Just started this game in the middle of several others in the genre and it is, by far, the best one for solo play and for how much less jank it has compared to every other crafting-survival game. It feels like an actually well thought out AA game and not something using stock, market assets with a simple facelift, tho not quite as tight as a good AAA action adventure (like Elden Ring or God of War). It’s got actual open-world goals to give you some direction. It’s, so far, pretty decently balanced for solo combat (it scales only when you have more players).

The only pressure points are the awkwardness of using Minecraft-like hotbars to equip weapons so healing or using grenades in combat is annoying as fuck and, like many games recently, the enemy spawning can be irritating as it doesn’t necessarily care if you can see it happen nor does it place them a bit away from you. Hella times I will survey an area, see it is clear, take a step forward and have a group of wolves or something just magically appear right up my ass. Oh, and how slippery gentle slopes can be. Hit the wrong spot on the terrain, and you’ll be thrown back hella far even sliding past perfectly flat landing spots.

• Palworld’s 1.0 updates releases next month
• Valheim gets its full release (including more consoles) in September
• Enshrouded gets its official release in October

Many good games getting official releases this year. Looking forward to it!