Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

 PC
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 34 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 34
  3. Negative: 7 out of 34

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Feb 26, 2019
    8
    I was captivated immediately by the glorious art style that’s present in the game and the accompanying sound design sets the scene perfectly. The world feels so alive in all areas and exploring this world always feels rewarding because there’s always something new to discover. There’s a decent amount of content for you to get to grips and enough replay ability present to keep you satisfiedI was captivated immediately by the glorious art style that’s present in the game and the accompanying sound design sets the scene perfectly. The world feels so alive in all areas and exploring this world always feels rewarding because there’s always something new to discover. There’s a decent amount of content for you to get to grips and enough replay ability present to keep you satisfied and to keep you coming back for more multiple times. I found the story to be very charming and without a doubt it had enough depth within it to keep it fresh and interesting throughout my time with the game. The quests you come across in the game could’ve done with a bit more in terms of variety. While the game is pretty good when it comes to the technical side of things the controls could’ve been made a little less awkward. Even though there is a decent amount of depth in the crafting elements they don’t always feel rewarding because they don’t matter as much as they should. I enjoy a relaxing journey every now and then because they immerse me just as much as the over the top action packed AAA releases. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles whilst not being perfect offers you an experience that doesn’t make you stress, it makes you appreciate every little detail, and without a doubt there’s plenty of that in both the beautiful visuals and sound design. This then means the world feels alive in all areas and it also makes exploring rewarding because there’s always something new to find. The game also features a number of different mechanics for you to get to grips with as well and thankfully most of them have been done well even if they don’t matter as much as they should. This however doesn’t impact on you returning back to the game time and time again and even though more variety in the quests would’ve been nice there’s enough variety in the story to make you forget about this little shortcoming. At the end of the day then once you get used to the awkward controls you’ll find yourself going on a very enjoyable adventure that stays with you long after completion and for that reason Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles does more than enough to get a recommendation from me. Thumbs up!… Expand
  2. P_May
    Jul 21, 2017
    9
    This game is really adorable and utterly relaxing. The world, including the animals and sprites have an innocent and charming appeal to them.
    The fun in Yonder is the sense of adventure. The discovery of the unknown. At first I only followed the story line, but it was once I veered off into the unknown that I really learned what Yonder was about.
    For me, Yonder is a place that you    This game is really adorable and utterly relaxing. The world, including the animals and sprites have an innocent and charming appeal to them.
    The fun in Yonder is the sense of adventure. The discovery of the unknown. At first I only followed the story line, but it was once I veered off into the unknown that I really learned what Yonder was about.
    For me, Yonder is a place that you come to do whatever it is you want. I spent quite a bit of time fishing, as it’s genuinely a fun thing to do.
    I also had a great time befriending the animals – especially the Groffles!
    My pros:
    - Beautiful world
    - Cute animals
    - Totally open world

    My cons:
    - No player housing
    - Could use more variety in animals
    - Tool swapping – tools are not hot bound

    So this game may not be for everyone, as some of the negative reviews have shown. But I can say this game really is for me and I love it and I think you should give it a go before you let the bad reviews ruin what may be the prefect game for you!    … Expand
  3. Keezie
    Jul 20, 2017
    0
    Preface
    I want to start this review by saying I was hyped for this game, I wanted to love this game - it was promoted as Stardew Valley meets Zelda and that couldn't have been any further from the truth. It has in depth farming system like Stardew Valley does or even Harvest Moon for that matter where the player is required to try and push themselves to maintain their farm. Zelda was    Preface
    I want to start this review by saying I was hyped for this game, I wanted to love this game - it was promoted as Stardew Valley meets Zelda and that couldn't have been any further from the truth. It has in depth farming system like Stardew Valley does or even Harvest Moon for that matter where the player is required to try and push themselves to maintain their farm. Zelda was backed by an engaging storyline and a very unique/appealing world which brought the character back time and time again for more - Yonder, unfortunately, has no depth to its storyline and the characters are bland. The game had so much room for potential, but doesn’t live up to anything.

