Ars Notoria

Don't Sleep on This One — Give It a Chance Look, I'll be honest — Ars Notoria has its rough edges. As an Early Access title, you're going to run into some bugs, a few clunky systems, and moments where things don't quite feel polished. But if you write this game off because of that, you're genuinely missing out. Once it clicks, it really clicks. The magic system alone is worth the price of admission — six schools of magic that you can actually mix and combine to craft your own spells and imbue your gear? That's not something you see in every survival crafting game. It adds a layer of depth and creativity that keeps the gameplay feeling fresh. The open world is packed with things to do — diverse biomes, dungeons, ancient ruins, and some genuinely epic boss fights. Throw in faction alignment with branching questlines, base building with automation, and the ability to tame creatures or summon arcane companions, and there's a surprising amount of content here for where the game currently stands. The co-op experience with friends is also a blast. Exploring, building your settlement together, and tackling dungeons as a squad with different roles and fighting styles makes this …

I think it's fun. It reminds me of one of those late 2000s/early 2010s MMORPGs (if you've ever played LOTRO you know what I'm talking about). There's factions, character approval, building/crafting elements and many different skills to discover and level. As a LOOT goblin I like that enemies drop multiple loot items. I've not tried playing with others but it appears you can host a server to play with your friends. I don't know why the game is getting so much hate. The combat is simplistic, but as I said earlier, reminiscent of the style from games from an earlier era (before soulslike games became popular). Will update review as I get further in the game. Updates: You can tame horses to turn them into mounts. You unlock various magic schools by fighting empowered/magical enemies. This is pretty cool. You can get ambushed in the overworld by enemies and should pay attention to the words "enemies are moving nearby". Overall, the game is pretty neat and has in-depth concepts. That being said, the slow pace of development is a worry for me so I will be refunding for now.

The game does have loads of promise but it is rougher than a badger's Ars Notoria at the moment. I'm spending time having to look up how to do stuff on the internet and it's annoying me. It's not intuitive at this stage. For example I'm told to go speak to the quartermaster but she won't speak. I guess I'll have to run the assault course first, but the game isn't clear on that. Then I got stuck in part of the course and couldn't work out how to get past so I'll have to go watch a guide online for that and it's just not that fun. I've been playing games for years and this one is just too infuriatingly odd at the moment. I'm sticking with it - there is loads of promise, It's just vague. Maybe I've got used to games holding your hand, but it is still doing my head in regardless. A bit too early access for my liking, but you might love it. I don't at the moment but will update if I change my mind, and that's always possible.

Once I started playing this game, it lived up to my expectations, and I’ll definitely keep playing it. However, there are a few aesthetic issues that make me less eager to continue: 1. UI. (1) The colors are too vivid; I think you should add a bit more grayscale, and it would be best to avoid that smooth transition effect. (2) It breaks the immersion. I think this is an extension of the first point. If you don’t want a minimalist UI, I suggest using distinct, grayish colors and adding some textures—such as the surface texture of stone or rust. I believe you should definitely take a cue from games like Outworld and Kingdom Come: Deliverance when it comes to UI design. If you do opt for a minimalist style (such as black with 50% transparency), I think adding some plant textures would be a good choice. 2. Overall Art Style. I think, for now and without making major adjustments, you could add an outline effect and reduce the lighting and reflections on the characters (they really look like plastic). For specific changes, refer to how Kenshi looks after adding comic-style outlines. Please also use simple outlines for interactive items. The overall retro art style combined with golden hi…

A janky, stupid mess. Better off playing something else.

I keep returning to this game, but can't bring myself to tolerating absolutely abysmal artifacts caused by the foliage. Disabling antialising it just looks pixelated, enabling TAA creates a lot of smearing and other visual artifacts. Tried only FSR3 and it is just create a lot of noise. Other than that it looks promising and interesting, but i can't ignore these issues. It needs lighting rework and figure out settings for unreal to fix this issues.