Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island was supplied by Polygon Treehouse for evaluation. Thanks!
This evaluation was created utilizing an LCD Steam Deck. OLED testing shall be carried out at a later date.
Whereas the idea of a shipwreck is a well-recognized trope in survival video games, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island provides a unique expertise. Reasonably than anticipating gamers to run round punching wooden whereas scavenging for meals, it’s a extra comfy exploration recreation with mild puzzles. And the truth that it runs properly on the Steam Deck is simply the cherry on prime.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island kicks issues off with our playable character, Alex, on a ship with a captivating captain. After a brief cutscene, issues end up poorly for the crew, and the ship is wrecked in a mysterious storm. Alex finds herself on a weird island stuffed with magic and Greek mythology. As you may think about, it is a downside for Alex, who has but to study the place the captain is or if she will return house.
The island is filled with misplaced individuals who don’t know how they obtained there and no approach to return house, so Alex is caught in the intervening time. The sport begins in earnest after discovering the lighthouse to spend the evening in. Gamers should discover the paranormal island with Alex, meet the numerous unusual inhabitants, make connections, and find out how issues work on this world.
I recognize Polygon Treehouse for not making this a survival recreation, and Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island favors a extra relaxed expertise. Whereas a day and evening cycle is in impact, that solely impacts the inhabitants’ actions. Some gained’t discuss to you within the night and like to spend the nights at house, whereas others are solely obtainable at midnight. Alex doesn’t have to eat, drink, or sleep, though sleeping is important for passing the time, so you may discuss to folks throughout their waking hours.
As Alex is a newcomer to the island, the inhabitants don’t blindly belief them. In spite of everything, they barely belief one another anymore, though they have no idea why: simply one in every of many mysteries to the unusual island. Meaning you may’t simply barge into their non-public properties till they know you properly sufficient to go to them.
Navigating the island takes a variety of work. Alex strikes slowly, favoring a sluggish jog to discover the environment. Quick journey by portal doorways turns into obtainable as soon as befriending residents and buying and selling ambrosia fruit for the required keys, considerably enhancing the expertise. Ambrosia Island isn’t very massive, however it’s brimming with secrets and techniques, requiring further instruments or particular seals to find, and each are picked up by serving to the locals.
This creates a pleasant gameplay loop the place you come to beforehand locked components of the map and discover new issues. Exploration, fetch quests, and small puzzles are Mythwrecked’s bread and butter. Typically, all I wish to do is sit again with a easy online game, and this recreation is greater than as much as the duty.
The eight island inhabitants are all from the Greek pantheon, dropped at life in a contemporary and… dare I say—bizarre manner! For instance, Hermes seems to be like an overgrown cherub in a giant diaper, Ares is a grouchy, one-eyed man with a ardour for gardening, and Hephaestus is a hip, grumpy bloke with loads of love for his forge.
I’ve to shout out how Mythwrecked approaches its characters, because it showcases how constructing relationships will be difficult. Most individuals don’t inform the primary particular person they meet their life story and the contents of their clothes drawers, and Alex has to earn their belief to find out about them. Gamers will unlock extra dialogue choices by kindness and serving to these characters recuperate their reminiscences. I like to recommend folks hold autoplay off and quick messaging on, because the auto dialogue advances fairly slowly, even at most pace. There are snails within the Animal Olympics who transfer sooner than the dialogue on this recreation. Characters additionally make odd little noises, like Animal Crossing, whereas speaking, which I discovered irritating, however not like Animal Crossing, the characters have actual depth.
As a lot as I loved attending to know Mythwrecked’s mystical solid, I had far much less attachment to Alex as a personality. That wasn’t the sport’s fault or writing, however I obtained annoyed along with her inner monologue, continually commenting on all the things. That is in all probability my frustration from my expertise with Farmagia’s characters in my final evaluation, however I used to be extra taken with figuring out the inhabitants than studying about Alex.
