Taiga
Update Mar 2021 - The sole developer of the game, according to
his statement, has been (quite unexpectedly, judging by the tone
of his message) drafted into the Russian Armed Forces. My guess
as a former Soviet would be him suddenly dropping out of college
as a most likely reason. But I am not here to speculate.
Here is his message.
–——————————
An important announcement that you should know about. I, the developer of this game, was taken into the army until November 2021. Based on this, you have already realized that at this time I will not be able to continue development, and of course I will continue development with tripled strength when I return.
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Agriculture Fishing Games.
Atomicrops
Note: Despite my hours I have seen quite a bit of this game already. This is because I played a lot of the Limited Thyme Preview, so I would say that I have to say here is just. Atomicrops: Stardew Meets Gungeon But Falls a Bit ShortSoundtrack…………………………………………………………………………..⭐⭐⭐⭐/☆ (4/5)- This game has an awesome soundtrack that fits into its theme quite nicely. It’s quirky, lively, and a bit silly, which suits the game well. Only complaint is that there’s few songs. Graphics…………………………………………………………………………………⭐⭐⭐/☆☆ (3.5/5)- Good graphics for sure, but not as good as EtGs or Stardews. Boss sprites and character portraits look quite detailed though. Atmosphere/Mood…………………………………………………………………⭐⭐⭐⭐/☆ (4/5)- A cultative combination of the music, bosses, crop animations, and more, the game accomplishes it’s mood quite well. Gameplay……………………………………………………………………………..⭐⭐⭐/☆☆ (3/5)- The game is a bit repetitive, and doesn’t have all the best permanent content. More on that later. Potential Time Investment…………………………………………………………..⭐⭐⭐/☆☆ (3/5)- Due to the lack of permanent content, and an issue with keeping players completely engaged, time invested will likely be a bit shorter than other roguelites. Price……………………………………………………………………………….⭐⭐⭐/☆☆ (3.5/5)- The price is probably a bit too high for this game. It is best to buy it on sale. Lacking of Bugs…………………………………………………………………⭐⭐⭐⭐/☆ (4.5/5)- I have found only one bug playing this game, though it’s hard to say if it’s a bug or an intentional feature. Overall Star Verdict*…………………………………………………………….🌟🌟🌟/☆☆ (25.5/35)- At its core, the game is a lot about management, where two interesting concepts have been combined in a way that is a bit short of being perfect. *Overall Star Verdict is calculated by finding the mean of the seven different categories; that is, adding them all up and dividing them by the amount (7) to calculate the Verdict. Generally, the initial Verdict will be rounded up for the final one.A lot of people want to say that this game is “Stardew meets Gungeon.” In part that is true, but definitely not completely. And not necessarily for the better. This game is a bit short of being a perfect combination of those games. Farming is definitely a major portion of this game, and for the most part it’s not bad. The player has to till the ground, plant the seeds, and water them, simple stuff. But the game takes it a bit further than that. Plants can be fertilized to increase their value. Fertilizer is dropped from enemies, tying in the farming with the combat a bit. In addition, if crops are
! planted in a 2x2 square and fertilized, they will merge into one large crop. These large crops are worth considerable more than their smaller counterparts. This is a fitting mechanic because it encourages players to think about how they arrange their crops, instead of just mindlessly planting them everywhere. The action is a bit short of being up there with the greats. Lots of the time it’s somewhat repetitive, and unfortunately this doesn’t just apply to the farming aspect. There is little enemy variety, and several of the enemies are just enhanced versions of weaker ones. However, some of the enemies that there are have interesting attack patterns, which spice things up a bit. This issue also applies to the seasons as well. There’s four main seasons, and one final season. Each main season lasts three days, and features one boss at the very end. Every night the player will face a siege of mutant animals trying to eat the player’s crops. The difficulty of this siege ramps up nicely as the game progresses, and rarely feels unfair. In fact, at the beginning, it is actually quite easy. Very few enemies appear, and those that do have very little health. In addition, during the first year enemy bullets move insanely slow. But more on that later. Unfortunately, there is only one boss per season, which makes the fights feel a bit less unique. Once the player actually manages through the first four seasons they will go into the
! Nuclear Winter. This season is different from any other. It is entirely at night, and features only a single day. During this the player will be fighting off against the
! Corpse-a-copia, a giant head composed of various fruits and vegetables. This boss fight is actually very unique, because unlike most enemies it cannot be damaged through usual means. Instead, the player must
! farm and harvest crops to damage it.. This boss fight is executed in a way that perfectly combines both the fighting and farming aspects of the game, and is definitely one of the highlights. I mentioned how easy the first year of the game is. While that is still true, that does change later on. After beating the game once in the current year the player will be able to access the next year. There is not much difference between years, other than difficulty. As the years increase so do enemy bullet speeds, enemy attack speeds, enemy health, etc. Think of it as the Summoning Stones from UnderMine. There are some rewards for completing higher years, though they may not be enough to keep players engaged. The only rewards are
! some new characters and bachelors/bachelorettes. The marriage portion of this game isn’t exactly what it might seem like at first. It centers around roses, a rare crop that have a few, valuable uses, including dating. Dating one of the characters really just comes down to what they are offering at the time for the player’s roses. This makes it feel less like a relationship and more like a bartering system. In addition, besides from character portraits, none of the characters are interesting in the slightest. They have very little personality or story of any kind. This game has a beast of a soundtrack. The songs capture the feeling very well in the majority of the scenarios. My personal favorite is the boss theme of Summer. The graphics in this game are good too. Some sprites look a bit flat, especially with character and enemy sprites. This is heavily contradicted by the greatly detailed nature of the crops and boss sprites. There are some features that the game is missing and feels a bit unfinished because of it. Keep in mind these are from what I know and have experienced. First of all, there seems to be no almanac of any sort to keep track of the different crops. This makes it difficult to know which crops are more valuable than others, and as such makes it hard to prioritize which ones to grow. In addition, there’s no way to keep track of all the different items either, unless the player actively sees them or has them on them. Second, the game does not have an on-screen map. There is one in the inventory menu, but it’s quite small and not that helpful. Because of this, it’s easy to get lost at the start of the game. There’s also some areas that are just empty, with nothing in them at all. This is very apparent towards the ends of each biome. There’s also very few achievements in this game, and I don’t really see why that is. Hopefully more will be added in the future. So, for the most part, I do enjoy this game a fair bit. However, if you want to play a true roguelite, go play Enter the Gungeon or UnderMine. If you’re coming here purely for the farming, go play Stardew Valley instead. This game is not the best example of either of those two genres.
– Real player with 267.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Agriculture Action Games.
Target Audience: Roguelite fans wanting something a bit different, and want something to put a lot of time in.
Summary:
Atomicrops is one of those games that’s the definition of a solid purchase. You’re not going to feel bad about the 15 dollars spent here as you will get a fun return on investment here, something that you’ll play for hours at a time (hell even with leaving the game on, notice the hours played here). Will the game be something that will revolutionize the genre or will stick with you 10-15 years down the road? Not right now no, I do believe that is possible with tweaks here and there it could be, but it’s a game that has a couple of “yeah, but”s about it that won’t put it in the elite. That definitely doesn’t mean it’s not worth the money.
– Real player with 142.3 hrs in game