Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey Reviews
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a different kind of survival game, one that's ambition sees it continually ride a fine line between being enthralling and infuriating. To refine 10 million years of human history into roughly 50 or so hours of playtime (providing your clan survives) is a staggering feat, for sure, but some mechanics are so abstract that it'll leave certain players at a loss. Providing you have the patience for it, however, Ancestors can be a rewarding trip throughout human evolution.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is something of an oddity. The game has a lot of depth to uncover and problems to overcome, but with a difficulty curve like a brick wall, many players will end up walking away in frustration. For those with the patience of a mountain, this is worth checking out, as the lush environments are beautiful to behold, and many fascinating discoveries wait to be made and passed on down the generations.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an ambitious take on the survival genre that is hampered by poor design choices
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an interesting game and experiment. It might not be for everyone, but if you give it a chance, your enjoyment may just evolve along with your family of apes.
Flashes of greatness, but too often a slave to a repeating process, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an interesting title, but ultimately fails to truly capitalize on its concept.
Despite its occasional frustrations, Ancestors is an invigorating and engaging survival game that'll hopefully be followed by more of the same. Each playthrough has the potential to be a bit different as you focus on different skills and spend more time in one biome compared to another, and thanks to the excitingly unsettling freedom it offers and its rewarding highs and lows, Ancestors is well worth the time investment.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey was such an interesting idea on paper but from its complex and unexplained environment to the severe lack of exciting objectives and goals to work towards, the game doesn't quite manage to entice the player to make the very best of humanity.
A novel premise wrapped in an awkward and repetitive survival slog.
It'll be an acquired taste, but for those who have the patience for its deliberate opaqueness, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is the type of game its fans will be playing on and off for months, if not years. Its challenging nature makes it equal parts compelling and frustrating, but there's no question this smart survival adventure contains loads of rewards for persistent players.
The early joy of discovery in Ancestors is betrayed by repetitive gameplay vignettes that feel like serious work before long.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is far from being a title that the mainstream crowd could easily pick up and play. Technical aspects, like the wonky camera and uninviting controls, can be overcome with time, but the camera system and lack of any direction are enough to turn off most people. Stick with it through multiple restarts, however, and you'll discover a title that has loads of fulfilling moments and deep characters you'll get attached to, despite a lack of understandable speech. Games have rarely done something like this, and that fact is amplified when you look at the scope this is trying to cover. If you're looking for a survival title that feels different and distinct, give Ancestors a look.
If Panache can squash most of the bugs, this could be a Game of the Year contender. As is, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is still well worth monkeying about with and I know I’ll be coming back for more.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an ambitious game whose conceptual vision is the very thing that bogs it down. There's a lot of unexplained expectations of the player, and, by the time those are worked out, it's easy to become bored or frustrated with it. Very likely, both. Combined with abundant technical problems, there isn't a lot to praise about Ancestors and even less to recommend.
Although a great game, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey falls short of perfection.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a fresh take on the survival genre, one that takes us through the steps of human evolution, but falls short of its potential with a gameplay loop that becomes monotonous really soon.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a risky, brave and immense game. Evolution as the key to everything. A huge and difficult experience just like life.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Equal parts baffling, frustrating, and thrilling
Ancestors is a great step forward for the survival genre. It has all the pieces you'd expect, including water and food requirements but also a few unique ones. All of these tie into the game in a much better way than in most other survival games. Plus, its narrative of guiding humankind through its early evolution in prehistoric Africa makes for a great story to play in a beautiful place to do it.
A bright idea made dull by constant repetition and diminishing rewards.
I wrote most of this review, then felt maybe I was being too harsh. So I took a break and went back. I wanted to enjoy it.