Some of my favorite games are the result of combining two ideas that don’t seem to go together. After all, where would we be if someone hadn’t been insane enough to combine automobiles and soccer to create Rocket League, first-person shooters with loot-heavy RPGs to produce Borderlands, or deck builders and roguelikes to make Slay the Spire (or Dream Quest before it)? Similar to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Aloft attempts to combine the calming elements of a cozy game with the often uncozy mechanics of a survival crafting game set in a floating archipelago.
In certain aspects, such as its floating island-ship-hybrid building mechanism that dominates and the low-stakes cooperative exploration that makes for a laid-back experience with pals, that peculiar combination does pay off. However, in its current early access state, it also lacks a lot of activities, has a lot more repetitive and boring combat encounters than it should, and has a lot of performance problems that eventually got to me.
Aloft will seem familiar to anyone who has played any survival game in the past. To create your way to increased power and security, you must harvest stone, wood, and other resources with both pickaxes and non-pick axes. But as soon as you learn what makes Aloft unique—the skyborne islands that function as both destinations to explore and magically mobile residences to traverse this floating terrain—that familiarity soon disappears. After zipping across the globe in your trusty wingsuit to gather resources for your crafting endeavors, you will transform those islands into skysurfing ships that will act as your base of operations.
The unique sky island setting is a twist that goes a long way.
Even though it lacks in other aspects, this distinctive twist helps to make the approximately 30 hours of adventure that are currently available feel like more than just another survival crafter. You can move it freely by slapping a few sails, a rudder, and a steering wheel onto any island. You can take whatever you’ve built on it or what it carries with you. It’s a lot of fun when you have a group of friends join you, each of whom can import characters and unique island ships from their worlds. With friends, you can enjoy most of the typical pleasant life-sim activities, such as caring for livestock, gardening, and decorating, from the comfort of a flying island that is customized to your preferences and operates similarly to a fast-moving sea vessel.
Additionally, you’ll probably run into a variety of problems, such as flying into an asteroid field that damages your sails and sends you hurtling out of control. Building and navigating islands may be a lot of fun, and the idea is original, but Aloft is much less effective as a stand-alone survival-crafting game. Other than farming, cooking, building, and animal husbandry, there aren’t many activities to do currently, and even these are really basic versions of what other cozy games have done more effectively. Right now, there are relatively few animals to domesticate, gardening is quite simple, and there aren’t many distinctive structures to choose from or even a strong reason to try elaborate constructions because islands must maintain a healthy natural biome to be pivotable.
Because of the laid-back vibe, you won’t have to worry about much.
Contrary to the standard survival formula, Aloft’s laid-back vibe means you won’t have to worry about much, but that’s not always a negative thing. Flying is never difficult because you can go in any direction without worrying about physics or fuel, and if you wish, you can even soar almost straight up. Fighting is really easy, and you won’t lose anything if you die because you’ll simply rebirth on your home island and only lose the time it takes to get back there. The worst-case scenario is actually when you crash into something and break your sails, which isn’t so horrible, and you have to spend money to fix them.
Aloft is a much less successful survival-crafting game on its own, even though the concept is original, and creating and flying islands may be a lot of fun. Farming, cooking, building, and animal husbandry are the only activities available at this time, and even these are really basic versions of what other cozy games have done better. As islands must maintain a healthy natural biome to be pilotable, there are currently relatively few animals to domesticate, gardening is quite simple, and there aren’t many distinctive structures to choose from or even a solid incentive to try sophisticated ones.
Even though there aren’t many activities left in this initial early access draft, players who persevere through the three sections will at least be rewarded with the leviathan, which is Aloft’s most intriguing encounter. Somewhere in the world, there is a huge flying tortoise-like monster with an infected body that resembles a row of floating islands. Although it has the same boring combat and four enemy kinds as every other island, finding and curing this elusive beast is one of the greatest pastimes accessible. It also acts as a sort of placeholder finish, with a proper ending to be added later.
The framerate gets extremely rocky on a fairly regular basis and crashing is a common occurrence, especially if you aren’t the host of a multiplayer world. Beyond that, my playgroup saw instances of items mysteriously disappearing from chests and sometimes I found myself staring at the inside of my avatar’s face, unable to rectify the issue until a crash inevitably came a short while later. This is one of those things I imagine will become less and less of a problem as time goes on, but at least for now these technical issues can be a real drag.
Frequently, the frame rate becomes quite unstable, and crashes are frequent, particularly if you are not the host of a multiplayer environment. Beyond that, my playgroup had instances of stuff unexpectedly disappearing from chests and sometimes I found myself looking at the inside of my avatar’s face, unable to correct the issue until a crash eventually arrived a short while later. At least for the time being, these technical difficulties can be a major pain, but I think they will eventually become less of an issue.
Verdict
As of its early access launch, Aloft falls short in several key areas, despite being a promising combination of a survival crafting game, cozy sensibilities, and a unique flying location. Any floating island may be transformed into your very own flying pirate ship, and the combination of low stakes, feel-good appeal, and survival mechanisms is powerful. Nevertheless, there is a lot of space for growth that can be difficult to bear at the moment due to the lack of engaging activities, the repetitive and lackluster combat encounters, and numerous technical problems. You might want to wait for bigger winds to blow before setting sail, but there are enough interesting concepts here that I’m confident Aloft could be worth your time at some point in the future.