    You can honestly skip this game and watch a 2-hour complete playthrough (it’s terribly underwhelming). I’ll break this review down into a series of sections covering the main topics and features of the game and why it will never be worth the $25 they're going to be asking for it.

    Exploration
    When starting the game, it feels like you are part of a vast, rich world with lots of characters, animals, and biomes to explore then you quickly and sharply realize that the game is pretty repetitive featuring only one real animal in each biome and they’re completely optional. The exploration of the game loosely ties into the actual main questline and you can skip a vast majority of the game (objectives, areas, and side quiests) and still complete the main game in less than six to seven hours.

    The game lacks any real puzzles with substance or logic, which would have added a great deal of depth to the environment. The characters, sprites, and animals you'll meet along your adventure are also amazingly bleak with no background stories or character development to be seen.

    Storyline
    There isn’t any storyline. There’s maybe a single half-page reading to go along with the game-play which was considered the game’s storyline. If you’re reading reviews thinking this is another wonderful Zelda storyline, you’re sadly mistaken. This game is pretty much an objective simulator moving from Point A to Point B, purchasing a few items from a nearby vendor, and then moving onto the next objective in this very, very basic game.

    Combat
    There isn’t any combat - end of story. Absolutely no nostalgic Zelda 64 dungeons to crawl or Stardew Valley like areas to explore and dig into. Nothing.

    Graphics
    This is subjective, I enjoyed the game’s ‘Zelda’ inspired graphics, but it’s up to you to form your own opinion on it.

    Sound
    This is also subjective as graphics are. I found the background insects and other sounds to be overly obnoxious, but not game-breaking.

    Crafting System
    The crafting system is a complete joke. A majority of the items are simply placed for sidequest requirements and can be skipped with no hussle or bustle about it. You don’t create any armor, weapons, or tools nor can you upgrade any of the tools you have. It’s completely passive with no real benefit. Even if you chose to complete the crafting system, you’ll be done in 30 minutes due to the lack of depth and game-play.

    Farming System
    Again, the farming system is completely optional to the main storyline of the game and doesn’t provide any depth or content to the game itself. It feels like a complete waste of time and I only had to tame one animal just to complete the main storyline and it was never mentioned again. If you want a captivating experience like Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley then skip this game and go play those.

    Developers
    It's sad to say, but the devs of this game have now taken to filtering out any negative feedback or reviews of this game that they can find - banning users on steam from youtube reviews and more. They're trying to snuff out any bad publicity about their game and are going as far as they can to stop anyone from having a voice they don't agree with. Buyer beware!

    Conclusion
    This game is pretty much a rip off at it's current price. It’s advertised everywhere as a Zelda meets Harvest Moon experience which makes you think you’re in for either a unique and fun farming system with goals and objectives or an alluring storyline supported by a farming system – this game is neither. It’s an under polished, seemingly rushed money vacuum. Wait for this game to go on sale or just rent it for a few dollars, you'll have plenty of time to finish it in a single day - save your cash.    … Expand
  4. Sjalka
    Jul 18, 2017
    7
    First thought:

    Awww - how adorable..... Second thought: Hmm - a bit like a cheap Zelda Knock off? (just a thought, not a qualified assessment) But for real - the look and feel of the game is that of a new toy box with a lot of individual pieces that all seem to be different, new and shiny. Visually - the game is quite stunning ... well... kind of. Artistically, everything is    First thought:

    Awww - how adorable.....

    Second thought:

    Hmm - a bit like a cheap Zelda Knock off? (just a thought, not a qualified assessment)

    But for real - the look and feel of the game is that of a new toy box with a lot of individual pieces that all seem to be different, new and shiny. Visually - the game is quite stunning ... well... kind of. Artistically, everything is very simplified - so it is not stunning as in "realistic" or "very detailed" but rather in terms of being adorable and full of saturated colours.

