Recent reviews by zynophax

What a trip down nostalgia lane already. Probably gonna have some hot takes but hopefully, this is helpful. Been part of the Ark community since the game's original first go around (Put in about 1,000 myself, while my dad has around 13,000), and as many have duly noted - this is not an IP that's ever been the most optimized. Never has been and probably never will. That being said, I predict potential here, as there was with the original inception of Ark, and as it was before it is up to us as a community to keep an open mind.

(Summary of below: This game has the potential to be as fun and community driven as it's predecessor. Right now it is lacking many features that made Survival Evolved great. There is some serious work to do patching things up with it's community, but overall there is reason to remain hopeful when setting the "money grubbing" aside.)

Let's get the Ugly out of the way:

- There has been a huge breech of faith between developer/publisher and it's community that comes on the heels of this product's release. Miscommunications about pricing, window of product availability, and what was probably hardest for many of the community to stomach, a forceful change that many didn't ask for. This is a game that has really shined because of it's community contributions (Modders, mapmakers, content creators, etc.). There is going to be a heavy air of cynicism that comes with that breech of faith.

- As many have already noted, with the graphical overhaul that has taken place in the game, as with the original version of the game (Survival Evolved), it's going to put your machine and your patience through it's paces. There was jokes amidst the community for the longest time that if any game were to label their bugs and inefficiencies as features - this would be the IP. "The lag and rubber banding, It's just a hard mode feature get good" as we all cried together. This doesn't excuse the existing problems, but this isn't something the community hasn't lived through before and came together stronger after with a little bit of patience.

- The biggest hit approaching this new era of the game, is going to be dealing with what has been lost, and approaching change. There was a lot of improvement to the ARK IP that came from the modding community that will be either inaccessible for a time, or lost. It will be a frustration at the start - many feeling that we are buying into an inferior, or downgraded version of the game. Time will be the greatest judge of this,

While once again it doesn't excuse the issues at hand, there is a sort of poetry we as a community can choose to embrace that ark is all about. How many times has this game knocked us on our ass, before we found out how to stand up and conquer it as the greatest of survivors?


The Good:
There is some polarizing feelings tied to this title, when it comes to the statement "bang for our buck". I think many of us will approach this game with the idea that "Hey, Wildcard is finally optimizing the ARK: IP", and in a lot of ways, they have. But, as has always been their forte, they have also tried to jam pack a lot into this updated version of the game, which might have counterbalanced things along the way. I wanted to take a moment to highlight my "Oh wow!" moments that may be small to many, but left an impact versus my initial impressions when I started survival evolved. This is discounting the concept that some of these features existed with mods, so I try to be hopeful as this is a sign of the developer recognizing some from of those mods what made the game "Pop!":

- The most noticeable is right at the start, character customization and graphical ui overhauls. There is definitely some taste preferences to save for people to argue at their disclosure, but the increase in customization I felt is a win.
- This will also be a bit of a personal flavor preference, but I enjoyed some of the brighter cartoon-like pop of given to the world. I was back and forth on this, unsure of how I felt, as it did remove some of the "gritty factor" that I loved from Survival Evolved - but I feel it growing on me.
- The potential building systems feel so much better. I haven't had the time to explore the systems in further depth yet, but just some of the general placement ability, mesh variation, and the over just "feel" of placing these objects in the world felt to be more cohesive than my first interactions with survival evolved.
- I'm on the fence about the UI changes, as they definitely feed into the sci-fi/cartooniness feel that I mentioned above, but it does feel "cleaner" to me and was a more enjoyable experience than my first interactions with Survival Evolved. The map UI is the biggest win on this front. I was giddy with joy thinking back to how that changed from the initial (SE) approach.
- This is more of a meme, but I cannot get over the bouncing trees.
- The world overall is definitely a "prettier" overhaul from where we started, and I am excited to see the treatment of the other maps I have come to love as they are introduced to us (As skeptical as I am about the price attachments.)


There is an interesting philosophy to think about here as gamers with what Ark Survival Ascended is doing, and how we can respond to it as a community. How often is it, a developer has the courage to bring forward an IP their audience has loved into the future rather then leave it in the past? Many times a community becomes a curator for that which is left behind. Sometimes, that has been for the best. Maybe this the start of something new? While no one should be taken advantage of, and accountability should fall to those who make a promise(s) - Remember what kind of power we hold as a community. What we can create, and that rules, limitations, and inefficiencies are all just another game for us to solve with a little ingenuity, creativity and cooperation.