A couple months ago, I randomly dove into the PS5 open beta for the post-apocalyptic survival MMO, Once Human, and I came out feeling quite positive. It’s mix of crafting, collecting, combat, and cosmic weirdness made for a very good time. The only thing I found lacking was story; but I’ll admit that because the game offered a wide variety of things with which to keep busy, I wasn’t too troubled by it. I then promised that I would definitely be returning to Once Human at its full console release in August.

And so, I did.

Starting Over in the Apocalypse

I didn’t make it day one, but rather jumped in on the PS5 over its release weekend, and I definitely wasn’t alone. (Not that the beta was empty, but it quickly became evident that I wasn’t the only one who had been chomping at the Once Human console bit.) After creating a new character and refreshing my memory about how things worked with its opening tutorial, my meta-human was whisked into an open Manibus Novice server and dropped onto a world torn apart by a cosmic event called the “Starfall.” From there, just as in the beta, I had to locate a spot to set up a base, and then get on with my role as a “Mayfly,” helping survivors and figuring out how to stop the sinister folks of Rosetta, a company that caused the Starfall in the first place.

My first several sessions with the game were no different from the beta. I built a little box home, set up all my crafting necessities, and started my collection of friendly Deviants – companions, of sorts, to aid in crafting, combat, and/or base management. While friendly Deviants can be found in the wild, the game offers an immediate quest that involves capturing one, along with a related side quest, so no player is left without any. I don’t think playing with Deviants is required, but they do add a strange flair to the game, considering that they come in all shapes, sizes, and forms – animal, vegetable, and mineral, and…other! And truly, some of the combat Deviants are quite powerful and are great to have in a fight. They don’t act like pets; rather, players have to activate a Deviant’s powers, which then stay active for a certain amount of time before going into cooldown. Players can also swap out their chosen Deviants from special containment units to cradles players carry around like backpacks. Picking the right Deviant for the right battle is part of the game. (Unless you find either the Zeno Purifier or the Butterfly Emissary – both are gold!)

On the Upside…

Is Once Human perfect? No. I could gripe about its over-the-top microtransactions (100% optional, thankfully), poor voice acting, less than stellar character animations, or copycat enemies. (No doubt this game is replete with AI leanings, some quite heavy-handed.) But when my simple human brain leaps along in tandem with my silly meta-human on a goofy bicycle, riding through honestly beautiful landscapes – Once Human’s environments are top-notch – it’s enough to make me forgot that the last person I spoke to had neither moving lips or blinking eyes. Once Human’s core survival-collecting-combat gameplay is decently sound and enough to scratch all those itches at once, at least in the short-term.

Getting into combat also covered familiar territory, starting with basic gear and working up to better stuff. For that, there’s looting and crafting. Looted or “dropped” gear and weapons can be found in various dilapidated settlements that are strewn across the game’s map, with the most special stuff being found in special crates. I suppose there could be a playstyle where one uses only dropped gear to progress (hmm, I may keep that in mind…), however, this gear can’t be repaired. This is where crafting reigns supreme. Through blueprints, which, are looted, doled out as rewards, or purchased using a in-game currency called Starchrom, players can craft a large variety of armor, melee weapons, and ranged weapons. All these things can be further modded, which lead to loads of different builds – low HP, full health, elemental damage, weakspot damage, critical damage, melee brute, you name it! Once Human has it all and at least a little something for everyone, or at least those who don’t mind the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach in games.

On the Downside…

But I do have two complaints, which both do and don’t have anything to to with the act of playing the game. The first is that the controls in the PS5 version of the game were atrocious. They weren’t all that great in the beta, but I chalked that up to it being, well, a beta. In the full release, my goodness if my character didn’t seem to slip and slide all over the place. Trying to get her to stop moving to open crates was such a weird chore to have to manage, and things were even worse when trying to build. Notably, the game took advantage of the Dualshock controller, which made for really satisfying combat, but that was the only highlight control-wise. Because of this, I decided to see if the game’s controls were better over on the Xbox, and it turned out that they were by a significant margin. Though I missed the Dualshock’s responsiveness, having better general control over my character was a win, so I’ve since stuck with playing on the Xbox.

My other complaint is about the start of the game for brand-new players, in that they are forced into the catch-all novice server without being given any other options. Once Human runs on different scenarios that range in difficulty. In the case of the “Manibus” scenario that players are first introduced to, it has three difficulties — novice, medium, and hard — each of which lives on its own set of servers. The novice scenario is a very good place to learn the ropes, sure. But even I’ll call it easy, and the novice scenario lacks the rewards and world events that are in the more difficult scenarios of the same name. Thinking everyone should to start the game on easy mode is one thing; thinking that’s how everyone wants to start the game is another. Why not give new players the option to begin the game in whatever scenario they wish? I mean, what do I know about hosting servers, but my server is now pretty empty, as it seems obvious most everyone’s abandoned it for others that provide more benefits. Additionally, each new scenario requires that players make new characters…unless they want to go through the multi-step rigmarole of transferring their characters from one scenario to another. Looking at the options with my Level 30 novice character, even with the bonuses that come with other scenarios, I’m not inclined to start over, at least not yet. Guess I’ll figure things out when my scenario ends.

Good Game; Fine Time

In the end, I’ve found and am still finding a lot to enjoy in Once Human. Though it ventures to be an everything-all-at-once game, it’s a very good time if exploration, crafting, collecting, and looting are up one’s alley. Even with lacking story development and one-note quest givers, the game looks very pretty and feels good, at least on the Xbox. (Bet it’s fine on the PC, too, as that’s where the game started. Maybe I’ll return to it on PS5 one day, or…maybe not.) Between being free to play, offering options well beyond its novice servers, and working well as a solo outing (admittedly, I have yet to try grouping), Once Human is a fine time on which to spend one’s precious gaming hours.

All images, including lede, were captured by author during PS5 and Xbox gameplay of Once Human (© Starry Studio, NetEase Games).