Notes from the game Once Human

The article’s unconventional format is based on continuous tweeting during the game.

Note one: starting servers

I’ve been waiting for this evening for a long time, the game Once Human I was once very interested in its peculiar supernatural aesthetics, reminiscent of games like Death Stranding or Control. But I deliberately did not spoil the surprise with examples and am going into this completely blind. I do not want to shout about it, but the servers started working early and so far they are working fine.

Note two: more survival than horror

After the first few hours, I’m a little confused by how the game favors survival and resource gathering/farming over story and missions. I’ve enjoyed survival games in recent years, so it doesn’t bother me too much, but for the sake of immersion, I think it would be good to find a healthier balance between the two. In any case, the world, its monsters, and the lore have left a good impression on me so far, and perhaps once I’ve gotten the hang of automating some resource production, I’ll be able to focus more intensely on those story missions. As for the servers, they’ve been holding up well so far, with no crashes or even queues.

Note three: Growing public interest

Nowadays it’s not so fun, there’s a pretty tough waiting time on the servers (about half an hour before you’re allowed into the game). Obviously not everyone was ready to play the game right after the launch, but now its reputation is spreading thanks to streamers (unfortunately more abroad than in the Czech Republic), and new players are quickly joining. I wonder what numbers this game will reach on Steam?

After the initial “lag” in building a house/base and the necessary objects and equipment, the pace of the game is now much better, although there is still a lot of collecting and crafting, it is better interspersed with interesting main and side missions and activities, and some bosses, perhaps, will not have to shame even Resident Evil. At the same time, they have interesting mechanics, we are talking about more than just simple shooting. By the way, it is worth noting that the game can be played both in third person and from the point of view of your own eyes.

Note 4: The elephant in the room

The main focus of my next session of play was moving my home from the swampy lowlands of the first region to the beautiful mountainous environment of the second region, which I livened up by upgrading the wooden hut to a stone villa (a more durable material – important for protection from raids), as well as upgrading to modern firearms, including a general upgrade of all equipment and weaponry.

I’m enjoying the game more and more, but what’s really starting to bother me is the model of resetting characters and the world after just six weeks, it seems very counterproductive for a game that can spend so much time and effort gathering resources, building a house, etc. From the reactions online, it’s discouraging many people from installing the game at all.

I also met other Czech and Slovak players on the server, with whom we exchanged useful tips and played together for a while, which noticeably changed the atmosphere of the game (from an exciting survival horror to a somewhat calmer cooperative shooter).

Note five: Mitsuko and Pokemon.

Mitsuko says: “When I’m here, time seems to stand still.”. There’s something to this. Whether you’re making your way through ruined buildings filled with monsters or carefully upgrading your home and base, it’s easy to forget about time and the real world. Either way, after another great boss fight with its unique mechanics, I made it to the third region, which also unlocked my own pocket dimension, or “Eternal Land,” where you can stash items outside of the individual seasons.

With the new blueprints and raw materials, I am now also using “epic” or “purple” weapons, a noticeable jump in efficiency (especially the OP sniper), as well as a plentiful unlocking of perks, abilities, and calibration of weapons and characters. . I managed to catch a whole army of “Pokemon”, so now I have a bunch of beavers in my base for auto-mining wood and a bunch of rock eaters for auto-mining stone and minerals of all kinds. I also laid the first electrical wiring and modern technology in the house, successfully repelling the first raid. I have a feeling that the end is just around the corner.

Note Six: Epic Gear

Good milestone: Full epic (purple) gear with first “unique” synergy between weapons and gear. This “special jacket” increases the hit rate of this particular rifle by 2% for every meter away from the target, which leads to absurd multiples, but to top it all off, if you hit a weak spot, like the head, the enemy will explode too. Today is the last day when half of the game world is locked: tomorrow the player will get to the second, supposedly much wilder, but also even more impressive part of the game world, with new monsters, raw materials, items and, of course, the continuation of the story.

Note seven: Music window

I also have to write about the music, because it is also very good. The wide and ambient orchestral pieces suit the game very well, but the real stars of the soundtrack are the radio stations you listen to while riding your bike or in the car. Like in GTA, they are divided by genre (Asian music, world music, rock, pop, chillout, classical/serious music…) and the songs are often very well chosen, they get stuck in your head. Driving through this beautiful landscape full of paranormal phenomena, accompanied by these songs, reminds me a lot of my favorite game Pacific Drive.