Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

 PC
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 282 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 129 out of 282
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 282
  3. Negative: 110 out of 282

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  1. Pelmenjo
    Aug 31, 2019
    7
    the game is not bad, at the beginning the crafting and learning system is very interesting, but the game is too long, so by the end the game becomes boring.
  2. iXsoLutioN
    Aug 30, 2019
    7
    First of all, this game isn't for everyone. It's a niche game about evolution and the hardship that come with it. The game purposefully doesn't give you a lot to go on, because you are supposed to explore.

    To address some of the unjustified criticism, there is a skip cut scene option, it's even shown in both the Keyboard & Mouse and in the Controller settings. Personally I have not    First of all, this game isn't for everyone. It's a niche game about evolution and the hardship that come with it. The game purposefully doesn't give you a lot to go on, because you are supposed to explore.

    To address some of the unjustified criticism, there is a skip cut scene option, it's even shown in both the Keyboard & Mouse and in the Controller settings. Personally I have not experienced any major issues in 15 hours of gameplay besides a couple of wild creatures getting stuck in the environment.

    Figuring out different combinations of items is a blast and whenever you come across something new you start to wonder how you can combine it with already known items. The world is gigantic and feels very much alive.

    After 15 hours I've now started to get to the point where progressions seems to be dragging on a bit too much. The amount of new combinations I can discover during an hour of gameplay has almost reached 0 and the combat doesn't seem to change from the start to the game until the end, which wouldn't be a problem in itself if it was more than just a single correctly timed button press with some RNG element attached to it.

    I'm in love with the concept of the game and I'm very excited to see if the Devs can polish the game with future updates to the point where I can recommend the game to everyone, instead of just to a niche audience. For me personally the game is definitefely worth the 40€, but if it ever goes on sale I'd definitely recommend you to pick it up.    … Expand
  3. Angell
    Aug 29, 2019
    7
    So far the game is pretty decent overall. A solid survival title, but has a lot of room for improvement.

    Cons: • User Interface can be downright annoying. The camera angles and lack of options for customizing them can also be incredibly frustrating. If you're facing a tree you can't look in 360 or use your senses in that manner either. like my primate can turn his body and head to look    So far the game is pretty decent overall. A solid survival title, but has a lot of room for improvement.

    Cons:
    • User Interface can be downright annoying. The camera angles and lack of options for customizing them can also be incredibly frustrating. If you're facing a tree you can't look in 360 or use your senses in that manner either. like my primate can turn his body and head to look over his shoulder...
    There's also no way to monitor what apes are paired with who and which ones are family. A family tree should be implemented for better planning your mating, even if it's something that has to be evolved. The only way to understand these is if you analyze every ape and try to remember who is who, because immediate family members cannot mate. Nothing like playing matchmaker to find out your last two are brother and sister which means you're losing at least two children, which is crucial.

    • The game does a horrendous job of explaining the basic mechanics such as mating, which is one of the most important things in the game. ZERO explanation. I get that they wanted the game to be about exploring and learning, but I don't need to learn what hole to stick it in and how, neither to my apes. Another mechanic is the audio ping. ZERO explanation. Every action in game has a "tick" sound when you should execute the action. Grooming, hitting, striking, dodging, etc. Literally every action that has meaning comes with an audio cue for the player.

    • The Ape AI is kinda garbage, I get that they're learning, but even when you have some evolutionary feats that say they can do certain things like mimic switching hands and crafting it becomes a giant headache.

    • With that said the initial intro to the game becomes incredibly difficult. The player struggles and starts over a few time just to pick up the basic mechanics when they should have been explained better. The premise of it being about exploring and learning with no help so that you get better immersion with the apes is taken a step too far here. Once you have the basic mechanics down it's smooth sailing though.

    PROS: After all that nonsense...

    • The game is fun to explore. Climbing trees and jumping from canopy to canopy can be quite enjoyable. I never really had the experience where I was falling so often, the game isn't broken here. Other players are just trash at aiming and timing their jumps and swings.

    • Though the game starts out incredibly rough and slow, it does get better, faster, and easier as you evolve. Everything from movement, analysis, communication, combat, etc... Think of Kingdom Come: Deliverance in a sense. This can be quite satisfying as it shows true progression (once you nail the basic mechanics and know what you're doing at least).

    • The wildlife is not as other reviews make it seem. You don't get stalked and jumped by random spawns. Certain wildlife will linger in areas until they are cleared, they respawn with a new generation, sometimes they do wander as far as I can tell though. Even if you do get jumped by one, you have enough time during the "reaction" phase to dodge and make your way to safety. They can be difficult to kill however because you often lose or break items after a successful hit or a dodge. There are evolutionary feats for this though. Be patient.

