Developer: Cyberwave
PS5 Review
*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game on PS5 in return for a review; all opinions are mine and mine alone.
Hello, and today I bring you a builder, survival cosy game called Solarpunk that comes with standard and soft mode (easier mode). I know a lot of you love these kinds of games, and this one may be the one for you, who knows? I both love and hate survival games; when they add a cosy theme, it kind of sucks me in. It's probably why I spent so many years playing Minecraft, which I guess I can compare Solarpunk to just because they are both cute, cosy, and there is a lot of grinding and survival involved. The reason I have a love-hate relationship with games like this is the aspect of dying; it's not fun, I hate it, and I don't want to travel back to a location to collect the items I collected in the first place, but I push on and get on with it usually. You start from nothing and build your way up the way you want, except it's not really the way you want, as you need to find the best way to make it through each day and how best to use your energy and resources.
Solarpunk leaves you on a random island that is floating in the sky with a random chicken. You can't interact with said chicken until you have the right starter pack, and you will grind your way through to eventually get there. The chicken gets to survive more freely than I do, so I'm slightly envious of this. You also don't have to eat the chicken; its purpose, along with others you end up with, is to use the eggs for a food source. I was pretty oblivious to the ins and outs and spent a large part of 2 hours just collecting resources and seeds to grow before I attempted the mini tutorial given to players; it gave me an idea of where I wanted to build my own home and farm.
With a limited idea on what to do besides that tutoiral I gave myself a list of what to do next, (the survival guide was also a big help with this) top of my list was food rescourse which was berries and planting seeds to help more grow, the only annoying thing about this is once you pick a crop the plant disappears and doesn't regrow, you are given more seeds but not enough to expand on what you grow, to do that you need to venture further aand find more berries to pick that will then give you the seeds, you are limited on the first iland you're dropped on which means you need to find a way to fly to another. It took a lot of working out that the hammer I built can be used to build more equipment to climb further so I could find components for my airship to fix it (how embarrassing).
Now it only gets more embarrassing for me because once I fixed this airship, I was awful at not only flying ot but trying to park it up to get onto another island. I never realised I could change the perspective to third person; this way I could see the ship better and how close I actually was to the island, but still crashed a million times or couldn't get the ship close enough to be able to climb back on. I don't know if that's a me issue or if every player has that issue; it was annoying for me, that's for sure.
Most of the game relies on you grinding for supplies in order to craft. I don't mind this too much, but I fear others will grow bored and find it repetitive if they want to progress faster. I personally like the slow burn of being able to take my time and not have to rush; it means I can work on getting better at replenishing my energy levels and making my living area a delightful place to be. One day, when I was able to craft my fishing rod, I discovered I could get random supplies from fishing; the berries were a big help. I enjoyed spending time on my own island more so than venturing out in the air machine; that was until I met the cutest little robot who required me to make swaps for supplies. The robot's shop is surrounded by sunflowers, which are one of my favourite flowers.
Although progress can be slow, you will eventually end up with better gear for your home, crafting and farming, which will make your life on the island a lot less daunting and easier to survive. My main issue with the game was how lonely it felt; there is no other human life form to befriend, it's just you, animals and a robot in this floating world. The upside to those who play games online with friends is that Solarpunk is a multiplayer game too; it means you can grind and get things done together as a team. I probably won't use this feature; it's a nice added option for this type of genre, though. If you want to check this game out but are worried about dropping items, I recommend playing on soft mode; it helps you avoid getting hit by lightning too. Solarpunk is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2. and on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store,
Have a cosy day
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