I've played the game a bit and I have to say I'm impressed with the amount of ability built into the game. I'll start with the pros
PRO:
A lot of functionality with building, crafting, character customization. Hunger and thirst isn't something you have to micro manage and is pretty balanced. The AI of the creatures is a pro and a con. I like the fact that when you get into an enemy camp and attract their attention they defend the camp, and if you run far enough away they lose interest in you and return home. I didn't see a lot of pathing issues, clipping or geo tears that are common with unity. The mesh is well done.
My wife has found portals and little hidden nuggets all over the place as shes been playing through the night.

CON:
The swaying of the character is bad but the devs are working on a fix
The menu's are clunky and the option to quit is not obvious. (switching to window mode (alt / enter) and selecting x at the top right works fine and saves the game.
Dragging items into the hotbar is touchy and often items fall to the ground.
The landscape appears very barren and not lush with life.
Carnivores in the game seem to ignore obvious prey, and a Trike attacked me. It was like random creatures of all types running around the map or loitering around in one spot.
It would be nice to run a steamCMD anonymous server as I am not a fan of paying for hosting. (also might add this is being worked on by the developers as a TOP priority)

Summary:
Bottom line this is a 3 person team who made this game out of their own pocket, and its impossible to beta test every possible bug with 3 people.. No kickstarters or funding to back the game either. If the community doesn't support the game its going to be rough for the team to finish the game.. BUT If you're not a fan of supporting indie developers and rolling with the fixes as they polish the game I would wait until some of the issues get fleshed out before you buy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lAEkyCWMpU

Not your typical developers who don't care about you and just want your money. They care about this game and their players, they respond quickly to bugs and problems and will bend over backwards to help you.

One of the developers actually jumped into my game to talk to me about some issues I was having. I was standing face to face with his character and he even offered to replace the mats I lost. He also told me about things they are planning that will be coming soon. Never seen anything like that before.

The game is fun and addicting, yes, it has some bugs and needs some polish and more content but what a great start. I'm really looking forward to the future of this game, I can't wait to see where it goes from here. SAS has a bright future. I hope some of you give it a chance and help out. Jump on PvP East Coast 2 server and lets all have some fun, just don't shoot me!

Decent game in it's current state. I hope the devs keep going strong. I feel like this game has massive potential if you're into survival sandbox types, then yes I would recommend this game.

It's a bit of a grind fest, the map is HUGE with plenty of exploring and discovering to be done.

I do feel it needs more content added. I would like to see more underwater life and perhaps even wuwsts added. But, after reading other reviews and playing the game myself. I've noticed the devs seem legitamitley care for our experience and they seem to be puttting in the effort.

Pros:
-Beautiful landscape with nice graphics
-Lots of different enemies
-Lots of building and crafting options
-Lots of customizeation
-Game has GREAT potential

Cons:
-Hard to read animal and monster ui have to get very close at times to read the tag
-Progression can feel tedious at t imes, grinding is required to reach higher levels
-Underwater wildlife is sparse

So far overall 7/10
For an Early Access game 9/10

This game is close to unplayable in it's current state and I have no idea how it has positive reviews unless they're all from insiders or exceedingly hopeful people. If this is a serious attempt at a game and not a early access scam like so many games here are, then it's got a very very long way to go before it becomes even an enjoyable low quality exploring game.

Terrain mapping is terrible, with many islands of mountains that provide rough exploration at best and a hell of a time getting around at worst. The models hover over the ground half the time and many are poorly rendered and either over or undersized. Resources and creatures both appear in strange and nonsensical places. The crafting system is unintuitive and the clothing crafting in particular is hard on the eyes because everying is labeled "bar_03" and such.

Attempted to play, but there's very little introduction, absolutely no tips or tricks or anything to even get you started, and none of the "animal morphing" which is exactly why I bought the game in the first place! I tried looking in discussions, looking up guides, but there's nothing. I'd love to actually play the game but there's such a massive learning curve that it just doesn't feel worth it, which sucks because I've wanted a game like this for ages.

Ok, so I don't write many reviews at all. Just being honest. I just don't make the time to do so. However, from time to time I do find a game that warrants one. SAS is one of those games.

Graphics - amazing!! If you have a machine that can run this game on high end, and a card that can support all the bells and whistles of the engine the game looks so amazing. The animals and landscape is simple amazing. The detail in some of the tools and weapons is worth every penny.