    OVERALL: If the mechanics were explained better to start, the game would be much more enjoyable for the entirety of the player base. Having to start over repeatedly because you made dumb decisions with your lineage for something that should have been taught from the beginning is mind numbingly frustrating. Quite enjoyable after that however. I've yet to unlock everything and am still experimenting with combos and such. I look forward to seeing where the devs go with updates and DLC. This title has unlimited potential.

    *Edit
    Some features are still coming to light as I play. The bonds developed between Apes are not permanent as you can choose a new mate for better family planning.

    • Later features come as you evolve through the ages and upgrade your feats.

    • Once you discover new locations and build a bigger clan you can restart fresh with custom settings instead of spawning at the default start. These include your biome, the location within the biome, and your clan size. This may make a sizable difference to the player.

    The game still needs work, but it can be thoroughly enjoyable if you power through.    … Expand
  4. pamev
    Sep 3, 2019
    5
    Like biting into a world-class burger to find a patty made of cardboard.

    This game boasts incredible design and innovation but stalwartly refuses to become fun at any point. If you like figuring things out for yourself and taking on a challenge . . . this game doesn't quite know how to give that to you. If you give up on the challenge and want a more guided experience . . .this game    Like biting into a world-class burger to find a patty made of cardboard.

    This game boasts incredible design and innovation but stalwartly refuses to become fun at any point. If you like figuring things out for yourself and taking on a challenge . . . this game doesn't quite know how to give that to you. If you give up on the challenge and want a more guided experience . . .this game also doesn't know what to offer you.

    This plays like a game designed for a different subspecies of human.    … Expand
  5. p1menta
    Nov 6, 2019
    6
    this is such an interesting idea for a game, but it wasnt properly adjusted for a game.
    too big, too repetitive. like, i know it wasnt easy in real life, but some things dont need to be that realistic in a video game.
    but man, i really hope there's a part two or a sequence, dlc, update, anything.
  6. GERULAS
    Sep 2, 2019
    6
    This is a great game with most STUPID, IDIOTIC controls system ever invented for a game in colaboration with his camera.

    And if they wanted to make from this game to be a compressed simulation of that time, they succeeded, but as a game it demands too much effort for too little reward "The novelty of detecting something by sound or scent wears off almost immediately due to    This is a great game with most STUPID, IDIOTIC controls system ever invented for a game in colaboration with his camera.

    And if they wanted to make from this game to be a compressed simulation of that time, they succeeded, but as a game it demands too much effort for too little reward

    "The novelty of detecting something by sound or scent wears off almost immediately due to repetition and awkward controls. When I want to use my senses to investigate something, I need to stop moving completely. Then I need to make sure I'm not close to any rock, stick, plant, or food item or I'll get the prompt to interact with that item instead of the prompts to use my senses. So there's a lot of moving and stopping, then shuffling around because I stopped too close to something else. It's awkward instead of instinctive, which isn't great for a game about being a creature of instinct. Even just trying to target another hominid for an interaction is a fiddly annoyance, like the endless backrubs I need to perform in hopes of convincing one to mate with me"    … Expand
  7. DukeBalek
    May 2, 2020
    6
    The game might be good, the graphics, animations and the map itself are quite impressive and very well done, some panoramas are really beautiful, the music/ambiance is very good too.... but some gameplay design ruins totally the whole experience and at the end the game is far too repetitive ...They had to cut corners and you feel it...they are too many gamepad manipulations for nothing,The game might be good, the graphics, animations and the map itself are quite impressive and very well done, some panoramas are really beautiful, the music/ambiance is very good too.... but some gameplay design ruins totally the whole experience and at the end the game is far too repetitive ...They had to cut corners and you feel it...they are too many gamepad manipulations for nothing, the AI of the apes is widely not enough accurate, the attack possibilities and all this crap about switching arms every minute are very bad, its feels unpolished and rushed... and yes ...its the damned cat that made me leave and desinstall the game after maybe 20 hours. I was sick to search for the 100 times some nuts or herbs for this bleeding injuries..to have an eternal cat hunting you every 15 mns is a cool idea on paper but not in a game that deserves 50 hours to be completed.. il feels like an early access game, its true, you have to fight with the rules of the game and the game it self… Expand
  8. Wolfy606
    Sep 14, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is truly incredible.. when you first play it

    You are thrown into the deep end with no knowledge of what is going on or what to do. Now before we go any further, let me say this. I have read of many people getting annoyed by the fact that there is no starter tutorial or the lack of direction as soon as you start the game. I witnessed streamers screaming and ranting that the game is trash because they don't know what to do. This is EXACTLY how this game should be and I am so glad that the developers did it this way. You are starting out as a clueless ape, and the fact that you are told nothing truely takes the immersion to the next level

    The very point and goal of this game is to try to evolve faster than your ancestors. I'll be honest my first 2 games were disastrous, I killed a lot of apes, there were weird constructions around my camp, I killed all my adults which basically led to extinction because I didn't know that I could find wild apes to recruit.

