If you are reading this thinking of buying, read OpenCritic reviews

[AWT]

Even the negative reviews are too generous. Broken savegames, spectacularly dumb/flawed mechanics, no clear goals what to do in the game (basically collect meaningless stuff you can do nothing with, and find different foods to eat, and get your horde killed by enemies you can't really fight because the mechanics are trash - dodge and attack on the same button, seriously?) When your teammates get attacked, you get into an endless loop where teammate gets attacked, you go save him, escape the situation, and they get attacked again immediately as they fail to climb to safety unless they see you doing it first and respond too slowly to avoid the next attack).
If you then close the game (as this seems the only way of saving your clanmates once they come under attack), your savegame gets corrupted and u have to restart the game and learn everything - from picking up sticks to eating food - all over again (as that is pretty much the only thing there is to do - once you have the sharpened stick, which takes you about 5 mins if you know how, most of the gameplay-changing progression in this game is completed).
One negative review compared it to "ubislop", but in this case (as much as I hate to do it), I have to defend Ubisoft. Even Far Cry 6, AC Odyssey and WD Legion were brilliant, amazing games that were a blast to play through compared to this pile of rubbish. It feels like a game the developers just stopped bothering to finish half way though development, long before they implemented proper missions, goals, etc. for players to strive for.
Even the 300th hour of AC Odyssey (when it starts feeling like a checklist you're working to complete, because you already beat the story & dlc and just want to have all locations completed), I was having A LOT more fun than in this game.
The most comparable thing I can think of (in terms of concept) is the Far Cry 6 DLC where you start over every time you die, where only your default weapons can be retrieved from previous progress. You basically do the same things again and again, because if you mess up at any point down the line (potentially hours of gameplay later), your progress is futile. That's how playing this feels. If you compare the reviews, the negative ones seem to go in to much more details as to what the game actually is like. How this game got so many positive reviews is puzzling to me (although I can imagine many people gave it a positive review right after they got their first impressions, as I really wanted to like this game too - u don't get to play monkeys often. Even some of the positive reviews are hoping for a sequel "with actual content").

[Cougarific]

Yeah, people who can't figure out how to play it are going to hate this game....go figure.

Would you like to know what you're doing wrong or have you already given up?

[AWT]

It's not just people who "can't figure it out", I already got as far as to be able to kill animals before, so I could if I bothered to put in hours of tedious, repetitive grinding for a mechanic that's just not fun to play with (even when enabled) again, for the 3rd time in as many weeks (with the previous game progress being lost through malfunction, not because I failed).
(In one of my previous savegames, I managed to kill a bird of prey and a wild hog).
It shouldn't be up to the player to instil a basic survival instinct into AI sidekicks in a game about evolution (fight or flight is not a concept people or animals have to learn - it's inherent even in the most primitive of creatures).
If it was hard to PREVENT them from running away in your first fights (instilling discipline), as you would need two or three apes to work together to score your first, difficult kill, that would make sense and actually be fun (if the combat was better executed by the developers).

I have decided the game is not worth any more of my time.
I really wanted to like it, but the game devs should have actually thought about making the game feel like it had some clear direction and things to strive for (and some fun mechanics, that made combat actually worth engaging in). When you realize you have already learned to build everything you can build within the first 5 minutes, there's not much to look forward to for all the tedious grinding. I thought maybe I missed something or it may come into play later, but after having read reviews, I got confirmation that it's not just me being silly or lazy or spoiled, it's the game that's just designed very poorly (the most you can look forward to is more fights with clunky mechanics, and maybe finding some new food types. That's pretty much it). I have plenty other, better games to play.

I know what I did wrong this time (I didn't wait until the counterattack skill was enabled), but since my fellow monkeys acted just as stupidly just before I had to start over the first time (at which point I had the counterattack skill enabled already, and they all held spears when they died - maybe it was a bug, but either way, it's just not fun to play).
Maybe I'll give it another chance if I happen to stumble upon a savegame with 100%, or cheats at some point in the future. I know it won't change much about the gameplay though, so I won't even bother actively looking for one. That's how much I started to hate this game.

