Recent reviews by Sanctum

I want to... I want to love this game. I want to recommend this game. I want to play Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2....

This isn't it. It is more like following up Die Hard with Bad Boys. Sure, the main actor is a cop, there is crime, shooting...

As a vampire game, this one isn't too bad. Though it feels incomplete. The game mechanics are way better then Bloodlines, what do you expect? This is a recent release. If compared to Bloodlines, it will miss the mark time and time again.

I do not know if it was the suits at Paradox or the devs at The Chinese Room. Someone who wasn't a fan simply took Vampire + Rules + Clans and made a sequel. Then they over simplified the skill system, gutted the combat system, put a rookie on the clothing models, and decided there doesn't need to be a story behind anything. It is all cookie cutter (copy paste) design and bare minimum effort.

I am teetering on the fence about whether to recommend this game or not.

If you ever played Stardew Valley, your first impression in this game would be "Okay. A 3D, third person, version of Stardew valley...." Excited or disappointing would be completely up to you.

You start in a house with measly furnishings, like Stardew. You get mail in the mailbox, like Stardew. With the same quests (almost verbatim), like Stardew. There is a chest to sell your items from your inventory, EXACTLY like Stardew - mechanics and all.

By this point I have not played more than .7 hours. So far, this game is cookie cutter Stardew Valley. However, there are some differences which lead me to believe (or at least hope) that the developing team will eventually add their own unique story and mechanics to this game as it progresses. Maybe since it is early access, they are simply using a template of what it is inspired by and will grow independently from there.

With all of that said. This game is very much early access. It takes far too long to load, even on my high end rig. The locomotion is rough. The NPC's have no soul or independence. The rigging leaves a lot to be desired. And the mechanics need a lot more than just being ironed out. Keep in mind. This is EARLY ACCESS! These are to be expected at this point.

However, I would have implemented a keybinding system before releasing it. I find it super frustrating to use someone else's keyboard layout as though it is the gold standard. Talk to any game developer and they each will have a differing opinion on which keys should be assigned to which actions, while insisting they are correct and everyone else is wrong. Allowing a player to customize this to their comfort is extremely important.

At the end of the day, I am rooting for the development team. I am a fan of Stardew Valley. As long as this game brings in it's own unique ideas, I think it has potential.

I had a difficult time deciding whether to recommend this or not.

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Simply put: This game feels half finished. It was released in Nov 2019. It is currently Feb 2022. While I understand better than most that it takes a while to develop a game to completion - it appears more that the developer simply walked away from this game in a half finished state and called it done. All while moving on to other projects.

What is worst, is the developer not only leaves the game in a half finished state but then proceeds to offer DLC! Before you get too excited - I am all for DLC as long as it is reasonably priced. AT LEAST FINISH THE MAIN CONTENT!!

In a quick "simply put" statement, this game is fully playable! I am not going to say it isn't. To quote one of my favorite series: "It is like ordering a pie and finding it has no filling."
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The first, biggest, most annoying blunder about this game... We all know what resolution is, right? The vast majority of people using a computer these days run 1920 x 1080. Load any game in your library. It does not matter what it is, but choose one of those Indie games over a AAA game to be fair to Farmer's Dynasty.

Now that you have that game loaded, go into the options and change the resolution. You will notice a world of change, right? Go ahead and keep that random game set as a low resolution and play it. How much fun are you having?

Farmer's Dynasty seems to have failed at the most basic option that should be polished in any video game. Resolution!

When you load Farmer's Dynasty for the first time, it starts in a window with mouse capture on (meaning your mouse cannot leave the active game window unless you [ALT]+[TAB]). Anyone's first thought would be to head into the options menu and enable full screen and set the resolution to match your system. Right?

Here is the blunder.... It does not matter what resolution you choose! Changing it to ANY resolution pops up a message that says "resolution changes will take effect the next time you load the game", which is standard. The kicker is that it DOES NOT CHANGE THE RESOLUTION. That window remains the same size no matter the resolution you choose. Same with the graphics, FOV, etc.

Even the "window mode" toggle does not work. In order to play the game in the same size as your screen, you have to press [ALT]+[ENTER].
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Moving away from resolution, which is a huge BUG or MISS, let us dive into the game itself. While this game is fully playable; you are able to sow your fields with everything that is involved (plow, cultivate, seed, fertilize, etc.), you are able to milk your cows, build and repair, and so on without any issues. It is best described as playing any other game with the 'god mode' cheat and 'developer mode' cheat enabled. Here are some examples.

When you play any game (Rust, Valheim, Ranch Simulator, etc.) you need to build or repair a building, right? If you do not have enough wood, you will need to go find some, right? Enable those cheats and you can build anything without any resources.

