Journey to the Savage Planet Review

"One Strange World"

Campaign

January 27, 2020 at 1:45pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a rather insane, and straight up wacky sort of adventure game. As an astronaut sent out to discover and document a planet you’ll be thrown into one wild mission. What was once based on just trying to find a suitable future home for humanity, has become one of intrigue and straight up silliness. Nothing in this game is taken seriously, and that’s great.

You’ll work through areas that are open in design, but linear in their focus. You’re usually guided, but that opens up quite a bit once you progress a bit into the game. Another really neat aspect of this is that you can play it alone in single player, or grab a friend online for some coop action which is a nice touch. The main narrative is longer than one might expect, and it offers a lot of extra value as you go about exploring. There are many side missions to take on, and other objectives as you work to become a better explorer.

As you’re playing you’ll get some video messages from corporate, and this really is a funny game. You’re paired with an AI pal that makes quirky little jokes the entire way through and it’s fantastic. I really did enjoy the entirety of this experience. They continuously brought fresh locations, with unique creatures and challenges. It wasn’t at all a shooter, being a mix of just exploring while also platforming through the world as well. You will however blast things, at times, but that’s not the main focus. That may sound odd, but it’s a really great time with some challenges along the way.

Gameplay

This looks fantastic, with a bright and colorful world. It feels expansive and each area is entirely open. That means you can reach the top of a peak and see the entirety of the area you just traversed which is great. That grants a nice sense of scale and accomplishment in your journey. Speaking of moving around, as you progress you’ll get neat tools to go back and discover new spots that you previously weren’t able to access. Unlike with other games, I actually found this rewarding and enjoyable to do after I had completed my main objectives.

The movement system is generally excellent as you swing, poke in the eyes or shoot little plant objects. That’s right, as you enhance your suit through the 3D printer you can gather resources from the world. This includes things such as electric berries or say explosive plant substances. These will open areas, or help you into getting to higher places. The game performed quite well, didn’t really notice any issues and the teleportation system is top notch for keeping the pacing up.

I loved how lively each space felt, there are so many creatures and you can slap them all if you’d like to, in fact there’s an Achievement for it. Each area is jam packed with content, and things to do which is impressive considering the scale. Aside from the hidden secrets, you might want to catalogue things through scans or perhaps break down minerals to use in crafting for your suit. Keep in mind that other parts of your ship do need to be gathered to leave, and that’s after you’ve discovered the secrets that this planet as hidden from the initial scans. Also, be sure to watch the videos you get at the Javelin as they’re very entertaining.

The Conclusion

Journey to the Savage Planet is an awesome experience, bringing a wacky and straight up enjoyable adventure on one bizarre world. You will definitely be impressed by this one whether you’re playing alone or with a pal in two player online coop. It’s packed with action, and light combat as you explore an open world.

It features a wide range of biomes, fascinating secrets and a mystery that will definitely drive your venture forward. Few games really do capture my attention like this one has, and I really took my time just looking around. It’s colorful, vibrant and full of weird critters that you can literally slap if you’d like to. Nothing is taken seriously, and your AI pal is a joy to hear along the way.

They nailed this title, it’s just a blast to play and easy to work through. It should be a lot of fun and I don’t see a situation where there isn’t some sort of joy to be had here. So get out there and scoop up some jelly to level, or poke a creature’s eye out and have a grand time. Oh, don’t forget to siphon from ancient minerals and build up that gear to boost around freely.

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Journey to the Savage Planet Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Wonacott PR

Rating Overall: 8.6