    Gameplay-wise ... the game offers about the average ... nothing epical, nothing mature or complex. They are all fetch quests or simple deliveries. The type of quests do not really go beyond the complexity of your average MMO quests.

    It is a nice game to casually relax a little (emphasis on CASUAL) ... In terms of story, characters, graphics and pretty much everything else - the PC offers countless alternatives that are all better. However as a whole package - it is oddly "nice" to play and look at.

    I can fully recommend this game to casual gamers. I guess that hardcore gamers with more mature demands on their games would get bored quite quickly though.    … Expand
  5. kraenk
    Jul 23, 2017
    10
    This is an extremely beautiful and relaxing game for all ages. Don't listen to all those douchebags unfairly downrating the game. Hate train galore. It also seems people were having wrong expectations. Watch some let's plays on it, don't believe the haters.
  6. Dubeau
    Jul 25, 2017
    6
    Cell shade visual and very relaxing game. The game seems to be aim more toward children. Yonder has a problem of identity, you are never truly sure if it's a Zelda game, a crafting game, sand box, a children game or not. They went in several directions but it would have been better with one focus gaming style. The crafting is by far the most interesting. The control is good with a gamepadCell shade visual and very relaxing game. The game seems to be aim more toward children. Yonder has a problem of identity, you are never truly sure if it's a Zelda game, a crafting game, sand box, a children game or not. They went in several directions but it would have been better with one focus gaming style. The crafting is by far the most interesting. The control is good with a gamepad on PC but a bit fast with the camera. Nice game but it gets lost on so many levels. Give it 65%… Expand
  7. Flufftide
    Jul 24, 2017
    7
    If you take a second to skim through the "0/10" reviews, you'll notice they ALL mention some kind of developer censorship (not to mention all written on the same day, one after the other, with the exact same helpful ratio)... and it is borderline slanderous. Do not let this sway your decision.

    The devs have been actively engaging with their forums and directly responding to criticism,    If you take a second to skim through the "0/10" reviews, you'll notice they ALL mention some kind of developer censorship (not to mention all written on the same day, one after the other, with the exact same helpful ratio)... and it is borderline slanderous. Do not let this sway your decision.

    The devs have been actively engaging with their forums and directly responding to criticism, often trying to get to the root of people's issues and asking how they can be fixed. There are more than enough unhappy players and some who are even somewhat aggressive, yet they are still there and receive the same attention as everyone else.

    The users who did manage to get banned were the sort who were intentional causing trouble, harassing players and the developers, baiting people, didn't own the game... the list goes on and they're the kind of people that you wouldn't expect to last long on any forum with even a hint of moderation.    … Expand
  8. Abdo333
    Dec 28, 2017
    0
    A walking simulator . The game consists of you picking up items in an empty area and giving the items to a villager then do the same thing over and over again . There is no adventure or any challenge at all . It just worthless space. The only people who like this are either autistic kids or the parents of autistic kids seeing their kids happy play a meaningless endless game . Can evenA walking simulator . The game consists of you picking up items in an empty area and giving the items to a villager then do the same thing over and over again . There is no adventure or any challenge at all . It just worthless space. The only people who like this are either autistic kids or the parents of autistic kids seeing their kids happy play a meaningless endless game . Can even call Yonder:who gives a **** a game ? I am really sad to have spent 2 hours of my life playing this crap!… Expand
  9. Chronik808
    Nov 23, 2019
    9
    Upřímně jsem byl rozradostněný pokaždé, když jsem hru zapínal.
    Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, je příběh, ve kterém vy jste na procházce a nádherný svět je pro Vás připravený jako píseček pro malé dítě. Pár pazlů, zvířátka a žádné zbraně.
    Osobně jsem nikdy tento styl hry nehrál, ale byl jsem velmi příjemně překvapen. Chci víc
  10. Tomle1202
    Aug 15, 2017
    6
    The world of Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, with all its breath-taking visuals and diverse settings, is nothing more than an ambitious game that wants to catch something far beyond its reach.
  11. thaesino
    Jul 5, 2018
    7
    Yonder is a pretty game. It is a pretty game with a different way of playing.