In Farmer's Dynasty, you will have to repair your buildings as well as other farmer's buildings during repeatable quests. So you change to your repair tool and head off to a broken building. Wood, Brick, Metal, does not matter. Hold down the [LMB] and you repair the building. Does not matter if you have any resources. You will repair the building.

You will have to decide if this is something you enjoy or not.

How about progression? Apparently you start the game with a farmer who is new to the farm, yet knows how to do anything! There is no skill system. There is no research. There is no unlocking . . . well, anything. The only requirement is money!

In a typical game, you would be a noob. So you buy a cow and milk it with a level 0 milking skill. It takes a while to milk the cow, you do not gain as much milk as you should, maybe you hurt the cow in the process so it "moos" , kicks you, or runs off. You keep grinding the skill and your character gets better and better. right? Apply this idea or concept to anything within the game. You have basic character development. By the time you milk this cow professionally, you feel you accomplished something.

In Farmer's Dynasty, there is ABSOLUTELY NO PROGRESSION. None. If you have money, you buy it. If you bought it, you do it. Simple. Basic. Linear.

You will have to decide if this is something you enjoy or not.

If you are someone who either works in game development (like I do) or plays early access games, you will completely understand this next part. Which has to do with the UI (user interface).

When we develop a game, we do not spend a lot of time on making the UI pretty from the beginning (unless we have a large team where we can have someone dedicated to artwork). Our main focus is making things playable. After we are done, or hit a certain stage, we often go back and add polish.

When you play an early access game, you will have an ugly UI in the beginning stages. Something slapped together with bubble gum and simple colors. As the development team moves forward, they will polish these and make it more engaging.

When the game is finished, the UI is either beautiful and functional or just pretty and functional. Now, I realize this is also the level of skill and eye for art on the developer's side of things as well. Maybe in Farmer's Dynasty, the developer does not have an eye for art or budget to hire an artist. Considering the state of the rest of the game play, it appears to be more 'cut and run'.

You will have to decide if this is something you enjoy or not.
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In conclusion, the current state of the game, while it is playable and you can do anything - you will loose interest quickly. After you tackle the quests to get the equipment to make a little money, you will find yourself waking up in the morning, collecting your eggs and milk, running back to your home and going to sleep to start the next day. Repeat this for about an in game week or month, You can harvest the green house or fields. The developer knows this, because he allows you to sleep for a whole week instead of a single day at a time.

The biggest reason we add progression, other than to simply balance the game or give you a feeling of accomplishment, is to give you something to do while waiting for those fields to grow! The repeatable quests only offer four options. How many times can you repeat four tasks and have fun?

Everything you need is provided for you! Simply fix it up with unlimited resources, take a bus to the store and buy what you need, then repeat the same mundane tasks over and over and over and over again.

This game has some REAL potential. Currently it is a pie with no filling.

I have enjoyed this game so far. Currently 36 hours into the game. Only playing a few hours here and there. While this is a good game to kill some time. It becomes very repetitious quickly.

If you like a good exploration game. Space based theme. Solo gaming. This game could be for you. With that said, I would recommend this game.

I, personally, prefer games where 'sandbox' means:

"A sandbox is a style of game in which minimal character limitations are placed on the gamer, allowing the gamer to roam and change a virtual world at will. In contrast to a progression-style game, a sandbox game emphasizes roaming and allows a gamer to select tasks."

While you are able to explore and discover new creatures and plants. Hunt the creatures. Ultimately destroy the planets to gather resources to build, upgrade or make a profit. The space they give you to build your BOA (Base of Operations) is small. The amounts of resources you can carry is strictly limited. Almost forcing you to explore for survival above all else. Because of this, it requires days’ worth of grinding to get established enough to start making a profit. Optionally you can partake in quests to gain profit to speed things up.

There is very little feeling of "sandbox".

I also, personally, prefer multiplayer games. When this game was raising hype, it used the word "multiplayer". In their definition of that word. It simply means Jon Doe discovered this planet on this date. Jane Doe discovered these plants on this date. Though, you are completely alone in this procedural world save some badly coded and useless NPCs that you cannot understand.

I have reserved hope that they would eventually release a multiplayer update, so my kids and I can play this together. I have since lost hope.
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If the developers read this. For $59.99 I would like to see some changes before I would recommend this game.

Multiplayer - simple coop works. A small group of us running around and exploring the world together. Keep your player base. We like to game socially with our friends too.

Allow multiple bases. I have one on planet X. A planet that resembles Earth. Let me build an empire. Let me build a base on Planet Y. A cold planet that allows me to farm certain plant life. Planet Z. A radiated planet fit to farm plutonium. All with a transport pod that allows movement of resource from any base I own.

Maybe add a deep core drill to allow one of the bases to drill iron, or any other resource only found on that type of planet.

