Recent reviews by Aether126

I love this game, but I cannot recommend it in good faith. Part of the community is poisoned with toxic positivity to the point where they're willing to dox someone over a challenge to the dev team that WOULD HAVE been fun for everyone involved.

While it's mostly playable, it's also riddled with game-breaking bugs (not to be confused with the Terminids) that make certain factions flat-out unfun to play against. *cough cough illuminate cough cough*
Not only that but the balancing is atrocious. Vehicles, ESPECIALLY the mechs, feel like they're made of paper and sneezing on them will make them instantly blow up.
There's more I could say, but I will leave it there to make it brief. I will change this review if/when these issues are acknowledged AND resolved.

Over the few runs I did, no matter how good my "build" was, I never really felt like I had an influence in the game like other roguelikes. I just pull a lever and watch everything else happen, hoping enough stars will align so I can get to the next quota. I dunno, maybe that's the whole point, but it doesn't really make for good gameplay in my eyes.
I'm sure others enjoy it, but I didn't.

"I've got a rubber duck!"

I primarily play the campaign and Frontier Defense because I have a hard time keeping up with the other players in PvP gamemodes.
Overall a fantastic game!

Why does this game cost money now? You literally do nothing.

I enjoyed this game so much during the summer beta that when the demo ended, I tried going to other similar games to fill the Jump Space shaped hole in my heart only to be left disappointed. I am so glad that this game has now been released into early access so I can play it again!

While playable alone, this game is definitely better with friends. The more, the merrier! If you don't have enough for a full party of four, you'll have an AI assistant to help you with tasks.
The gameplay loop is very addictive, with different missions having plenty of variety so they don't get stale. I'm also a huge fan of the hybridization of first person on-foot combat as well as ship-to-ship dog-fighting.
Things can get hectic, so communication is VERY important so your ship doesn't burn up. Finding a balance between piloting the ship, manning the guns, putting out fires, crafting repair modules or ammunition, etc., is also key.

One could say this game is satisfactory

I immediately stopped playing after the demo because I just couldn't get over how awful the ship flight controls felt.

Interesting game, very poor execution.

With the Super Animal World update, SO MUCH has changed.
I'll start by mentioning that they've added in-game friends as well as text chat for consoles. PC and console players can now see each other's text chat! These were the two main gripes I had with the game prior to the SAW update and by far some of the top changes I'm grateful for.

You're now able to explore the island outside of matches, with new NPCs to interact with, main story and side quests you can follow, as well as activities—namely fishing, bug catching, and hamster ball racing as a new game mode. Pixile has also made the other alternative game modes—SAW Vs. Rebellion and The Bwocking Dead—permanently available rather than being in rotation.

While I still highly recommend this game (especially since it's free to play), I do have some new issues with the SAW update, though:
The new main menu feels SO empty and purposeless now, mainly used form a party, choose the server region, and enter the new lobby area where you can then queue for games and find everything else you're looking for. Why is it even there anymore? Either keep everything accessible in the main menu or just put me right into the lobby when I boot up the game.
A lot of the features in the main menu such as the shop and battle pass have been moved to physical locations, as well as the BananOS, the new sub-menu accessible anywhere in the lobby. However, character customization is now EXCLUSIVELY set at a physical location, meaning you have to travel to them if you want/need to change outfits.
I'm mostly negative towards these changes, and I can see what Pixile was trying to do, but they feel VERY counter-intuitive. Even with the new tutorial, I have been left somewhat confused on where I access certain things.

New overall rating: 8.5/10.
As I mentioned in my previous review, I said I would rate it a 10 or 11 if they added a friend system. I still wholeheartedly believe this. The gameplay is still great; The new activities and game mode are really fun! HOWEVER, the gutted main menu is gonna dock it down to an 8.5.

Buckle in, because this review is going to be pretty lengthy. TLDR at the bottom.

This game is UNLIKE any other battle royale I've ever played. It does a great job at feeling low pressure and chill while still maintaining that feeling of action. There are still sweats here every so often, but I feel like that's the unescapable case with just about any game. The community is amazing and laid back.

Something this game has above any other game with a battle pass gimmick is that your season battle pass progression is saved. Not only that, but you can buy any previous battle passes you may have missed out on entirely! This removes that stressful feeling of FOMO and needing to grind the pass before time runs out.
At the time of writing this review, Pixile made the newest battle pass COMPLETELY FREE to celebrate becoming independent publishers after parting with Modus.

A majority of the game's character customization is totally free, with dozens of different animal species and hundreds of variations to choose from that you unlock though level progression, then collecting DNA points and super serum.
Outfits, weapon skins, and emotes are obtained through battle passes, leveling up (one free random item per level), events, and a shop.

The only problem I have with this game is that it doesn't have a friends system integrated, nor is there a way to invite people to your lobby except via invite code or through your platform of choice's friends list. This isn't a huge problem if you're playing with current friends, but it can be an issue if you end up making friends in-game.
They've changed this!

It also doesn't have in-game voice chat, but that's probably for the best. VC could help, but overall negligible since most people usually use Discord or something similar anyways.
PC does have in-game text chat, but console players do not and cannot see the messages of PC players. This makes the aforementioned issue of adding friends that are cross-platform nigh impossible.
They've also changed this!


TLDR:
You literally do not have an excuse to not try this game. It's good; it's free. Worst case-scenario, you waste 30 minutes and uninstall it.
And Pixile, add friends to the game. (THANK YOU PIXILE)

Overall rating: 9.5/10 (it would be a 10, maybe even an 11, if they added friends).

Spooky game alone
Funny game with friends