Core Keeper

As a 42 year old married man, I honestly wish I could have experienced this game with friends. No one that I grew up with (or currently interact with) still plays games the way that I do. Regardless, I enjoyed my time playing Corekeeper. I logged the majority of my hours during the initial release. I've never played a game that felt as effortlessly open world as this one. Building your home(s), exploring new biomes, and even laying out your own railroad network consistently felt fresh and imaginative. As I dive back in after a number of massive updates, Corekeeper has retained it's original appeal, yet added quality of life updates along with content that has inevitably sucked me back into the persistent grind towards perfection. Corekeeper will absolutely end up as a top 5 gaming experience in my ever-expanding repertoire. I'm forever grateful to Pugstorm for the level of happiness they've provided, and I impatiently await the inevitable release of Kyora! FINAL RATING: 10/10 (first and only game I've given a perfect score!)

Welp...I have 877 hours, I guess it's time to review. I...LOVE this game. Whether I'm trying out something new or just messing about while listening to my favorite spooky podcast Core Keeper has become what I call a "Comfort Food" game for me. Perfect for mellowing out after a hard day.

I’ll keep it real: Very fun game made by an inspired team with great ideas and a good sense of execution. Except for the post base-game area, passage. It very quickly eroded all my goodwill in this game. It breaks all of its previous rules and good design principles in favor of being frustrating and hard. Beating the boss in the area requires so much luck and stat investment, that the content that comes afterwards is a joke. Delete passage from the game. Or redesign it entirely. It asks you to traverse through it in a circular fashion, and if you fail, you die. No second chances. Nothing. Can’t even dig around the arena to create openings. Just instant death. I am not joking. It is so far below the rest of the game. I’m only giving this game a positive review because the remaining 90% was great fun, but this is genuinely so heartbreaking. Remove passage. Until it’s removed or reworked, I can recommend this game up until its basegame final boss. After that, quit the game, you’re done.