Amazing Cultivation Simulator Reviews

Uhh, I'm not an addict. I SWEAR I'm NOT.

what the fuck is going on. 10/10.

Chinese Dwarf Fortress, but add in Elemental Tai Chi

I get mad at buildings with more than one door now.

So I've racked up my hours on cultivation simulator and I think I'm gonna give it a soft recommend. It's like a weird hybrid of Rimworld, Pokemon, and old flash RPGs. It's obtuse, and weird, and it's based on ancient chinese alchemy that was disproven like 800 years ago or something but it's charming and there's a lot of kooky and fun interactions. The writing is translated not well, not so poorly that there's much confusion aside from "Qi Range" and "Qi Distance" but not so well that any of the I'm sure flowery metaphors, references, and asides make any actual sense to me. Still, it's possible to make a poop, invest incredible time and energy into converting that poo into a living breathing human, then guide them on a path to ascend to godhood from their admittedly shitty beginnings and I think that's neat.

For clarity, I reviewed negatively on Xbox as it was a terrible port at the time but the game itself is one of my favourite time crunches so it's only fair to do a review here too. Can confirm issues with Xbox port don't exist on Steam version. This game takes a lot of time and patience but figuring it all out is part of the fun; if you're into donghua or wuxia type stories then this is your kind of game. It was made by a small team so it can be limited at times (more of a settlement manager than a cultivation simulator but it's still there) but the detail in building up a sect and at the same time managing the different kinds of cultivators is well done, not overwhelming but definitely a lot to keep track of. You will need google and the Wiki a lot, there's also a community discord for more hands-on assistance; honestly some of the documentation is either outdated or worded in a weird way but in taking your own notes and comparing it all starts to come together in cool ways. Mods are supported, and many of the Chinese ones have been translated, making the overall experience pretty solid. There's also an in-game menu (realms) to create your own custom or hacked items/characters to play any way you want with any start you can think of but i'll warn you it gets pretty technical and mathy, mixed with over-complicated translations, once again once you've read into it and done it a few times it's easy. Also many of the translation issues have been dealt with through game updates or community mods. Personally the feature of Feng Shui management, and the way a room is crafted effects it's usefulness, aren't brand new mechanics, but unique enough that I'm more or less addicted. Definitely worth the money if you're into Chinese cultivation, settlement management, or watching numbers get higher because you did a thing.

Came back to this game a while after first buying and playing it, can't say I've made it anywhere to any degree whatsoever but I can say this much: if you enjoy seeing progress finally pay off after a long time of cluelessly trying to do the right thing, you should give the game a shot!

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Gameplay before graphics.

There is a lot to love about this game. There is a unique rimworld-like main interface, you use Feng Shui to build cultivation rooms, the world is a good wuxia/xianxia setting with plenty of things to do. Unfortunately, the core concept of the game is not done well. You spend the entire game building your characters up into invincible fighting gods - and there is basically nothing to fight. While a good Xianxia story combines fighting and cultivation, this game is 99% cultivation until the very end, when you are thrown into a difficult fight and you have either made your dudes powerful enough to win or you die. It's just a weird balance and ultimately unsatisfying - spending dozens of hours making the best fighters possible but never actually fighting anything.

I have 600+ hours on GOG, then i bought it again here for the much easier modding. Game is amazing and i can't recommend it enough. Be aware that it's difficult starting out. lot's to learn