The gameplay loop is straightforward to fall into regardless of the simplicity of the duties. It can save you by the numerous benches scattered throughout the map, and these are frequent. I ponder why Mythwrecked doesn’t have a devoted save perform within the menu. The sport has controller help, and I had no issues with any of the controls on the Steam Deck. I’m additionally pleased to report that Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a sophisticated expertise. I solely skilled one crash whereas experimenting with TDP limits, which was my fault. I didn’t encounter any bugs, though Alex sometimes obtained caught on the terrain for a number of seconds.
Mythwrecked’s gameplay is repetitive. There isn’t any getting round that; I think about it will bore many individuals. Between that, the sluggish participant motion, and my indifference in direction of Alex as a personality, it has flaws. I additionally want the sport didn’t have so many loading screens when shifting between components of the island. Regardless of these points, I couldn’t assist however get engrossed within the recreation. I loved the sluggish burn, even with the repetition, and the music gave it a soothing vibe.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island was simply what I wanted after some tough days.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island – Steam Deck Efficiency
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a really latest title, and its relative lack of press has made its Steam Deck verification murky. Nevertheless, it’s now rated Verified, and I’m pleased to say that my expertise with it on the Steam Deck is optimistic!
Nevertheless, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island does not have any graphical choices to tweak. The one related possibility gamers have is altering the display screen decision, which provides little distinction in efficiency. It is a prime instance of a recreation that doesn’t scale properly with TDP limits, and to take care of the smoothest efficiency, I like to recommend preserving it unlocked.
Really useful Settings
Whereas our choices for tweaking are severely restricted, the excellent news is that the efficiency is strong! With an unlocked TDP and 60hz refresh charge, I maintained a gradual 60fps in practically all circumstances. There are minor framerate dips whereas the sport saves, however it is a frequent problem for a lot of video games, so I don’t regard that as a major downside.
The battery drain is affordable regardless of the unlocked TDP. It may not be essentially the most stunning recreation, but it surely has some nice environments. I ran round as quick as Alex’s tiny legs might carry her throughout the map to check the efficiency, and the battery draw maxed out at round 12 watts. This was often through the extra lively components of the Orchard, particularly the balcony the place Hera and Zeus lurk. The typical battery draw hovered round 11 watts, giving an total lifetime of below 4 hours on the LCD Steam Deck. I think about the battery life on the OLED mannequin shall be considerably higher, however I discovered the battery life fairly spectacular nonetheless.
Battery Saver Settings
If that you must squeeze a bit extra battery life from the Steam Deck whereas being the Greek pantheon’s errand lady, it can save you some battery by locking the refresh charge to 40hz. I nonetheless advocate leaving the TDP unlocked, however with the decrease refresh charge and Half Charge Shading turned on, I discovered the facility draw to drop to a median of 10 watts with out sacrificing efficiency. That additional half-hour battery life may help in lots of circumstances, so the choice is there should you require it.
I attempted my typical strategies of figuring out how properly the sport performed on the lowest TDP potential, however my outcomes might have been higher. Capping the TDP resulted in lots of stutters, particularly throughout loading screens, and whereas the battery drain was considerably decrease, it wasn’t definitely worth the efficiency degradation.
Accessibility
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is out there in English, French, German, and Spanish – Latin America.
As accessibility choices go, it’s extra of a abandoned island than one stuffed with Greek deities. Gamers can alter the display screen decision, toggle vibration, toggle digicam shake, activate V sync, change the font shade, toggle dialogue autoplay, and alter the pace of dialogue scrolling.
Conclusion
I went into Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island with modest expectations, and my wants for a cushty gaming expertise have been met. Regardless of my ambivalent emotions in direction of Alex, I used to be invested within the story. I loved the dialogue minigames and attending to know the characters, and I saved laughing each time I spoke to Hermes. How that man flew on these tiny wings is anyone’s guess. I loved the little collectathon mechanics, resembling discovering furnishings for my little house within the lighthouse, and after I wanted a break from the sport, I might sit on a mat and hearken to the audio cassettes.
The shortage of problem and easy gameplay gained’t be to everybody’s tastes, however it’s stress-free sufficient to play and a strong Steam Deck performer. When you have time to kill and wish to discover an historic Greek island with out many stakes, Mythwrecked may shock you.
Our evaluation is predicated on the PC model of this recreation.
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