Cloudpunk Reviews
Cloudpunk on Switch is a hugely disappointing port that struggles technically and ultimately fails to deliver the game in a satisfactory manner on Nintendo's hybrid platform. Merge Games have made drastic cuts all over, with a massively reduced draw-distance sucking much of the life out of Nivalis, volumetric effects missing entirely, pixellation rampant and a framerate that still chugs along in the face of all of these concessions. If you've got a PC capable of playing this one we'd highly recommend you play on that platform as this is an adventure that's well worth experiencing in its original form. This particular version, however, should probably be avoided.
Cloudpunk started off unique and interesting; you're new to its world and are exploring it alongside the main character, Rania. Eventually, you'll realize it's only a cyberpunk delivery simulator with cringey voice acting and an even worse script. By that point, the game loses any redeemable qualities and becomes a burden to play. Just like the main character, and the mechanics, the game has little to no substance to offer.
I'm pretty sure that underneath these performance issues there is an interesting world ready to be explored. But the game's problems run deeper than it's graphical shortcomings. The pacing feels slow and doesn't give the player many options to fully explore the world that is being presented. If Cloudpunk looks interesting to you, I'd highly recommend you look into other possible versions you might be able to play, because the Switch simply isn't the place to explore the city of Nivalis.
Although the city of Nivalis is beautiful and feels super cyberpunk, every other aspect of Cloudpunk falls flat. The gameplay is unexciting and voice acting is too bad for its own good.
For Cloudpunk, hardship is merely the wallpaper for a pretty yet thinly conceived gaming experience.
Cloudpunk looks gorgeous, especially in first hour of playtime. The ability to just visit and fly over that huge, neon-soaked city of Nivalis is quite an accomplishment and for some, that will be enough to make it worth playing. It’s just a shame that there couldn’t be more to actually do among those beautiful, sparkling towers above the clouds.
Cloudpunk is an original and fascinating game, on PC. This Nintendo Switch port, on the other hand, is a bit of a technical mess.
Review in Italian | Read full review
You'll likely be able to finish Cloudpunk without running into any game-breaking bugs, but the question is whether you'll want to. Fans of the cyberpunk genre may enjoy running and flying about for a while, but you'd be forgiven for abandoning ship before long.
It’s a relatively short ride and well worth taking, as long as one’s expectations are dialed in correctly from the outset.
Cloudpunk is sensitively impeccable and presents an immersive futuristic atmosphere with high quality visuals and soundscapes, designed exclusively to delight the eyes and ears of the players. It is a title focused on exploration and narrative with some thought-provoking and sad stories, almost like a self-portrait of our own reality, where the characters are victims of the inequality of a system corrupted by richer organizations. It is a pity that much of this is lost in a fragile playable structure, where repetition and countless loading screens corrupt the entire package, resulting only in an exhausting and not very challenging journey.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The console versions of Cloudpunk then are, at the time of writing, buggy and a little broken in places they shouldn’t be, but if you’re lucky enough to power through without any major issues, you’ll lose hours to the fantastic narrative, terrific central character performances and gorgeous neon-soaked visuals.
Gameplay-wise, as an employee of Cloudpunk you're expected to deliver packages around Nivalis, sometimes within a time limit. You'll do this by piloting your HOVA — a flying car that you can customise — around the city, keeping an eye on both how much gas you've got left and whether your vehicle needs any repairs. It's simple and straight-forward, and it amuses just enough to keep Cloudpunk from dragging during it's nigh 10-hour running time.
Cloudpunk delivers the look and feel of a cyberpunk city, it just doesn't fill the city with anything of interest. The story is okay and there's some side conversations to keep you amused, but once the novelty of driving around Nivalis wears off, you'll recognise that this is a game made entirely of fetch quests. The city looks gorgeous, it's just a shame it doesn't have more attractions.
With an interesting steampunk / futuristic look with huge skyscrapers and vehicles flying through the clouds people were excited by early looks at Cloudpunk...
Enjoyment of Cloudpunk is really going to boil down to whether or not you enjoy the story. As well developed as the characters are, the story doesn’t necessarily provide anything revolutionary or unique. The back and forth between Raina and her AI dog are often entertaining, and a few interesting personalities are met along the way, but unfortunately Cloudpunk just doesn’t quite do enough to maintain my interest.
Cloudpunk is a title that puts all its efforts into its history, neglecting everything else. the narrative is worth it, since what counts is interesting and different, but if the gameplay had been enhanced in any way, the end result would be much more satisfactory.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In the gameplay department, Cloudpunk simulates the boredom of a minimum wage job a little too well. Looking back, I'm happy to have played Cloudpunk, but I never want to sit through it again.
An amazing looking game with an interesting premise, let down by shallow gameplay and stuttered flow of story and dialogue
You largely get what it says on the box, but Cloudpunk would have benefited from more compelling gameplay and a more focused story. It's not that it's badly designed or horribly written, it just doesn't quite reach the clouds.
Just thinking back on the time spent flying around the skies of Nirvalis in my HOVA is getting me all relaxed, and for that feeling alone Cloudpunk is a worthy purchase. If you have a PC I’d definitely recommend that version over any console port purely for the draw distance (it seriously makes a difference), but if that’s not an option for you just go ahead and snag it where possible.