Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

Where Zelda is all about combat and the story, Yonder is a much more relaxing experience. It wants you to simply settle into the rhythms of living on the island of Gemea — and it’s a testament to how good it is that, given half a chance, it’ll have no problem sucking you in.

From the very beginning, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles impresses with its amazing visuals and soundtrack. It takes form as a relaxing open-world adventure, that features many elements of crafting and farming. While the later doesn’t perfectly fits with its openness nature, it is still an enjoyable experience nevertheless.

All in all, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is an exploration-based, open-world collect-a-thon with crafting and quests that are both beautiful and fun when played in small bursts. Ultimately, it doesn't provide any substantial challenges and doesn't run too well on the Switch's hardware. Unless you're a die-hard fan of relaxing games that you can play for the sake of playing, Yonder may not be your cup of tea.

We’d recommend this to anyone looking for a relatively shallow game that doesn’t take a whole much of a time investment; for what it is, Yonder is a decent game, though it’s hardly a must-play.

They say that time flies, but Yonder: The Cloud Catcher steals you the one you’ve got left. The lands of Gemea will absorb with its addictive system based on professions, a solid structure and an amazing landscape. Despite its somewhat poor design and technical quality below expectations, this game will make you fly.

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles does its best to present you with a steady stream of breathtaking vistas, serene escapes and idyllic moments that snap to a picture frame with flawless ease. The core game has all of its slight flaws that came with the other versions, but I found that taking time to frame and save some of what I saw gave me a deeper appreciation of Yonder’s many high points.

​Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles has a charming world to show in its different biomes. It's a wonderful way to practice some escapism but ultimately feels like something is missing to be a compelling videogame.

I enjoyed Yonder more than I otherwise might have because I played it at just the right moment — it served as a palate cleanser after one of the year’s bloodier games. That said, I still found Yonder to be a peaceful delight despite its shortcomings.

The vast, beautiful world delivered through complex geometry and loads of lighting effects is truly compelling and the relaxed pace of the exploration is nicely complemented by the quirkiness of the dialogue. Character models are a bit on the weak side but this just adds to the quirkiness of the in-game universe.

While it has shallow gameplay systems and minimal story, Yonder is a pleasant place to unwind and pass the time.

Yonder doesn’t have quite the same lasting power that other crafting-focused games may have, but makes its experience notable with great presentation. It’s a game that welcomes players into its laid-back and relaxing atmosphere. For those just wanting to spend some time chilling out and exploring in a great-looking world, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is certainly one to recommend.

While an open world adventure game with no combat is not something I’d generally jive with, I found myself enthralled with Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. It does a fantastic job of making a captivating atmosphere that’s both fun to explore and filled with things to do. There are frame rate issues and the lack of diversity among quests is a bit disappointing, but the jaw dropping visuals and superb audio design left me pining for more.

There are enough small grievances I have with the game that hold it back from being truly great, but the tone and setting are so charming that it’s hard to be too mad at it. If you want to do some peaceful meandering during your commute, the Switch version is easy to recommend.