Prepare to embark on an epic journey to the ravaged world of Tormentosia in Coreborn: Nations of the Ultracore. Developed by Blankhans, this social survival sandbox game thrusts players into a land torn asunder by the nefarious Sorgoth and his formidable armies. As you step foot into this immersive world, you'll be faced with the daunting task of survival while also navigating a massive, colorful world. With its fusion of survival mechanics and boundless creative freedom, Coreborn invites players to forge their own path in a realm with countless dangers and endless possibilities.
Sounds spiffy, right? As a dedicated enthusiast of sandbox survival games, I've spent countless hours immersing myself in the rich landscapes of Conan Exiles, Ark, Minecraft, Astroneer, Valheim, and Starbound. Whether it's the seamless crafting systems, the thrill of encountering dinosaurs, the endless modding possibilities, or the allure of space exploration, each of these games has offered something unique that kept me captivated. However, when I recently delved into Coreborn during the Steam Next Fest with a group of friends, I found myself grappling with conflicting emotions about the experience. Just what exactly did Coreborn bring to the genre?
For the most part, Coreborn checks all of the typical survival game boxes that we all know and love: in-depth base building, multiplayer, “purging”/raiding by monsters, and combat skill trees. Coreborn also makes use of a “town” system that lets guilds claim a piece of land and expand its reach as they level up. While all of that sounds fine and dandy, it’s another thing to execute these features properly. We’ll go deeper into these concerns a little later.
I really struggled to find the words to describe Coreborn’s art style, and it’s hard to convey that actual aesthetic unless you see it. The best comparison I have in my toolkit is Fortnite. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing! The large environments are filled with bright hues, bold contrasts, and a colorful aesthetic, while the characters have a distinct cartoon-like appearance, with expressive facial features and stylized body proportions. Unfortunately, the player avatars are definitely lacking in the customization realm.
No offense to the developers, but I’m just not the biggest fan of the customization or character models. Maybe it’s the base of the player model or the lack of unique hairstyles, but I felt totally disconnected from my avatar. For some folks, character creation is what determines whether they play a game. For others, it’s the actual gameplay. Unfortunately, neither could really pull me in.
After the two seconds it took to design my character, I was thrown into the world to follow along with this little blue creature who gave me an intro to the world and my place in it. My first pet peeve: there are no subtitles. Yes, I’m one of those people. I need subtitles in my game because I usually have other things going on at the same time and have trouble concentrating. In fact, most of Coreborn seems to have voice-acted NPCs that have very…very long voice lines that are triggered after running up to them. If you walk away and come back, they will start again.
I’m a big lore nerd, but even I felt like the lines were extremely longwinded and went on forever. It was almost like I was being held hostage by the voice acting. I didn’t want to walk away! That would be rude, and what if they had something important to say? While the voice acting is always a welcome addition, there’s something about the execution that really needs some finessing. There’s a time and a place for long-winded speeches, and maybe the middle of the field, right when you start the game, isn’t the best place for that.
Of course, afterwards, you’re dropped off from your destroyed wagon into a field and kicked to the curb. But don’t worry, you still have that giant hammer to protect you.
The combat, at least in its current state, leaves something to be desired. From the get-go, you can tell it’s a bit janky. Not enough to stop me from playing, but it’s definitely a detractor. There’s something really off about the weight of the weapons, the swinging animations, and the hitbox detection. Sometimes, the combat reminds me of playing Morrowind in the early days of Elder Scrolls. If you played it, you know what I mean: you kind of have to outmaneuver the jank. This isn’t to say that it’s not fun—it can be, but it’s definitely got some growing to do.
And similarly to combat, the harvesting animations aren’t that smooth either. I found myself spending a bit too much time trying to angle myself in the right direction to start gathering resources. And the crafting menus could use some refinement, as it took me a while to figure out how I could craft better items with the resources I had.
Building is okay, but it would benefit from some directional arrows or even a little rotation compass to help the player orient where they’re placing items. Some more customization options wouldn’t hurt either, but I’m sure that will come with time.
I did, however, really like the keyboard shortcuts that were already mapped by default. It’s so much easier to be able to hit B to bring up the building menu, or M for the map, instead of having to go through a complex menu system to find what you need.
And I have to say, the building copy function is genius. Being able to copy an item and place it down just by looking at it in the world is a fantastic addition that I wish more titles would adopt. You can also select how many of that item you want to build in a row, which is a godsend for building walls or other similar structures. There are definitely some things to improve upon, but I feel like they’re going in the right direction when it comes to building.
Coreborn is definitely not ready to be a full release yet, but it’s got some potential. I’m not sure I can recommend it as a full-price game at this point, but if you’re a fan of survival games and are looking for something new, it could be worth a shot. There are some games that go into “early access” and stay there for years before actually releasing. The developers are promising that they’ll be heading into early access on July 18th and that there’s a lot of new content coming.
We’ll see what Steam has in store for us on July 18th, and maybe I’ll be tempted to dip my toes back in and gather a mushroom or two. Maybe they’ll even have implemented fishing by then—who knows! If you’re curious about the world of Coreborn and are willing to deal with some developmental jankiness, I say give it a shot. I’m excited to see how this game develops over time.
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