    The best way I can describe it, and I know not many will understand the parallel, is that it is equivalent to what Harvest Moon (1997, SNES) was - a game about farming and starting a family - during a time when all RPGs (now we call those JRPGs) were about saving the world by grinding and killing powerful    Yonder is a pretty game. It is a pretty game with a different way of playing.

    The best way I can describe it, and I know not many will understand the parallel, is that it is equivalent to what Harvest Moon (1997, SNES) was - a game about farming and starting a family - during a time when all RPGs (now we call those JRPGs) were about saving the world by grinding and killing powerful monsters, brainwashed comrades, and terrible villains; Yonder is this kind of game in a world full of Metroidvania, Minecraft-clone, retro-style JRPGs and MMORPG/MOBA games. There is a world to "save" here, and to explore, and to build... but no one is going to get in your way except yourself.

    .... and that "yourself" is where the game kind of stumbles. It does not provide a reason to continue playing after a few hours, unless you decide you're going to sit down and play it, "just because."

    So on the plus:
    - pretty game based on Unity that actually uses the engine well. I didn't have too many bugs
    - if you like exploration, it's there
    - if you like Harvest Moon, minus the marrying and whatnot, this is the closest you'll currently get to an open-world HM game..... until the full release of My Time at Portia comes out, of course (if it's ever released, as it's only early access for now)
    - if you like the non-monster fighting, princess saving aspect of Breath of the Wild, you MAY like this (big MAY)

    The ugly:

    - the music is not well-done. I've come to expect a game like this to have wonderful music, and it doesn't. The very first track heard on the ship in the beginning is tiring after 15 seconds.... just to give you an idea of how ineffectively composed the music is...... and the track that plays upon arriving at a scene inspired by the hilltop scene in Breath of the Wild's opening, is also quite lacking in breadth and scope......... I almost felt like the game DIDN'T care if I cared to explore beyond or not

    I bring up the issue with the music because, apart from not much of a challenge, it was the music that ultimately made me close and delete the game for good. In a game where not much happens, you cannot use the philosophy used for Breath of the Wild of having "a quiet soundtrack in order to really expose the atmosphere of the wild" ........ uh.... yeah, no.... this isn't BotW and the soundtrack should've been better.

    That's all    … Expand
  12. Raytings
    Jan 7, 2018
    7
    Yonder: The Cloud Catcher CHronicles is Farming with a short story.
    From the indie developer Prideful Sloth, based in Australia, comes the farming simulator Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. Yonder appears to be the developer’s first release. Prideful Sloth states on their site “who take a micro-AAA approach to high quality game development”. In all respect, Yonder misses the mark for    Yonder: The Cloud Catcher CHronicles is Farming with a short story.
    From the indie developer Prideful Sloth, based in Australia, comes the farming simulator Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. Yonder appears to be the developer’s first release. Prideful Sloth states on their site “who take a micro-AAA approach to high quality game development”. In all respect, Yonder misses the mark for this claim, but makes up enough in other areas enough to get a recommendation from me.

    Before moving onto key elements of the game, a shout out to the devs for not gender-locking cloths! It’s a refresher.

    Yonder retains a simplistic style & yet still pulls off some beautiful sights.
    Yonder has a tons of lens flare, and other dramatic and subtle effects that enhance the beauty of the game. In addition, there are some pretty easily recognizable creatures, like Groffle (kind of like a furry cow) and even has clothing based on this creature. The game comes with a night and day cycle, a seasons cycle, and weather (though it doesn’t appear to affect much in the game besides aesthetics, and a few missions. More on that in the next paragraph.) All the terrain seems to have a purpose too: find a little nook or cranny? It probably leads to somewhere!

