You may have seen “reviews” for Cloudheim from other outlets, but you won’t see that here. I’m a firm believer that this is a preview which is what we’re calling it. Far too much changes in Early Access to consider anything a review. Honestly, this is just a bunch of information that’s subject to change at any given time as the game ebbs and flows after various balance adjustments and updates. Here’s what we think of Cloudheim so far:
What is Cloudheim?
On the surface, Cloudheim looks to be the kind of game we’ve seen before. There are various unlockable characters, some of which require progressing through classes to obtain, your standard melee and ranged classes, lots of different weapons with their own stats and abilities, and more. While this may sound same-y, there’s a reason why this formula has been a mainstay in gaming for many years—it just works. I think the devs are billing it as a “physics-based co-op RPG”. Basically, there’s a lot of action combat and base building.
Is There a Story?
Yes, and it’s pretty neat, although the way it’s presented is nowhere near as riveting. I’m sure this will change with time since gameplay is king. Bacically, Ragnarok destroyed the world but it’s totally cool because you’re a Runari, which is a seemingly superhuman race known for being brick shit houses that can somehow triple jump from the start as well as not take any fall damage. Both those things I like (I loathe fall damage). Anyway, the world and Gods are now separated and you and a few surviving Runari now live on the back of a flying turtle by the name of Odin Shell, which gives me Xenoblade Chronicles vibes.
Okay, so What’s the Gameplay Loop?
As you can imagine, there’s combat against varying enemy types. There’s also a lot of weapons to collect and upgrade. You’ll find yourself hopping across islands to recruit that island’s god who has been separated while collecting items for upgrading/base building/etc. Once you collect what you want and conquer that island’s boss, you come back to your home base on the flying turtle and upgrade class weapons. From there you can class hop as you see fit and make newer bigger better weapons. You may also sell your loot for that cash money or hoard it, the choice is yours. Oh, and you can also sell your loot in shops (not to merchants) similar to Moonlighter.
Overall Thoughts
There’s quite a few progressions systems at play too from weapon to class to character to base and so on. Honestly, just dive in if you’re interested. The islands are a lot of fun to explore and you can play either solo or with up a few friends. I’ll be keeping an eye on Cloudheim as it takes shape, but there’s no denying what is already available is a pretty good package from debut studio Noodle Cat games.