Here is a list of reviews that mostly have come to similar conclusions:
https://opencritic.com/game/8037/ancestors-the-humankind-odyssey/reviews

I had enough of this mess (especially given the high chance of losing all my progress again because of some savegame bug they haven't fixed, as other players have posted about too). If you enjoy repetitive & tedious games with clunky mechanics, you do you. To each their own - have fun!

[maldorf]

I gave it a negative review as well. Its just not fun to play. What's a game for other than having fun? Its miserable to play. I was able to find the first meteor. I went deeper into the jungle and just ended up getting lost and bled to death. I played a total of 4 hours. There was a bit of enjoyment for me from time to time, but the majority of the game for me was just frustrating. I think the game could be good, but it just wasnt done quite right for me.

[Wozed]

Just saying, I enjoyed this game but played solo+baby on back 99% of the time, dragging the clan along is a pain, you really don't need them, before moving them to new camp I always try to wipe out any danger first, learn to fight well cause there is a lot of it.

Typically I carry one stick and one stone to make more sticks quickly, altho that stone can be used to fight and is sometime enough to finish off stuff. Some stones are quicker to sharpen sticks but I won't get into details or spoiler.

Steam reviews says 80% or so possitive, honestly expected lower since so much people rage quit early. I 100% this twice on PC and PS4 and loved it for what it is, a small game made by a small team, can't compare it to big budget studio.

About save game bug no idea, any game with auto saves I tend to back up often manually but honestly I did 3 full runs and can't remember a single corrupted save.

[Brma]

Originally posted by maldorf:

I gave it a negative review as well. Its just not fun to play. What's a game for other than having fun? Its miserable to play. I was able to find the first meteor. I went deeper into the jungle and just ended up getting lost and bled to death. I played a total of 4 hours. There was a bit of enjoyment for me from time to time, but the majority of the game for me was just frustrating. I think the game could be good, but it just wasnt done quite right for me.

OH NO!!! you........died.....in a video game? THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ AUDACITY OF THE DEVS!!!

[maldorf]

Originally posted by Brma:

Originally posted by maldorf:

I gave it a negative review as well. Its just not fun to play. What's a game for other than having fun? Its miserable to play. I was able to find the first meteor. I went deeper into the jungle and just ended up getting lost and bled to death. I played a total of 4 hours. There was a bit of enjoyment for me from time to time, but the majority of the game for me was just frustrating. I think the game could be good, but it just wasnt done quite right for me.

OH NO!!! you........died.....in a video game? THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ AUDACITY OF THE DEVS!!!

LOL. I have nothing against dying in games, ive done it a lot over the past years. I started gaming in the late 70s on the Atari 2600. I was an Ever Quest addict as well, logging over 1 year of game time on my main. That game was BRUTAL in its punishment for dying. Thats about 370x24 hours to get the hours total played. The game would do the math for you and give it back in days.

My problem with this game is that its just not fun for me. The reasons why I dont like it are many and I really dont want to take time to describe now. One of the few games that I own that I put away and wont play again.

[Siberian Shaman]

early mid game is pretty fun but the evloution grind towaard the end is a bit of a slog

[AWT]

Originally posted by maldorf:

Originally posted by Brma:

OH NO!!! you........died.....in a video game? THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ AUDACITY OF THE DEVS!!!

LOL. I have nothing against dying in games, ive done it a lot over the past years. I started gaming in the late 70s on the Atari 2600. I was an Ever Quest addict as well, logging over 1 year of game time on my main. That game was BRUTAL in its punishment for dying. Thats about 370x24 hours to get the hours total played. The game would do the math for you and give it back in days.

My problem with this game is that its just not fun for me. The reasons why I dont like it are many and I really dont want to take time to describe now. One of the few games that I own that I put away and wont play again.