I love the NPCs that run the Science lab etc... Why not capitalize on this? Give us workstations to hire NPCs to gather resources for us. Mechanics to fix our ships. Shipyards to build our own designs. Allow me to send Gus, the NPC to Planet A22345x to gather these three resources. Sure, it will take an in-game day or three. But it could be awesome!

You call this a sandbox. Lift the limitations and let my imagination run wild with possibilities!
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Do not get me wrong. I do love this game. I just get bored playing by myself and slightly frustrated with the limitations. I also see a lot of possibility and potential that should be in a game costing $59.99.

When this game is half off, I would recommend it. Full price... It is just not there.

This was just released as early access. Keep that in mind. There are a lot of bugs and incomplete mechanics. It is currently, not fully playable.

Though, this is the point of the release! In buying into this game at this time, you are playing the game to enjoy it and test it out. This way they can make it a better game. There will be bumps along the way.

If this is something you can understand and tolerate. Then buy into this release and help the game grow better!
If this is something you CANNOT deal with. No judgement. Wait till beta or full release.

Currently, the game is beautiful. After they optimize and polish it up, it will look even more beautiful. There are a few mechanics that make this a little more enjoyable then before. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot more to say about it, being it has only been out a couple days.

This was a cute game to play with a friend. There is an issue with the walkie-talkies. and the game is very short. I do highly recommend this game to anyone who wants to kill a couple hours with a friend.

Still love this game. You can build almost anything you can imagine. The only hold back is that they refuse to add on anything having to do with mission/scenario. The Sandbox game still has plenty you can make up. Base wars. Survive with friends. Well worth trying out.

I do not care that this game is essentially a copy of the first one. As if they, one day, thought to just clone the game. Add a little spit. Polish. Release... Lets see if we can make money selling the same product as a whole game instead of as a DLC....

I do not care that the graphics are outdated. I really do not need the best of the industry graphics to enjoy a game. Give me a good story and game play experience, and I am happy.... Keep note of this paragraph.

I think this game, for what it is, is VERY enjoyable. Esspecially as a multiplayer game.

However, I have to not recommend this for the very reason that I bought two copies of the first one for my son and I. We play games together to bond. Over LAN, one of our games keep crashing after 60 seconds or less.

We both have decent computers (Phenom 960, Gforce 970 SLI X 3, 24GB DDR3 RAM./A10 6400, Saphire 270 SLI X 2, 12GB DDR3 RAM).

I have a good Modem and very expensive Router. Comcast 50Gb connection. Blah Blah....

We play many games online together through an online lobby and/or LAN. But Dead Island kept crashing. Their tech support said to connect vie eithernet and not use wifi. Fail! Still crashed. Gave up.

Bought Dead Island Riptide. Guess what!? Crashes in under a minute. Tech support said the same thing. Eithernet, not wifi. No responce when I told them we both were on eithernet....

As that parahraph stated, good game play experience is a must. I can play with strangers online, just not my son locally.

If I can find a resolution to this, I would recommend it.

If you are an AC fan, you will love and hate this game.

First thing to consider is - What performance specs does your computer have? Second, have you been keeping up on your computer's maintenance?

This game requires a lot of performance from your computer. If you are not keeping up on the maintenance and have too many background processes running, you will run into drops in FPS and stickiness. You might even encounter issues with online connectivity. You have to be very careful to adjust your computer's settings to aid in a resolution in this issue.

(Keep in mind, Ubisoft is not a part of Steam. In their forums they give you a list of troubleshoot steps to follow to correct any online connection issues. Being they have nothing to do with Steam, follow their walkthrough verbatim. However, do not disable Steam or any Steam services.)

My Machine runs an AMD FX 9590. 24GB DDR3 Xfactor Self cooling RAM. A single GTX 970X GPU. Middle end Asus system board. ACX Cylinder Cooling. My computer runs this game without issues - in terms of FPS and standard performance. My computer is well over their System Requirements. Because my HDD is slowing and only a SATA2 3.5Gbs, the load screens take a little while to load. Which will be corrected when I load my SSD.

My son's computer is running an AMD A10 33xx(something). 8GB DDR3 standard RAM. An AMD Sapphire R9 270x. Stock MSI Jasmine System Board. Dual fan cooling (ACX in GPU). 6Gbs HDD. His computer will sometimes drop FPS or appear to slow down. He plays with low/medium graphics quality. His computer falls within range on their Minimum System Requirements. However, his load screens are quicker loading then mine. Though, we have tested his HDD to mine, and his is much faster.

I am a Computer Technician by trade. My son is learning. Both of our systems remain optimized and tuned up on a regular basis. I cannot stress this enough. Tuning up your computer and maintaining your background processes is essential to any game. Especially those that push your hardware to its limits.

Enough about systems. On to the game.

