Crashlands - Return of the survival

I think I have never mentioned it before but I used to be into Minecraft a lot! I loved it! Later Terraria came by and liked this one even more, I even still play it from time to time. Since then I have tried a few games of this type more famous of which are Don't Starve by Klei and Starbound by Chucklefish. But why I'm telling you this? Isn't this whole genre thing of the past with the market being overflown with such games? Well, I don't know honestly, but I'm mentioning these games because today I'm about to tell you more about one new game which fits perfectly among the mentioned above. This is Crashlands by Butterscotch Shenanigans. I still have not beaten it, so this is just first impressions after around ten hours of gameplay.

Fluxed with Hewgodooko and Juice

In Crashlands you take on the role of Flux who together with his robot friend Juicebox are working for intergalactic delivery company and are in the middle of important delivery when their ship is destroyed by the alien Hewgodooko. Flux and Juicebox manage to save the cargo before crashing on unexplored planet but now they are stuck there and their boss won't be happy if they are late with the delivery.

From here the story continues with you helping a lot of locals who have different problems some related and some not with your quest which is only to get the parts needed for you to build a device with which to call for help.

Roaming Woanope

From all of the mentioned in the beginning games Crashlands reminds me mostly of  Don't Starve, but with the strong equipment crafting element of Terraria. Similar to those two you will go into the wild to gather materials, craft tools and weapons also you will learn more and more about the strange world in which you have dropped. Butterscotch have managed to create vast, colorful world for you to explore. World filled with bizarre but unfriendly wild animals as well as strange nature worshiping locals. The art style of Crashlands is one thing that sets it aside from Don't Starve and Terraria. I mean both of those games look very well in their respective art styles, but neither is so bright and in both there is feeling of loneliness, even in Terraria where NPCs will come join you through the game. Here you're accompanied by Juicebox everywhere, talking with him all the time exchanging jokes, receiving advises. Also the locals will speak with you and give you quests. The game sets a totally different mood while you play it. Its more...lively! Mentioning the quests...

The biggest thing that separates Crashlands from the others are the quests. In the game as I already mentioned you will get quests and they are from what I have seen so far(around 10 hours into the game) the main progress mechanism of the game. You are free to explore the world without doing your quests but there are recipes which you won't be able to find. Interesting thing is the elaborate fighting system. Here unlike Don't Starve and Terraria or even Minecraft you won't be able to kill anything if you just stand there and mash the attack button. Every enemy that you meet will telegraph his attack in a way similar to the monsters in Wild Star for example and if you don't dodge you will be quickly stomped, bitten, electrocuted or poisoned to death. The fun starts when you aggro more than one enemy and your whole screen becomes ridden with attack patterns...

The crafting system is the same as the one in the two others - you gather materials, use the appropriate crafting station and voila you have a new item. Here you will also find the same random chance to craft different rarity of items as in Terraria. But unlike there here you get better and better when you craft one and the same item again and again.

I have not finished the game, but from what I heard it is pretty long so be prepared for some serious roaming, crafting and fighting - a charmingly bizarre world is waiting for you. But don't worry Juicebox will be there with you, not to mention that you can even tame pets who will fight for you. 

Conclusion

Crashlands is great addition to the genre even if you think that there are too many games like it. The game is colorful, lively and challenging, introducing some new and clever mechanics. With one of these it solves the biggest problem people usually have with the genre - they cannot find what to do. In Crashlands there are quests...and humor, a lot of it, not always good quality but in big quantities. Crashlands is great for those who enjoy the genre and are not tired of it and it is also great intro game with quests to help you progress when you are tired of farming ores or slaughtering nasty bugs. Crashlands - definitely charming.

Where to find it:

Official site

On Steam

iTunes Store

Google Store

Butterscotch shenanigans