ReCore: Definitive Edition Reviews

TL:DR - ReCore: Definitive Edition was almost good. There was a point when I was really enjoying it. But terrible design decisions and bugs ruined it for me. Do not recommend even for a cheap thrill on deep sale. The long review The good - ReCore: Definitive Edition looks really good to the point that I was shocked to learn this was created in Unity. Most of the interior environments look really good, excellent use of geometry with saturated colors in areas and great texture use. The desert environments look great too even though it's mostly sand and cliffs with the remnants of old worn machinery scattered about, old installations and even a huge inert robot partially buried in sand. The game still looks good by today's standards due to the art direction being really well done in ReCore. In the early hours, the landscape inspired exploration. My first few hours were just running around exploring the landscape, having a blast doing it. The animations for the bots are great too, giving them a lot of personality. Joule's (the main character) animations on the other hand are lacking. Not sure how the main character got short changed in that regard but more on that later. Performance was also good as I was running this on my Steam Deck (OLED) and had no problems running the game but there are still bugs about. More on that later too. Music and sound are also really good here and fits in for the most part with the feel of the world. Controls make full use of Steam Input so I was able to use m/kb bindings on Steam Deck without issue. The Bad - The story. It sucks because there were too many questions that the basic plot points to that never get addressed. For example, Joule's father made a massive break through, a game changer that could easily change the entire human race and it's only mentioned twice, once in a short recording that you find and again at the end of the game. There is zero reaction to this bombshell news other than Joule looking slack jawed. There was no clear explanation as to why the builder robots rebelled. Although the exploration is good, the reason for the exploration is good, but the conclusion once you get to the end is so lackluster it's embarrassing. Combat is not that good. Initially it shows promise but the problems start when Joule only gets one gun and she can't upgrade it beyond different colored ammo (Red, Blue, Yellow and White) to match enemy types. But then, the game throws Orange, Purple and Green enemy types at you but I never found ammo to match them. Joule also can "finish" many enemies by ripping out their cores but this is hit or miss. When the finisher is instantaneous upon activation (with a combo count of at least 20), it's very satisfying. But there are times when you struggle to complete it in a tug-of-war with the enemy as they try to hold on to their core. This wouldn't be so bad except for the other enemies that are still attacking you while you do this. Then there are the cheap deaths and cheap AI. Wolf bots will walk up to you to attack but once they lock on to you, there is no boosting to get away from them. 9 times out of 10 they'll connect and when they do, it's a stun lock. Actually, many enemy attacks in the game cause a stun lock which then leads to death. It's pathetic. Joule has a boost but it's horribly inconsistent in getting out of the way of quite a few attacks. She doesn't have a dodge or block move. Even with these negatives, I could have still walked away from ReCore happy after I finished it. That is until I got to the Tower of Eden. Too many game devs seem to think that they have to resort to a--hole design philosophy to make a final stage or final boss challenging. But they always fail to realize that this isn't fun for a lot of people leaving the devs wondering why their game didn't sell. ReCore's final stage is the epitome of this. It's was incredibly annoying for no good reason. Someone in the design group thought they were being clever when all they did was make the Tower of Eden suck. It sucks so bad, I never want to play ReCore again. Some of the worst platforming I've suffered through in recent memory. As mentioned, the companion bots are they real stars in this game. They're animated better than Joule, they have more personality than Joule and they can be upgraded. Then there are the bugs. Bad code left me stuck in the Tower multiple times as enemies to complete a floor stopped spawning in leaving me stranded. I'll stop there but it's sad because Re:Core had a lot of potential but it's totally unrealized.

This is one of the most underrated games of all time. The world building, core platforming and combat mechanics are unique and interesting. I enjoyed exploring and hunting down all the secrets throughout this desert world. The bots upgrading system is interesting and makes both exploration and combat encounters very fun. While the overall presentation and story can be pretty bland, there is enough great stuff here to make it absolutely worth playing. Despite its glaring flaws, Recore is one of my favorite action adventure games of the past decade. If you are looking for a super high quality AAA experience, this not the game for you. If you are looking for some unique platfomer/shooter gameplay and clever mechanics... and you are fine with a bit of jank, you may end up really enjoying this game like I do.

Its a very hard game. the combat i feel is broken because of the auto aim. The enemy AI is smarter than your companion AI. And odd choice like not able to reload, and replenish health. The platforming is fun, but i fell not really the focus of the game. I like the premise of the story, but the story telling is bad. The game have this old school charm though. It tough and unforgiving, but still feels you can beat it. I recommend this game to people who wants a challenging game to play. Fun fact. Less than 10 percent of people who bought the game finish it.