There are so many games attempting to be the next Valheim that, at this point, it is becoming a tad exhausting. There are only so many hours in the day to dedicate to foraging for berries across gorgeous sweeping vistas as your hunger meter slowly dwindles and your poorly crafted base gets destroyed by mobs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always fun, but with Enshrouded, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Minecraft, and Valheim all taking up plenty of real estate within the world of survival crafting games, it can be hard to be excited about anything else.
Well, that’s only partially true. Among the many, many games like Valheim, there is a new title that could prove to be rather interesting. This new open-world RPG blends Valheim’s core gameplay loop with elements from across the pantheon of great Zelda games, as well as a hint of Studio Ghibli. It does all of this while offering truly exceptional visuals, a neat twist on the core formula, and an interesting setup. While it may not be able to dethrone the likes of Valheim, it may come close enough to warrant a space in your rotation of survival crafting RPGs.
The Next Great Game Like Valheim May Finally Be Here
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I understand the sentiment that, much like the soulslike and roguelike before it, the survival crafting genre has become oversaturated with mediocre games that neither deserve your time nor respect it. Even titles that have blown up in popularity seem to only deliver the bare-bones, capitalizing on the excitement behind this burgeoning genre and its ballooning library of games. However, as much as Valehim’s phenomenal 1.0 launch all but solidified it as the de facto survival crafting experience, there are a few games releasing that offer a comparable, if not vastly different experience that are still worth checking out.
A prime example of this is Enshrouded, which recently also enjoyed an impressive 1.0 launch and showcased that the survival crafting genre still has a little juice left in it. Another hoping to prove to be a worthwhile survival crafting experience is Guardians of the Wild Sky, the latest title from developer Blue Isle Studios. For those who don’t know it, Guardians of the Wild Sky is the aforementioned Valheim meets Zelda game that offers an expansive, Tears of the Kingdom-esque open-world and Valheim-esque base building, resource management, and crafting.
Only, it is also so much more than that. There’s Pokémon-esque creature catching with the titular Guardians joining your posse, that need tending to and caring for. Then there’s the ability to soar through the skies atop crafted ships and land on floating islands to gather rare loot, not to mention a dynamic world, dungeons to explore, massive elemental bosses to fight, and a shadowy cultist faction to contend with. Guardians of the Wild Sky truly is shaping up to be one of the best open-world survival games, so long as it can stick the landing.
Guardians of the Wild Sky Already Looks Impressive
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Of course, right now, Guardians of the Wild Sky isn’t even out yet, and so the above complimentary passage describing its lofty ambitions could be rendered antiquated should it release in a compromised state. That is certainly a possibility, although it isn’t as if Guardians of the Wild Sky is being developed by a fresh-faced studio. Blue Isle Studios has previously delivered the similarly ambitious Citadel: Forged with Fire as well as Slender: The Arrival, Valley, and LEAP. It’s undoubtedly a mixed bag of projects, but one that illustrates a proficiency for genre-hopping and innovation.
Guardians of the Wild Sky is launching onto Steam. You can currently wishlist it, although a release date has yet to be officially announced.
There was also a well-received Guardians of the Wild Sky demo that dropped a few months back. While it is no longer available, Blue Isle Studios is clearly eager to get player feedback and showcase what it has been working on, both of which are positive signs. Of course, Guardians of the Wild Sky could easily fall short of its audacious ambitions of being the next Valheim. However, I, for one, am excited to see if it has anything new to offer the survival crafting genre, and if it truly can stand toe-to-toe with the seemingly unbeatable Valheim.
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