Ylands - Review
Back in 2019 Bohemia Interactive released a mobile game called Ylands, a game they describe as a low-poly adventure game. In all honesty, I had never heard of the game until they revealed it was coming to Switch, which is not surprising as I am not a big mobile gamer. So with yet another mobile game making the jump to the console, did this become something more, or was it more mobile madness?
The best news I can report is that as part of the Switch release, all the free-to-play nonsense has been taken out and all the mobile game timer aspects as well. That means you can just enjoy the game, whenever you want and that is made all the better when you learn that the always online aspect found in the other versions has been removed. So those are the big points of change, but what is the game all about? Ylands is basically Minecraft meets Windbound meets ARK, you are a survivor of a shipwreck and you have to build a new ship and survive. How you do that is almost entirely up to you, you can build a basic ship and just hop around the islands in the first area, or you can try to build the biggest ship possible, there are no restrictions.
Building anything of course requires supplies and for the game you have to go out and collect them, from sticks and stones to logs and hides, you collect everything. Early on your collection methods are going to be limited to basic tools, things you can make from sticks and stones, but later on you can obtain some great materials. With your first ship completed, you will need to venture out to a new land in order to find more materials, supplies and maybe a few secrets or two. Thankfully ship sailing is really simple, unfurling the sails is done with the press of a single button and as long as the wind is blowing in the direction you want to go, you will make good progress. The game is kind enough that even if you’re sailing into the wind, you will see move forward, just not at a fast pace. Something I discovered early on is that it is possible to get stuck, I found myself wedged in between two broken docks and couldn’t get out, so I built another ship. But as the first ship was set as my primary, I couldn’t fast travel, but the game is kind enough to let you summon your primary ship to wherever you are. While I was discovering my lack of ship steering ability, I started to get hungry and started to worry about my lack of food, thankfully the island I was on had a few banana plants to harvest from. You can get by early on with eating bananas or wild melons you find, but eventually you will need to create actual meals, or at least cook food and once you realise this, the game becomes a lot more, than what it was. This is where you will start to come to love and hate the games menus, including the inventory.
As someone who spends their days immersed in Excel sheets, I can honestly say I know data and for some reason the menu system in Ylands gives me anxiety. When you open up your inventory, there are a half dozen main tabs across the top of the screen and then depending on the option you go into, more sub menus. The research tab is the densest of all, as it contains research trees for vehicles, tools, furniture, clothing and more. Then within each aspect comes a bevy of options around different levels, for example researching how to make a campfire, one of the earliest tasks in the game, unlocks the ability to cook food, but researching that then unlocks food storage and rinse and repeat. The menus are busy, there is a lot going on within them, eventually you will come to understand each of the screens, but the buttons are another story. The game often swaps between needing to just press a button or hold the button. One example of this is that you will press X to craft a single item, but pressing and holding brings up the multi-craft sub-menu. The sheer amount of menus and buttons though are just things you will have to learn, but from the outset its going to be a lot and younger gamers may find themselves a little overwhelmed.
When it comes to presentation, things are good and not so good. Beginning with the good, the game looks fine, the low-poly look took me a bit to adjust to, seeing triangles on the surface of the water or buildings that looked more cardboard than anything else was weird. The upside to this look is that the level of detail is never too much for the Switch to handle, so you are going to enjoy a smooth experience, at least most of the time. Once you are on an island, the game will run fine as long as its not a massive one, at sea things are mostly smooth as well and it remains that way until you get close to land. The games draw distance, is actually quite a bit smaller than I was expecting and this results in significant pop in, from islands across the sea to trees, animals and even dwellings on land. This pop in does impact performance as well, depending on the amount being loaded, from sea an entire island appearing can slow things down, but not to any major impact. On land however, seeing a forest of trees appear or a giant building, can make the game struggle. It is a shame that this happens, because without this pop in the game would run perfectly.
On the audio side of things, there is little of note, the game has some fun music, but nothing that is going to become a gaming classic. Where the audio shines is with its sound effects, they are simple, but you will start to learn what is making what sound fairly early on, looking at you Honey Badger. When you venture into ruins, the games atmospheric design really shines through, just the same as when you are sailing across the open ocean.
Ylands is a great little game, but one that has a serious learning curve to really appreciate what is offering. The sheer amount of menus and systems in place will overwhelm most folks, but once you start to learn them and understand what you can do, you should have a grand adventure. The game’s biggest issue right now is the pop in, it is significant and depending on the amount loading in, the game can stutter quite a bit. If you are willing to deal with that and take the time to learn, then you will have a great time in the game, just know what you do, is entirely up to you.
The Score
8.0
Review code provided by Bohemia Interactive
The Pros
The sheer amount of things to do is kind of insane, so the game will keep you going for a long time
Losing the requirements that the mobile game has, always online and mobile game mechanics is a great step in the right direction
The Cons
The menus are beefy and learning how to navigate them will take a lot of time and effort
The games many systems might be a little much for younger gamers to truly grasp
