everything feels as if it is meant to waste your time and pad the game out making it feel way longer than it really is
While I do understand this complaint, once one does understand how the game works, it is actually very quick in my opinion.
The only real slow part I find would be if you rely solely on materials gathered by the natives, but nevertheless, I,
personally, did enjoy the grind when I first tried it out - who knows some options might make it into the game to speed it up, or a mod, without straight up feeling like cheating.
The second complaint I have is simply how lost a new player feels when starting out in Mad Island. Nothing is explained. There's no guidance.
I do agree that there should be much more explained to a new player - which I do hope will come with future updates.
The "How to Play" button thingy is a good start, explaining some controls, but should definitely not be the entire end of it.
Then again, other games do have no tutorial, no explanation at all - But it'd still be nice to have a little more at the very least.
...for a game where its sandbox is the main attraction, I legit expected to be able to do much more;
All things considered, I do find it already "plenty" for such a game. (I wouldn't say no to more, don't get me wrong, especially other combos and preferences and whatnot, but everything already in currently is already quite a lot when I think about it IMO)
There's just...so much untapped potential which'd allow for the game to be so much more fun for so many people.
Yes and there'll always be much more untapped potential - even if your preferences and/or ideas get implemented.
For one, the game is not complete just yet.
On the other hand, we also need to think of it as a product that will
eventually finish development.
While I certainly would like a lot more content from the devs to fill potential, we do need to eventually move on.
Where do we draw the line? I think this is heavily based on personal acceptance - not everything is a live-service game and even those eventually reach an end - all without fully tapping on their potential, because there's always gonna be more.
When the thought of buying it comes to mind, I would recommend anyone to consider everything currently in the game and potentially check for
actual promises(not just potential ideas) from the devs of what is still to come. I've been pretty much out of touch for quite a while, so I am unable to comment on that - but I can say that, even if the story were to finish and the game be considered complete, I would
personally be fine with it, considering the enjoyment I did get out of the game for the price it has.
(I still would like more, of course, but I personally would not feel bad about it)
For those uncertain, I'd recommend waiting until it reaches said point, or just not buying it - luckily here at least, we can try out more than just a 5 minute demo before deciding whether we're gonna buy it on respective platforms or not
All things considered, I would define this game as great for sure - and I do hope it reaches that point for you, too.
Keep in mind, this is of course my personal opinion on the matter and should not, nor will it ever be the one thing everyone agrees with - we're all different and that's fine too!