I think anyone who responds in good faith will admit your comment said no such thing as "the game is bad because you can die" - the problem is the lack of fun, which was the basic message of your comment (and that's entirely accurate).
I don't blame the game for not being AAA, some indy games are even better than the rubbish that's offered as a AAA title nowadays.
Even the things that should make the game fun (like combat) are so clunky it's just tedious. I thought maybe I missed something, I'll try a far more aggressive approach, but that only proved to me once again how poorly the combat is implemented in this game. I remember the two times I actually scored a kill in this game - both felt like a lucky accident. Why on Earth would you map the "attack" and "dodge" commands to the same button (and then recommend use of a controller in the opening screen!!) - that's just really bad game design.
The unusually high rating on Steam is the reason I opened this thread, as people need to be warned - I really wanted to like this game, so much that I came back to give it another chance several times, but they made it near impossible to do so unfortunately.
Other platforms (where the game was out long before it came to Steam) have much more mixed ratings for this game - and since you can only rate it after buying it here on Steam, I guess many of the Steam buyers were probably people who actually liked the game after playing another version (and just wanted to have the Steam version too).
The game isn't rated anywhere near as highly anywhere else.

[maldorf]

Originally posted by AWT:

Originally posted by maldorf:

LOL. I have nothing against dying in games, ive done it a lot over the past years. I started gaming in the late 70s on the Atari 2600. I was an Ever Quest addict as well, logging over 1 year of game time on my main. That game was BRUTAL in its punishment for dying. Thats about 370x24 hours to get the hours total played. The game would do the math for you and give it back in days.

My problem with this game is that its just not fun for me. The reasons why I dont like it are many and I really dont want to take time to describe now. One of the few games that I own that I put away and wont play again.

I think anyone who responds in good faith will admit your comment said no such thing as "the game is bad because you can die" - the problem is the lack of fun, which was the basic message of your comment (and that's entirely accurate).
I don't blame the game for not being AAA, some indy games are even better than the rubbish that's offered as a AAA title nowadays.
Even the things that should make the game fun (like combat) are so clunky it's just tedious. I thought maybe I missed something, I'll try a far more aggressive approach, but that only proved to me once again how poorly the combat is implemented in this game. I remember the two times I actually scored a kill in this game - both felt like a lucky accident. Why on Earth would you map the "attack" and "dodge" commands to the same button (and then recommend use of a controller in the opening screen!!) - that's just really bad game design.
The unusually high rating on Steam is the reason I opened this thread, as people need to be warned - I really wanted to like this game, so much that I came back to give it another chance several times, but they made it near impossible to do so unfortunately.
Other platforms (where the game was out long before it came to Steam) have much more mixed ratings for this game - and since you can only rate it after buying it here on Steam, I guess many of the Steam buyers were probably people who actually liked the game after playing another version (and just wanted to have the Steam version too).
The game isn't rated anywhere near as highly anywhere else.

Good comments. Yes, the combat is horrible. Its one of the reasons I quit the game. I too wanted to like the game. It has nice graphics and sound, very immersive. Its the game design itself that is lacking. I think if they took what they have now, they could make it into something good.

[Wozed]

The combat is not luck at all, it takes some time to get into it, but I assure you once you understand the mechanic of hold and release at the right timing(I can't remember but I think evolution makes this even easier) you can win every fight 95% of the time without getting hurt once. And I was never good with reflex or timing games, It's actually really simple once you get it right. Also dodging is not hard either It's the same exact mechanic.

Once you get this fighting timing right, you really feel nearly invincible seeking predators and wiping the floor with all of them. Alpha predator is always, you.

Look, I am not telling you this game is perfect and you are wrong for not liking it, I am just saying reading both of your comments you are wrong about the combat, I spent the first day playing this game frustrated and annoyed for about 8 hours.. Then went to bed and next morning it clicked, I was just making the same mistake over and over and I am too stubborn to quit or look at guides.

As soon I figured out the hold and release mechanics everything in the game made sense and I was able to enjoy it, what seemed hard at first turned out to be quite easy and again I am really not good at this sort of game.

[maldorf]

Originally posted by Wozed:

The combat is not luck at all, it takes some time to get into it, but I assure you once you understand the mechanic of hold and release at the right timing(I can't remember but I think evolution makes this even easier) you can win every fight 95% of the time without getting hurt once. And I was never good with reflex or timing games, It's actually really simple once you get it right. Also dodging is not hard either It's the same exact mechanic.