    The beautiful thing is every time I restarted the game from scratch with a new lineage, It was cleaner, I knew how to build and what to build quicker from my previous attempts, I learnt how to craft new things, new weapons, I felt braver and explored more, I learnt what the plants do and what gives me buffs or debuffs. I was literally evolving. The skill tree is also MASSIVE and you will learn and unlock some valuable skills along the way

    This game is fantastic. Would I advice someone to buy it? Possibly, on a sale (and on steam)

    Pros
    A challenging learning curve
    It's visually beautiful
    The concept of the game is genius
    It will keep you entertained for a long time
    The map is enormous with different biomes and enemies
    Early game will leave you salivating with the exploration and crafting options

    Cons
    A challenging learning curve
    It is an epic exclusive at the moment
    End game can be tedious
    it can get repetitive
    The attacking system is PURE garbage. dodge or counterattack are your only options (seriously hope they fix this )
    the stalker cat. It will constantly harass you until you kill it, it then goes on a timer and comes back later again and again and again    … Expand
  9. Alexb1096
    Jul 24, 2020
    6
    ITALIAN:
    Ho abbandonato il gioco dopo poco.
    Graficamente buono e idea di base interessante, però è esageratamente complesso. Inoltre il gameplay, pur essendo realizzato dall'ideatore di Assassin's Creed, non è entusiasmante.

    In pratica sembra un gestionale con il gameplay di un gioco d'azione.
  10. ljt35
    May 25, 2020
    7
    The game is extremely immersive and gives you a real sense of environment and role as a primate. The game had my attention completely until I realized there was not much else to do once I had put in a certain amount of hours besides exploring more. The implementation of an advanced building mechanic or progressive colonization in a patch could bring me back instantly.

    In summary, just    The game is extremely immersive and gives you a real sense of environment and role as a primate. The game had my attention completely until I realized there was not much else to do once I had put in a certain amount of hours besides exploring more. The implementation of an advanced building mechanic or progressive colonization in a patch could bring me back instantly.

    In summary, just needs more content. If it was as vast as rockstar games titles it would be a hit!    … Expand
  11. lcja
    Jun 14, 2022
    6
    not a bad game but a long learning curve for this game so it took a long time before I have some fun in it
  12. Gorbunov2004
    Jun 16, 2021
    7
    Игра хоть и хорошая но она жутко однообразная и затянутая геймплей интересный но со временем успевает надоесть.
  13. ChampionofDeaTH
    Oct 29, 2021
    5
    задумка весьма интересна и неплоха , но очень плохо оптимизована и слишком много машны особенно на ранних этапах
  14. oyod
    Jul 1, 2022
    6
    nothing that special just average game. it's good if you can find it in a cheap price
  15. Geghr
    Oct 19, 2022
    6
    This is a kind of interesting game to play for a few days, nothing too special though

Awards & Rankings

42
#42 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
54
#54 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 71
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 71
  3. Negative: 6 out of 71
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    40
    The game has an original setting and at first attractive environment. Unfortunately for players, millions of years are truly dragging, and the sluggish gameplay makes the struggle for survival a struggle for your own sanity. [Issue#298]
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 11, 2019
    57
    Poor climbing and fighting aside, the gameplay loop is mind-numbingly tedious: eat, drink, make babies, sleep. Keep doing that for hours, and you’ll unlock one semi-useful perk or another, so you can eat, sleep and drink some more. [Issue#240, p.40]
  3. Impulsegamer
    Sep 27, 2019
    82
    For anyone interested in a rough idea of what our early ancestors went through as they slowly evolved over time… this game does offer an effective look and feel for that. It has some pretty irritating issues… but for the most part it is likely to draw you in and see you exploring your environment trying to unlock that next ability that will unlock the next branch on the family tree. Evolutionary denialists… well I assume they are not even considering this title anyway, for everyone else… if you can get past the hangups… Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey actually manages to mix a bit of education with an interesting game that may well find you absorbed for hours on end.
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