Core Keeper

Genre: Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG / Survival Adventure

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Online)

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Review:

Core Keeper, released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is an Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG with Survival Adventure elements. This game has players taking the role of an explorer transported to a vast underground cave, which is a strange world full of treasures, odd life forms, and hostile creatures.

An easy way to describe this game in one sentence would be to say it’s a top-down take on Minecraft. A more accurate way to describe this game would be to say it’s a top-down take on Terraria. Like both of those games, a large part of the gameplay is exploring a large, open world, tunneling through rock and dirt, collecting resources, and then using those resources to create tools and other items to aid you in further exploration. However, more specifically like Terraria, you’ll find a good deal more structure, with stronger Action-RPG elements, bosses, more cool equipment to create or discover. Plus, like Terraria, this game’s world feels like it has its own unique personality and sense of place, something that can sometimes be a bit lacking in Minecraft.

Much like those other games, Core Keeper is pretty permissive when it comes to letting players tackle the game how they want. Players are provided plenty of options for building and decorating their own base, gardening, fishing, and similar gameplay elements, but players more keen on adventuring only need to touch on the surface level of these elements to smelt down ores they find to craft new weapons and armor. The game builds up your skills through use, letting you purchase upgrades in a skill tree after you’ve spent enough time doing a particular activity.

This makes Core Keeper particularly good for co-op (sadly online only), because players with differing interests can go off and do their own thing and still benefit each other – an explorer can find and bring back new ingredients to a chef who welcomes them back to their home base with a fresh supply of cooked meals, and each benefits from the unique bonuses they get for exceling in their own areas.

The presentation here is excellent, with beautifully detailed pixel art visuals that make great use of real-time lighting, backed by a beautiful instrumental and synthesized soundtrack, with some great examples including Echo of the Past, Mysteries Uncovered, Unlit Caves, Thriving Habitat, My Growing Home, Light Traveling, Golden Meadow, Statues By the Sea, and Forlorn Metropolis. I will note one small issue on Nintendo Switch, however – when moving into an area, it takes a moment for the lighting to catch up, meaning that for a brief moment the edge of the screen appears fully-lit even when it isn’t. It’s a small complaint, but it is noticeable.

Overall, it’s difficult to find too much to complain about in Core Keeper. I suppose that early on it’s not clear what you’re meant to be doing, and progression can be a tad slow at times. Also, I wish players were given more options for advancement via the skill trees. But these are really minor complaints in the grand scheme of things.

Simply put, I am absolutely delighted with Core Keeper. I think it takes a lot to get the right balance of exploration, RPG-style progression, and variety in a game like this, and I think Core Keeper has managed it wonderfully, with a great presentation to boot. It’s not perfect, but my complaints are mostly minor, and I think anyone who enjoys games like Minecraft and Terraria may have their next obsession here.

tl;dr – Core Keeper is an Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG with Survival Adventure elements that has players digging through a vast underground world, exploring and discovering new treasures, mysteries, and dangers. For players who enjoy games like Minecraft and Terraria, this should be considered a must-have, and fans of Action-RPGs in general should give this a look too – its well-crafted and varied gameplay and its wonderful presentation make for something truly special.

Grade: A-

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