My review after years of playing:
This game is just so neat. The crafting is so interesting and I think it keeps people interested for long periods.
I've played about 3 worlds over the past number of years. Always coming back for a few months to play. I always throw some money towards development as well; more than I should.
So why isn't this game mainstream?
I do think the game could use a serious injection of funds (Round A) financing. Heck, I would be happy to broker that. Personally, I ran a commercial Minecraft server for about 5 years. I had over 3 million registrations in that period with a peak of about 5,000 concurrent players. I know the serious complexities of running a multiplayer community. It's tough. People are overly critical sometimes.
The game is interesting in that it allows for complex social dynamics. While it is interesting, this is also where the major flaws are. After years of playing I'm finally ready to give my review.
The hardcore endgame is rather dumb. Let's face it, no one uses their main. They skimp through to create alts to fight their battles and wield their metal. It creates an immediate disconnect between the player and their community. Permadeath is a novel concept, but this game is just too random to give serious and measured thought to permadeath.
This community is actually AMAZING. It's a wonderful place to meet people and have conversations. Many of us are grinding out. With years of playing, anytime I've approached a village or outpost, most people have been generous with their resources to help a new player get started. More importantly, people have been generous with their time helping new players to answer their questions.
The last several years of gameplay has given precedent to psychopaths. People like SnailSnuggle or whatever her name is. Put a snail banner or I will murder you! You can only speak once every 5 minutes in chat or I will murder you.
During COVID, a lot of people are looking for online communities to join and entertainment. H&H should be catering to that group, but online numbers show this isn't the right game environment. In fact, it's actually toxic. I bloody hate the word toxic, because it is overused.
This game needs good ambassadors. It should be years forward from where it is, but alas it is not. It is cratering, because of toxic community ambassadors.
Make meaningful changes for meaningful impact.
Gameplay 4/5
Graphics 3/5
Combat 1/5
Community 5/5
Psychopaths in Community 0/5