Kenshi... Never will a game have divided me so much when writing a preview ... To fully understand my reasoning, it is important to know that the game has been constantly evolving since 2013 and still remains in Early Access as of this writing. Thus, far from being classic, Kenshi is intended to be complex, open to multiple possibilities.
Graphics & atmosphere
Let's get right to the point, there is nothing visually extravagant about the game. It's a safe bet that many players will even find it quite visually outdated. However, once this is done, we have a game with interesting settings and a certain personal touch.
The character creation itself offers to customize the character quickly and easily. You can shape it according to your desires ... although the palette of faces and cuts is not very extensive. Moreover, it is possible to make your character take incongruous and ridiculous postures.
History
To put it simply, you have a starting pitch depending on the type of character you choose, but that's it. There are no stories or guidelines, you are let loose in the bush and ... get by!
A tutorial will just teach you the different things to do and useful for the adventure, but that's it.
gameplay
As I often say, this is the heart of the game. And here, it has never been so true as the gameplay is so varied and adapted to a wide range of players. Depending on your choice of departure, you will be a soldier, a vagabond, a brigand, a drag, a merchant or a captain at the head of a squad.
Each "class" has a different starting difficulty. Via your starting equipment, your place or your money, this can be more or less complicated.
You use default actions / postures that determine your attitude or action at the moment. Some examples: passive, aggressive, stealthy or defensive. But there are others. Knowing that, often, one or the other will be vital for an action.
Take care of yourself
You will have to manage your general condition, your healing and your level of hunger (except for the skeletons). To eat, it is recommended to create a vegetable farm or to buy products directly from the various merchants who inhabit this world. Because, during your fights, the character (or his companions) suffers damage which will have to be treated. An unhealed wound will handicap the character, even be fatal.
Fighting
The fight is pretty straightforward. You select actions for yourself and your companions, and if one of you falls to the ground, they die if healing doesn't come quickly. The main character cannot die (to my knowledge, however, this possibility should not be completely ruled out) but can be KO'd for quite a long time.
During the clashes, a pause mode is available in order to change or adjust its strategy. One method that works well is to save your troops by leaving a healer behind to intervene in case of a problem. Because yes, the fights are clearly not easy on this game. At the beginning, as a wanderer, my feet were largely used to run to avoid being gutted by the various dangers of this world than to run in fight.
Note that being beaten up in town for a theft or anything illegal results in immediate eviction from the building, or even worse! Because yes, you can steal, kill, and many other things besides ... But it will be necessary to accept the potential consequences.
Creation and recruitment
A creation mode is available to create very useful buildings. Between campfires, shelters, torches, vegetable fields, refineries, you have everything you need to build your own personal city. It is possible, although I haven't figured out how yet, to have merchants and different NPCs in your own city.
Against a certain sum, different people join your team, up to a maximum of 22. These recruits will be useful to you in the fights, but also to collect your foodstuffs, and to evolve as serenely as possible. Each recruit is potentially capable of dying from a fight that is a little too difficult.
Around the game
The game has a spanish dub ... but only for a few sentences and does not take accents into account. By inquiring, I also learned that the creator started the game solo, and surrounded himself with people in order to continue his project. A winning bet because, it's a safe bet that once finished, Kenshi will offer a particularly interesting entertainment to discover. Note that via the Workshop, content creators are invited to create / add their mods.
Summary
This game could get really good, as long as we don't stop at the graphics that appear dated compared to the latest standards. There are also still many bugs that dot the game. Both of these points are excusable, however, given the title's current early access status. .
The general gameplay is quite rich and is based on many explorable facets. Only if you didn't feel like you're wasted all the time and don't know what to do ... the game would be so much more interesting. A story mode would also be greatly appreciated, but who knows, there might be one later?
To conclude, I would say that this sandbox is one to watch very closely and, even better, to try for all those who love this genre and are not afraid of the unknown!
