to see icon? Egg drops are also hard to see. Can't we use a different color?

No way to hide quests, so those just permanently take up a 5th of your screen.
Inventory management is messy- no stack all of the same kind, no dump all to chest.

Also, got some sound issues. Are you using the same sound sample for lightning and tree felling?
What in the world is the wolf dying noise? Sounds like a laughing fox. I really don't like the demon noises either. They're creepy and loud.

Music is really good though.

Really good game. Played it for many hours on Epic.
Never thought there would be an exploration/base building game but here we are.

My one gripe is how terrible the lighting is in this game. Even with a master torch thing and putting up laughable light sources, I'm always squinting and straining to see more than a few feet in front of me. Immersive, yes but not fun at all.

Game is buggy and really not worth spending money on in its current state. Way too easy to get stuck on a rock and it's game over for you.

Takes way too long to gather resources that it's kind of mind numbingly boring.

Not a fan of the souls-like combat but eh, that's my own burden to bear. Thankfully, there are difficulty sliders.

Honestly this game has the most incredible, complex NPC AI I've seen yet. Nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw one jump while running around my base. Somehow that's only been something PCs do up until now. Set up a tribe, automate production with your new clan mates and have someone else do "the boring stuff" while you go on tackling your own idea of fun.

Like Pokemon, the RNG gives you villagers with interesting traits and growth potential and you're soon hunting for better bodies to inhabit.

My only complaint is the complex dungeons can have you lost for hours while you try to find the boss room.

Cute game, but EA being EA, after 5 hours my save game and character got corrupted.
No rebinding keys.

Not recommended at this time.

Love the exploration in this game. There's nothing I enjoy more than trying to find every hidden nook and cranny.
I'm very impressed that this (a souls-like) game has resource collection, crafting and housing to break up the combat. Always nice to hit a game at different angles.
The combat IS super difficult at the beginning but that's because you have no stuff. Go find the stuff and beat monsters with it.

BGM is very lacking. To be perfectly honest, it was the trailer and Malukah that sold me on this game. Spilled milk, but I was hoping to add another gaming BGM to my car.

The good:
I'm sick with a cold and need a cozy game that does not demand too much from me. Can't die in this game, there are no enemies. Just go fishing or cut down trees. There's plenty to do, tons to collect and you're always short on cash like every other farming sim. If you're bored and need something low key, give this a shot.

The bad:
There's a bug in the main quest where when you get to the top of a climbing wall, the character won't pull themselves up. Very frustrating. Took me 12 attempts to wiggle around it and get up on top.

If your tools run out of energy, they break and go back to the tool that is a tier lower. Not really a big deal if you keep an eye on decay, but if you don't you can be one sad panda.

Game is a bit buggy but a wonderful little colony sim. Interesting story and the ability to travel around a giant map and set up more colonies is fun.