Once you get this fighting timing right, you really feel nearly invincible seeking predators and wiping the floor with all of them. Alpha predator is always, you.

Look, I am not telling you this game is perfect and you are wrong for not liking it, I am just saying reading both of your comments you are wrong about the combat, I spent the first day playing this game frustrated and annoyed for about 8 hours.. Then went to bed and next morning it clicked, I was just making the same mistake over and over and I am too stubborn to quit or look at guides.

As soon I figured out the hold and release mechanics everything in the game made sense and I was able to enjoy it, what seemed hard at first turned out to be quite easy and again I am really not good at this sort of game.

Fair point! I probably would have tried longer to play the game if my only gripe was the combat, but combat for me was just one of several things I didnt like about the game.

[AWT]

I envy those who can find enjoyment in this game. I just wanted to make sure potential buyers are aware of it's flaws, as the delayed publication on Steam seems to have affected the ratings quite massively.
I wish they had a modding community supporting the game, as it does seem like a wasted opportunity to me (the game would have a lot of potential, I think it could have been a masterpiece). Small changes could have gone a long way to make it less frustrating/repetitive.
To each their own, I just thought it should be pointed out that new buyers should read the critical reviews too, as the highly positive ratings on Steam are somewhat inaccurate given how many people loathe this game (including people who really wanted to enjoy it, like me).

[maldorf]

Originally posted by AWT:

I envy those who can find enjoyment in this game. I just wanted to make sure potential buyers are aware of it's flaws, as the delayed publication on Steam seems to have affected the ratings quite massively.
I wish they had a modding community supporting the game, as it does seem like a wasted opportunity to me (the game would have a lot of potential, I think it could have been a masterpiece). Small changes could have gone a long way to make it less frustrating/repetitive.
To each their own, I just thought it should be pointed out that new buyers should read the critical reviews too, as the highly positive ratings on Steam are somewhat inaccurate given how many people loathe this game (including people who really wanted to enjoy it, like me).

I agree 100%. I was really excited to play it at first.

[Brma]

Originally posted by maldorf:

Originally posted by Brma:

OH NO!!! you........died.....in a video game? THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ AUDACITY OF THE DEVS!!!

LOL. I have nothing against dying in games, ive done it a lot over the past years. I started gaming in the late 70s on the Atari 2600. I was an Ever Quest addict as well, logging over 1 year of game time on my main. That game was BRUTAL in its punishment for dying. Thats about 370x24 hours to get the hours total played. The game would do the math for you and give it back in days.

My problem with this game is that its just not fun for me. The reasons why I dont like it are many and I really dont want to take time to describe now. One of the few games that I own that I put away and wont play again.

Lol I was just kinda being a ♥♥♥♥ because that's kind of how it sounded.

To be honest I put this game down 2 or 3 times before finishing it. It was just overwhelming, I died a lot, sometimes in crappy ways, but I really wanted to like it. At some point I decided I'm just going to stick it out. I'm glad I did because it honestly became an extremely enjoyable experience. I know telling people "give it no less than 3 tries at different times" isn't exactly a shining endorsement lol but I do think if you go back, it'll click at some point.

[maldorf]

Originally posted by Brma:

Originally posted by maldorf:

LOL. I have nothing against dying in games, ive done it a lot over the past years. I started gaming in the late 70s on the Atari 2600. I was an Ever Quest addict as well, logging over 1 year of game time on my main. That game was BRUTAL in its punishment for dying. Thats about 370x24 hours to get the hours total played. The game would do the math for you and give it back in days.

My problem with this game is that its just not fun for me. The reasons why I dont like it are many and I really dont want to take time to describe now. One of the few games that I own that I put away and wont play again.

Lol I was just kinda being a ♥♥♥♥ because that's kind of how it sounded.

To be honest I put this game down 2 or 3 times before finishing it. It was just overwhelming, I died a lot, sometimes in crappy ways, but I really wanted to like it. At some point I decided I'm just going to stick it out. I'm glad I did because it honestly became an extremely enjoyable experience. I know telling people "give it no less than 3 tries at different times" isn't exactly a shining endorsement lol but I do think if you go back, it'll click at some point.

Thanks, I might just do that.