D. F. 38

How about that economy, huh? 🙃

I feel like I start a lot of my post-game evaluations bitching about some aspect of monetary value and living in the 2020s. And really, I should watch my mouth. Even with aggravating debts aside, I'm at least still able to pay them. Sure, I haven't been able to save like I used to, and I keep getting surprise health and mechanical issues, but at least I'm not getting foreclosed on or losing my job or driving 30+ minutes to work when gas is over $4.00 USD a gallon. I should at least be happy to tread water.

Point is, I'm trying to clamp down on excessive spending. Not that I've completely stopped all unnecessary purchases, but I'm at least trying to think about what I buy. Less picking up "Pokopia" on launch, more appreciating what I have in my Steam backlog. To that end: "Terraria!"

"Terraria" is a survival/crafting/adventuring game released in 2011 by Re-Logic. Basically, it's "Minecraft" with SNES-era "Final Fantasy" styled sprites. Like, that might be a bit reductive, but Notch is in the "Special Thanks" part of the credits. Also, look at the beta sprites on The Cutting Room Floor and tell me how many "Final Fantasy V" characters you think of. Sometimes, you've gotta call a spade a spade.

The ultimate goal of "Terraria" (at this point) is to kill an entity known as the Moon Lord. Getting to that point requires gathering resources, creating bases of operation, engaging in trade with NPCs, and building your way up to the best equipment. While there's an overall path to doing this, actually executing it requires adapting to the world's random generation, resource distribution, and underlying mechanics. Even with an in-game guide, don't be surprised to find yourself breaking away to check a wiki or a YouTube video now and again…

Hypothetically, there is a class system in game. This includes:

Melee—heavy physical defense using close-range weapons

Ranged—long ranged weapons with limited ammo and medium defense

Mage—magical attacks with low defense

Summon—using minions to cause damage while dodging attacks (lowest defense of all)

I suspect dedication to these roles makes more sense when you are playing multiplayer. Because I was on my own, I just did what I had to based on what I was fighting. This usually ended up with me being stingy and rolling with melee, although I would pivot to ranged when necessary. I also threw in a few summons at the end of the game, as this was when their DPS seemed to help me the most. I used magic weapons the least, although the Zapinators did end up being a favorite of mine for…let's say, game-external reasons.

Speaking of Zapinators—this game is extremely Millennial coded. There are references to Disney, Konami, Nintendo, and Square Enix properties, steampunk technology, an obsession with bacon, and that whole using Lovecraftian entities as world evils thing. Additionally, the game uses a lot of cross-over content from other games (notably for me, "Palworld.") Now, as a Millennial, this usually doesn't bother me. Cat can has cheeseburger, I agree. However, in this instance, the constant references to external properties can be a distraction. If you're not one for LOLWUT culture, this is going to drive you up a tree.

I'm also not certain how much you will get along with the game's NPCs, either. From talking with them, it's very much clear that they have their own relationships and world going on without you. Sometimes, it feels like my presence is only getting in the way of them making out with other people. There's not a great deal of reason to keep them alive, either. They always come back after a day—even those that are supposedly the last of their race. Frankly, the one least likely to piss you off is the one that you're going to have to get killed to summon a boss. It's just…weirdly antagonistic.

Also, just a me thing, but I'm irritated that poodles were not an option for the random dog that can act as an NPC. I suppose I could make/search for a mod for that, but ya know. Poodles! Unique beasts.

Oddly enough, I enjoyed fishing more than the average "Terraria" player. I know the Angler NPC is an annoying, random little shit, but I genuinely did get a lot of help from wrangling in whatever fish he wanted. The crate pickups also were good sources of extra materials for me, especially when I ran out of opportunities to get them in the rest of the world. Ignore what most people say and give this a try, if you do play this game. At least, study up on how to improve your fishing power to help you out.

If you know what the term "hoike" means, you've gone too deep into the trenches.

Other mechanics I enjoyed included:

Housing/Arena/Track Building

Character Construction

Crafting

Mob Management

Reforging

Wiring

Land purification is something I attempted, but honestly, it's annoying to 100% clean up. Frankly, I like having a surface Hallow environment. I'm fine with pixies and unicorns trying to kick my ass, I guess. As long as you are good with keeping these kinds of environments self-contained, it's not the end of the world to have them around. Just use "fish mox" when you want to get your achievement for cleaning shit up, I guess.

After my first game completion, I've gotten more into secret seeds (as hinted by dropping the term "fish mox.") In particular, "The Care Bears Movie" and "Abandoned manors" were particularly useful to me. Such mechanics have resulted in weird situations where I've had to reconstruct certain structures like honeycombs to progress, but it has been a fun challenge for me. I'm not sure I'll ever hit up the Zenith seed, but Skyblock did become a favorite style of map, for sure.

I know I've been a little grumpy with this review, but I wouldn't have put hundreds of hours into the game without enjoying it just a little bit. 😉

Getting into "Terraria" does require tackling a steep learning curve. I mean, I've already dropped two hour-long videos on game mechanics, as well as several wiki pages. Some extra struggling will come if you are a regular "Minecraft" player. Let's just say that the hammer tool might not work quite as how you'd expect. My Metroidvania instincts also made it much harder for me to progress in game, as I wanted to explore every nook and cranny for loot. Honestly, once you get to the game, it really is about barreling to the Wall of Flesh as fast as possible. Ya know. If you're not using a "too easy" seed.

Although, the potion sickness mechanic remains ass, no matter what you do to negate it. Not even "Dark Souls" pulls that kind of shit. Either limit the amount of times I can heal up or make potion crafting costly, if you're really going to mess with me. Having to wait 45-60 seconds to heal, then losing a once-a-night boss to this bullshit mechanic truly is a waste of my time.

If, like me, you are looking for an alternative to more expensive building games, "Terraria" is available on Steam for $9.99 USD. Interestingly, you can buy four keys for $29.99 USD, if you want to share this with online friends. (Oddly, the Switch version of this game is just as expensive. I don't know quite why, either…)