    Towns and NPCs leave something to be desired. Many of the NPCs look like clones of each other. After playing for 18 hours, I can’t remember many of the NPC’s names or what they looked like, besides perhaps a green-haired chef, and a “wizard.” While the acoustics of the game are pretty solid, NPCs grunt every time you speak with them, and the gender they may identify with, doesn’t really match their appearance. Building assets are also very generic looking. The way to describe it best: is if you went to a theatre, and there was a prop town on stage.

    Farming Aces; Tasks & Interfaces.
    By far, Yonder’s strongest mechanics are farming. I’ve found that players can maintain up to six farms (though I’ve only found 4 so far), pre-decided in certain locations throughout the island known as Gemea. Farming is a bit different in Yonder compared to other games. Instead of hunger, farms have an overall “Animal Care” rating. Constructible items such as Fodder Throughs (which don’t need to be restocked once built), and the interaction “Care For” seem to improve this stat. Cleanliness is related to poop that your animals will leave around the farm, which can be cleaned up by picking it up, or having a farmhand take care of it automatically (Farmhands are generic NPCs you can meet in game. Once these NPCs reach 100% happiness from food items, they can be assigned to a specific farm, where they go into game oblivion aka they just act as a stat to that farm and don’t exist anymore, until a different NPC is assigned to that farm) Farming is very basic and easy. Once players can craft the Garden Plots and Tree Plots, players can plant seeds they’ve found from places like barrels, tall grass, and NPCs. No watering is required, it’s all pretty much automatic. Simply collect the fruits and vegetables once they’ve grown, and no replanting is required. Farmhands will automatically bring grown goods into your item chests.

    While the farming is strong with this one, tasks and interfaces are not currently on par. The story is very short and becomes more of character development, than a story about the island itself. Many of the tasks also seem very annoying. For example: Another quest involves waiting 2 days for , yet when you , you skip 3 days automatically. Players don’t have the option to sleep during the night to skip passage of time, so the best option is to go watch a YouTube episode while you have your client sit there until the time has allotted. There are some redundancies in the UI too like 7 recipes for “Cooked Fish” which all use different types of fish, but result in the same item. There is also the issue of not having a mass produce button for crafting, forcing the player to use their clicky finger skills until their desired amount of crafted item. It’s only possible to track one task at a time on screen, unless you want to open the task menu, or your hand dandy compass, and in addition, when you’re on the farm, your task tracking is on screen. (Oh also, pushing ESC doesn’t allow players to exit the compass menu, and instead must push R again on the keyboard).

    *Breaths*...but I digress! Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is WORTH buying!
    While I may have a lot to say about the UI & tasks, I generally appreciated the game. There is a lot more positives and negatives I didn’t touch on, but the devs seem to be an active bunch, and while reviewing/playing the game, they introduced a new item called the “traveler’s knot” which is a handy craftable item that allows players to teleport to any of their owned farms. Make sure to check out Yonder on Steam & PS4    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. CD-Action
    Oct 30, 2017
    85
    I picked up Yonder without any expectations, as it seemed to be a simple game trying to capitalize on Zelda-like visuals. It won me over in 15 minutes and over a dozen hours later I parted with it with true sorrow. [10/2017, p.54]
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 16, 2017
    60
    You run around for an hour or two, you mine stuff, you cut trees, you deliver packages from one person to another, and then you realize: that’s it. If you bring tavern keeper those flowers she asked for, you’ll get more tasks. You do them – you’ll get invited to a guild that will give you even more grab this, craft that jobs that somehow never start being fun – and Yonder has no combat to fall back to. [Issue#223, p.67]
  3. Games.cz
    Oct 3, 2017
    70
    Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles shouting the word defining - ease. It gives you neither a large, nor a small sandbox where you can devote yourself to different professions, uncover the secrets of the island, help local people ... But you do not have to do anything of it. Do not try this if you need a guiding hand. Enter if you are looking for relaxation, beauty and the absence of any kind of violence.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »