Review: Cube World
The map extends forever in all directions, an endless world of potential adventure. Its blocky hills and valleys, mountains, volcanoes, deserts and oceans teem with monsters guarding loot in various forms, waiting for a questing hero to put it to good use. Friendly bands of warriors wander the landscape, giving advice and sometimes helping in combat, and the occasional town or settlement provides a safe spot to get down to crafting better gear. The wilds of Cube World are a massive series of lands filled with quests and exploration for the self-motivated adventurer, with the small disclaimer that each new area is the start of another quest to rise from what's effectively level 1.
Cube World is a cheerful blue-skied open-world action/RPG where you're free to go in whichever direction catches your fancy at any time. Traveling is easy if you don't mind walking, but at the start the character you create is incredibly weak. The game starts with a choice of race, gender, character class, and some options for designing just the right head, and then leaves you free to do whatever you'd like to do next. A big part of Cube World is figuring it out, which can be nice when you've got a few systems down and significantly less helpful at the start when there's not a single hint as to how to deal with a land crawling with monsters that can take you apart in a few hits.
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Closing Comments:
There was a huge expectation put on Cube World since its alpha, and while things have changed significantly since then the resulting game is almost exactly as promised: a big open adventure to explore at your leisure, with no pressure beyond what you bring to it. Whether going it alone or teaming up with friends there's plenty to chase after or you can grab a bench in a nearby village and chat as the in-game day slowly drifts by. Getting started and learning to first survive and then have fun doing it takes more experimentation than it should, but there's a consistent internal logic to the game's systems that eventually comes through, making for a game that always has a new adventure waiting wherever you care to look. The rise and fall and rise again of the progression system may not be for everyone, but for those who recognize that the real treasure is the friends we made along the way the quest to become a hero, Cube World grants the opportunity to do that in an endless succession of new and adventurous lands.
Score: 3.5/5
