Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles Reviews
A game that transports you into a mystical world of sprites and never-before-seen creatures. A masterpiece on its own right. If you are into this kind of gameplay, then I recommend that you get this game right away.
Without a way to fail, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles just soldiers on like its fishing minigame.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles has no right to be as good as it is. I had low expectations going in, but I've come out a believer that pacifistic games have a place in gaming today. If you're looking to just chill out, explore a bright and colourful open world while collecting all sorts of bits and bobs, then Yonder will have you smiling for hours on end.
Due to some rather questionable gameplay decisions and a lack of variety in content, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles ends up being a disproportionately beautiful slog to nowhere. The tank controls are outdated without any of the design elements necessary to make them engaging, while the story tries to be an intimate journey of self-discovery without anything to discover. Gemea's lush and vibrant landscape is the one saving grace, and peacefully walking through colourful forests and past bustling rivers almost makes the whole shipwreck worth it - but the world's lack of complete identity, both in gameplay and how it presents itself, is too glaring to ignore. The shame of it all is that Yonder isn't held back by time constraints or a tight budget; it's held back by design.
You don't see many open world games that feature absolutely no combat and Prideful Sloth I think took a gamble here making a game like that. However their small team succeeded in my eyes as Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles was a relaxing and entrancing game to play through.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a lovely, sedate open world adventure game that inexplicably gates its crafting mechanic behind an obtuse, tiered system that renders it moot.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a delightful little game that can appeal to players of all ages and skill levels. The island of Gemea – complete with its atmospheric weather and seasonal cycle – makes for the perfect destination if you're looking for a relaxing virtual vacation.
A pleasant experience from start to finish. But that conclusion comes rapidly, and the post-game crafting and farming activities are too light to be truly compelling.
In the end, Yonder isn't inventive, exactly, as the multitude of ideas and cross-media inspirations converge somehow into something infinitely familiar. Missions are cut down to absolute basics to fulfill an open world quota, but it's possible to forgive this when traipsing through this aesthetically pleasing land and helping these delighted folk. And as importantly, there's bravery in eliminating things like combat and leveling, allowing Yonder a rare, distinctive brevity.
"There’s not enough farming for it to be a farming simulator, not enough danger to be an adventure game, and not enough story risks for a children’s game."
If you enjoy stopping to smell the roses, the fields of Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles are awash with aroma. However, if you're looking for something with a little more kick, you may not get what you're looking for.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles' focus on exploration, crafting, and farming, and decision to eschew combat, is a relaxing change of pace in an industry often focused on violence. How much you get from a game like this is up to you: its lack of direction will inevitably bore some people, but it will captivate others. If you open your mind, the world of Gemea has many beautiful things to show you.
One cannot comprehend who Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is meant to serve.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is an enjoyable enough adventure, but it's missing a hook to get players invested. The game wants you to get lost in the economy and exploration it offers, but in just performing these menial tasks for their own sake it fails to create any moments where the entire experience is more than a series of distractions.
Much like the fauna that inhabits its world, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a beautifully odd creature. The things it does well it does extremely well, which leaves me baffled at some of the obvious drawbacks that limit its scope and longevity. With that said, I am massively impressed by what such a small team was able to accomplish, and the attractive launch price certainly makes it all the more appealing. I hope Prideful Sloth can take their experience creating a varied and fascinating world and expand the purview of the crafting and farming to have more meaning in the future, but until that release I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing all that Gemea has to offer, even if my feet feel a little blistered from the journey.
Infinitely charming and unnaturally adorable, Yonder suffers from tedious gameplay but makes up for it with a bold sense of whimsy
There’s no denying that Prideful Sloth has created something special. Labeled an upstart Indie Studio, they’ve gone and created one of my favorite games of 2017 so far. It’s ambitious, breathtakingly beautiful, and a joy to play. There’s something to be said for games that don’t rely on combat of any sort to engage the player.
Yonder Chronicles brings to the industry a game focused more on exploring, developing, and interactions over violence and leveling, and the end product is refreshing. A few things hold it back, but the heart and soul of the entire package is not to be denied on its way to success.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a somber and peaceful game. Its gorgeous visuals, astonishing environments and the fun core mechanics of discovery make for a joyful experience. However, despite the polish and the variety of things to do, the game lacks finesse in its storytelling and personality in its characters. This keeps Yonder from being an incredible game, but it's still a great one.