Game Mechanics - Some of the ideas behind how things work in the game is perfect in the flow of the game. The way you can shape shift or mount your ride works in smooth action and is not cumbersome at all. The game offers a great many actions and the controls work in perfect harmony with the actions. There are so many things in the game that the player can do its easy to work them all without a second thought because of how fluid the game play actually is.

Lore - the story behind the game is very interesting and has room to grow and evolve as you progress through the game. The game has that feeling of never ending, like there might not be an end game... or not anywhere close to where you are here in the game but much further through many many dungeons, caves, tunnels, temples, entire underground worlds or burned out castles, and the list just keeps going and going. Almost sounds like a book I heard about one time where this small person went some place and came back to where he started. :) This game could be just as good of a tale as that!!

All in all if you want a game that breaks some molds, adds some things not seen before, not done before, or just simply looking for something new, this is the game to get. I have spent just over 37 hours in the game as of this review and I have just scratched the surface of the things possible. Check out my screen shots or come watch a stream @ twitch.tv/prayr_ you can find many past videos there as well. Not trying to plug my channel but trying to bring awareness and attention to a well deserved game.

Feel free to shoot me some questions about the game anytime. And no I am not part of the team at True Illusion Software and yes I did pay for my copy. I am just a really big fan of a great game and I think you guys would be too.

Take care,

This is NOT EA, this is early alpha at best ... Glitchy is one of the words I would use, this game might become something great sooner or later, but for now it's unplayable. Sorry devs, I do like your idea, but you guys need to fix so many things it's not even funny. I'll stick around to see if it improves, but for now I can't recommend it.

Problems encountered:
- weapons/tools break super fast ( 10-15 hits with a weapon and poof )
- only T-rex spirit would actually attack ( had T-rex, Dragon and Phoenix )
- constant glitching underground ( especially in T-rex form, same with mobs )
- mobs/bosses can't damage you in a dungeon ( went to couple, with Harpy and "player" !? )

I want to love this game, I love the idea behind it. However, so many things made me unhappy in the first 10 min of playing! #1..why have character creation if you can't see yourself, please give a third person option! (some people get motion sickness from first person) #2 No in game tutorial, the tutorial button take you to youtube videos. Even after watching the videos the interface in game was unresponsive and sluggish. #3 I could not put the game in full screen mode and the bottome of my tool bar was cut off. The idea behind this game is amazing, please keep working on it and I will give it another try in the future. For a game made by 3 people I am impressed. Please make it more user friendly. I wish you luck!

Before I write my thoughts, I saw someone post false information that I'd like to correct. You actually CAN report bugs without having to use a 3rd party chat software called Discord. There is a big box in the main menu (as seen in one of the videos above) that clearly states you can report bugs by contacting them via their email at support@spiritanimalsurvival.com - if the forum or Discord is not your way to go, there is always that solution for you.

Now on to my actual thoughts of this game in its current state! Spirit Animal Survival (SAS) is another survival game with some unique elements in it. The features you expect in a survival game are there, you need to go get resources, craft and build, while trying to stay alive by eating, drinking and not letting others/animals kill you. You got to do a bit of grinding but that's part of the games in this genre. The most unique feature of the game is that you can transform/morph into a spirit animal. There is a bunch of them and all of them have their own attacks/features. This does set the game apart from other survival games that I have played. You can see how this work in the videos above.

Considering this is an Early Access title made by 3 developers, there is sooo much in it already. In the time I spend on the game I did not even get to try out every item, weapon or building mechanic yet. But what I have got my hands on so far is quite nice. Playing it with friends certainly adds to the fun level and makes the grind for resources easier as well. Of course, there are some some issues/bugs - but that is to be expected in an Early Access game. Personally, I have no issues with that but it is something to keep in mind before buying the game.

How does the game compare to other survival games? Well the more popular ones have a big studio behind them and this might not be a fair way to compare the games in similar genres. However, if you are expecting a game level like Ark or Conan, then this game is not there yet. After all, it is a 3 person indie team making this game. It is to be expected that there are some differences and those do not have to be a negative thing. so overall if you want something different than those games, then SAS is a worth the try.

Now is this a game I'd recommend you to get? Yes. The game has a ton of potential to become something amazing. Just keep in mind that there are still issues before buying it in Early Access. Are those issues breaking the game? Not at all.
If you want to see the game in its true form and current state before buying, I can recommend to look out for Twitch and/or Youtube content.

If you want to stay in the loop of progress of this game, I do recommend to join the discord server they have. Personally I'll be making a suggestion to keep track of all current issues and upcoming fixes in a thread on the Steam discussion page for all to see.

Interesting new game , very early still in development but it has good potential. Love to see what the future brings ...