Ubisoft has a history of seemingly not knowing what is going on with their multiplayer engine. Either they will not admit to shutting it down or limiting it. They cannot find and fix an issue(s) with it. Or whatever the speculation is. The fact is that their multiplayer engine with the AC franchise... sucks. And it gets worst with each release (Unity was developed and released, Black Flag started having more and more issues. Black Flag was released and their previous releases became worst, repeat). If you carefully follow their support guide, you should be back in business. But DO NOT DISABLE STEAM!

This game, as all games, has some minor bugs, glitches. I have yet to experience any crashing. The bugs are minor. For example, in a Co-Op mission, the target to follow just stood there. All objectives were complete. Never ended the mission. If everyone was to die and de-synchronize, it would fix itself. However, simultaneous de-synchronization is not easy when you are playing with strangers. Better to exit the mission and try again.

The glitches are standard with AC. You are climbing up and you think this path is A the direction you are moving to, and B the direction that is best suitable. The game mechanics disagree. You might just find yourself jumping to the wrong ledge.... Like in all AC games, correct it as you go.

Or, again like in all AC games, you jump and land, stumble and catch yourself. The game thinks you fell off the edge. You might jump around a little.

Sometimes when you kill an NPC, their bodies appear to have a seizure. How many games have we seen this happen in?

Outside the standard bugs and glitches. The game itself.... I miss being able to pick up an enemy’s weapon and use it in a fight. I miss being able to pick up the body and hide it. They took a lot of things out of this game. In some ways, the mechanics of Black Flag were better. In other ways, Black Flag made the game too easy. Hide in a bush and whistle... Can't do that in Unity.

The AI has been adapted as well. When you drop a guard off the roof top, citizens would cry out. Guards would investigate. This was all standard with ALL the AC games. Well, not so much anymore. They will investigate, but are not as vigilant.

Multiplayer. Has awesome as it is. I was disappointed. I thought it was Co-Op through and through. My son corrected me. Apparently, I did not read all the way through. There are Co-Op missions and you can explore. You cannot do the single player missions when connected with a friend online. This does disappoint me. Fable allowed you to. Borderlands allowed you to. I wish ACUnity would allow it.


Past all the bad. There are tons of new things in this game that makes it unique. Makes it enjoyable for any AC fan! If you can get past all of this, it is of my opinion you would enjoy this game. Thus, I recommend it.

As for the other reviews:

Chests Require Companion App: They moved the mini games out of the game and placed them on an APP. This way you can play the mini games even when you are not at home and gain the rewards. They went modern.

4 Types of Currencies: They took out the mini missions and added them on apps and web browsers. You earn game money, level points in form of currency, style points in form of currency, and hack points. Which means you can spend real world money to get in-game currency. The latter is optional.

Micro transactions: You have to keep purchasing consumables or loot them from bodies, or steal them. You also have to purchase any weapons and armor. Multiplayer boosts. Skills. You also have to upgrade these items. Again, you can pay RWC if you are lazy or impatient, but it is not a requirement - outside DLC.

Gear has stats. They help boost your abilities or give you an edge. However, outfits (costumes) do not give stats. If you want to look like the guy in Black Flag, you will have no stat boost that I noticed. However, if you want to be unique, you will have stat boosts.

Bugs, glitches. I covered that already. Nothing out of the ordinary on my computer or my son's. Drops in FPS, again nothing here. Though, there is some lag when online. This will depend on your cables, modem, router, WiFi or LAN, and of course, the bandwidth.


This is as much information as I can offer without rambling (too much). Take this, along with the other reviews and make your choice. I say wait for a good sale and pull the trigger. But make sure you have the hardware first.

This is a fun little, casual, game. Won't satisfy any hardcore gamers' gaming appitite. However, it is a great game to pick up and play for those casual moments.

This game is a lot like Terraria meets Dwarves. A bit of a mix and match genre. You have your 'craft the world' genre, allowing you to build anything your imagination allows you to. Combat system for stratagies. Tower defense. Exploration and minning (reminds me of Miner Miner). Instead of playing the whole game as you control the player, you are more the overlord telling your minions what you want done and when.

I was dissapointed by the fact this game feels very much like any game you play on a smartphone or tablet (pretty sure it was designed for tablets). It takes too much to click and access certain items. I really think the crafting system needs an overhaul just to be easier to use. If not an overhaul maybe: 'one-click reciepes' instead of constantly having to add the items to the reciepe box. 'Auto craft' items like food, where the dwarfs will automatically craft food and/or fill the table.

I would love to see more customizablity to the game, such as making your own dwarves. Assigning jobs or duties. Being able to sell stuff to the shop. I would also love to see more item options in the crafting menu and tech tree!! What this game REALLY needs is more tower defense items to help against the attacking hordes. More traps.

If they can step away from generic tablet app design and more cross platform full feature game design, this game has a lot of potential.

(sorry for any misspelling)