izigame.me

This is an early access review before the first update.
I have completed the game after roughly 25 hours of playtime.
Positives:
- The NPC's bring a nice change to people who want to play this game but dont have the friends to do so.
- Graphically looks beautiful. Especially with the changing seasons.
- A ton of weapon options.
- The build mode has taken a huge improvement over the original.
- Combat feels better than the original. (Minus the handgun, it feels really weird to use)
- The new weather system really does help the world feel more alive.
- The 3D printer is a VERY good addition. It adds a sort of "shop" feel. But I feel we need more options in this printer.
- The sled is a TON of fun.
- The addition of peaceful mode allows this game to be accessible to anyone.
- The addition of a GPS is VERY appreciated and makes navigation much easier.
- Sharing / passing inventory items to coop members is a huge improvement for teamwork.

Negatives:
- A very lacking world. Theres like 7 animals on the entire island. Deer, Moose, Squirrel, Rabbit, Turtle, and Bird, and fish.
- The story is somehow even more bare-bones than the original. The only means to progress the story is through emails that you can find printed out around the island. Theres also literally only one line of dialogue in the entire game. At that point, why even have it? Everyone just gestures and makes grunts instead of talking.
- There are multiple caves that are completely empty and serve next to no purpose outside of providing minor resources.
- The caves that arent instant dead-ends feel shorter and less dynamic compared to the original. (For example, in the original you were using the climbing axe to navigate an extremely deep cave.)
- Not all of the original mutations are in this game. And the mutations that are in this game are nowhere as threatening as the original. The only real threat is in the final lab where you fight the final mutation because its very fast and does 2 armor per hit.
- The ending is absolutely horrible. It drops SUPER abruptly. There isnt a final boss or big fight at the end. Its just a really big room with about 20 or so of the final mutation. Which can be easily handled with the cross.

Bugs:
- Rotten food can still be cooked and it will turn into "cooked" food which can be eaten like normal.
- The GPS tracker does not use any of the custom icons. They will default always to the radio icon regardless of what you chose.
- Virginia can sometimes just disappear and cannot be found. Im not sure what causes this to happen but it seems to be random.
- Kalvin's AI is hilariously bad. For every one correct thing he does, he breaks three other things. Hes just a liability and youre better off telling him to just stay in rest til the end of the game so that you can get the achievement. I feel he would serve a better purpose being able to help you in combat like with Virginia.
- Multiple achievements are bugged / do not work correctly in multiplayer.
- If you are building and get attacked by a cannibal, the structure gets bugged and will not let you build on to it anymore.
- Multiple items will get stuck to your hand when hit in the middle of an animation. Stuff as minor as weapon visual bugs or something major like being hit while picking up a cannibal body will just have a cannibals butt in your face until you leave the game.
- Sometimes coop player's will not show up on the map. But they are visible on the overworld.

Minor complaints:
- Deer absolutely BOOK it. I get that this is to encourage the "stealth" but they will hear a leaf and just instantly run to a different zip code. This makes hunting deer in the early game next to impossible. Compared to the original where they will stop running to give you a chance to catch up and take them down with the axe.
- Speaking of stealth, this mechanic serves next to no purpose at all. Cannibals and mutants will still spot you even if youre crouched in a bush.
- Base building is basically unessential. The best way to play this game is being as nomadic as possible. Settling down will just get you invaded by cannibals. And you dont really need a place to store your food and resources because the game lets you hold an incredible amount just on your back. And with crates and boxes littered all over the island you are almost always good on resources.
- You are able to give weapons to Virginia but you have to give YOUR weapons. There are multiple spawn locations for the handgun and the shotgun. But you cannot carry more than one at the same time. This makes it incredibly annoying trying to give your weapons to her. Let us hold the other guns so that we can give them to Virginia later. (Just like how we cant equip any of the Kelvin / Virginia clothing.)
- The NPCs do not follow you into any cave. While I get its somewhat harder to program, they would be a bigger help in the caves as that is where youre going to spend MOST of your fighting.
- It would be nice to have a crafting book, similar to the survival guide book. Basically asking for the option to fast craft previously unlocked recipes. It would also be nice to let us craft in bulk. So that we dont have to rewatch the animation each time.
- Unless im mistaken, firewood serves next to no purpose. It just sits there and looks pretty but you cannot use it.
- The game does not tell you that the GPS can be zoomed out and zoomed in with middle mouse. This is a HUGE improvement over the standard GPS size.
- Not being able to like full screen the map and have a clear and full view over the entire island. The best you can get is a 1/3rd view. You also cannot have a compass so it is somewhat easy to lose your way around unless you use a third-party map service.
- The turtle shell serves no purpose at all. This was used in the original as a way to collect rain water but that recipe is not currently in the game.
- There is no penalty for not eating/drinking/sleeping outside of a lower stamina bar.
- There is no penalty for eating raw/rotten/poison food. Your character will just cough and then shake it off immediately.
- The garden plot is only used for one plant at a time. Which is hilariously bad compared to the original.
- The shovel is ONLY used for story progression / minor loot spots. I was hoping that this could be used for land excavation / setting up traps.
- The mountain serves no purpose aside from just being fun to sled off of. Theres no items, enemies, or animals all over the area. Its completely barren and devoid of meaning.
- The shark is hilariously under powered. Really making it an ACHIEVEMENT to die by it. Because they bite you once and run away and the bite is WAY too minimal on damage. It took about 20 minutes of just annoying this shark to die by it.
Suggestions:
- We dont need 3 different Axes if they all serve the same purpose with minimal stat changes. Either make the axes have a MUCH wider stat range, or give them unique interactions with the world.
- Please add more animals. Maybe even some hostile ones like bears or something.
- Winter is the only season that brings a survival change. It makes you manage your heat but I hardly noticed a difference of being cold outside of a minor stamina penalty. Maybe include a sickness for ignoring this warning. And let us craft medicine using some of the healing plants.
- On a similar note, we should include a survival change with summer as well. Maybe have us dehydrate faster or something.
- Please bring back the original mutations and add more.
Overall:
This game has a ton of potential to be a true successor to the original.
While I get this is early access, I feel this is EARLY early access. Its just way too soon to genuinely play this game.
Unless youre just in it for the base building and just being in a pretty world.
In its current state, this is a 6/10 game. Its worth getting if you just really enjoyed the original, but this does really need more time in the oven to truly become a 10/10.