Info about First Dwarf:

Official game description:
Pilot a dwarven mech and fly alongside a scholar dragon in this story-rich survival action RPG with base-building, exploration and tower defense mechanics. Build fortified outposts, fight off waves of enemies, and uncover the secrets of a shattered world in the skies.  
**First Dwarf** combines action RPG progression, colony survival gameplay and strategic base-building in a fantasy world where islands float in the sky and magic is tainted. Play solo or team up in online co-op to survive the wilds of Driftland and restore the dwarven legacy.  
Build your colonies across dangerous islands using turrets, walls, resource systems and defensive layouts. Plan your settlement carefully to withstand both enemy assaults and natural disasters like volcanoes or Taint storms.  
Craft powerful upgrades for your mech, new gadgets, weapons, armor and defensive tech. Gather rare resources and unlock blueprints to customize your playstyle. Expand your workshop and invent tools to help you survive.  
Survive in a harsh and mysterious world torn apart by magic. Battle mutants, manage scarce resources, and make meaningful decisions. Will you cure corrupted wildlife or purge it to protect your colony?  
The world of Driftland was shattered by a war of mages. The dwarves are the last advanced civilization, but their time is running out. Sent on a desperate mission, you are Tru, the new First Dwarf, piloting a powerful mech and guided by Ragna, a scholar dragon. Your quest is to find a new future for your people and uncover the truth behind your father’s failure.  
Explore ancient ruins, biomes and uncharted islands as you unravel the mystery behind the Taint. Discover secrets of the Eskoim, research lost technologies, and bring in other dwarven guilds to help reclaim the sky.  
Take flight in your customizable airship to travel swiftly between colonies. Upgrade your armor, unlock abilities, and personalize your mech with cosmetic blueprints. From underground caverns to sun-scorched cliffs, the skies of Driftland are full of stories waiting to be uncovered.  
Fight back against waves of tainted creatures using melee weapons, ranged tools, mech powers and your base defenses. Each battle is a test of your planning and skill, and every victory brings your clan closer to survival.  
**BUILD** your colony, **CRAFT** your tools, **EXPLORE** the magical skies, **FIGHT** for your future, and **SURVIVE** against all odds.  
Become the First Dwarf and forge your legacy.

Release date: 19 Jun, 2024

Categories: Survival, Action RPG, Base Building, Exploration, Tower Defense, Cooperative Multiplayer, Resource Management, Crafting


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Fun, engaging gameplay and world (weight 0.88): The game is praised for its fun and engaging gameplay, beautiful graphics, and immersive world. Many reviewers highlight the addictive nature of the game, its relaxing qualities, and the rewarding exploration.
- Unique characters and co-op (weight 0.71): Reviewers appreciate the unique combination of a dwarf protagonist, a versatile mech suit, and a dragon companion. The co-op mechanics, where players control different characters with unique abilities, are also well-received.
- Combines tower defense, building (weight 0.63): The game offers a blend of tower defense, base building, and adventure elements, creating a cozy and strategic experience. Players enjoy the base building and defending aspects of the game.
- Interesting story and characters (weight 0.14): The game features an interesting story and lore that captivates players. The voice acting and character development contribute to an engaging narrative experience.
- Promising early access experience (weight 0.14): Despite being in early access, the game shows promise and is enjoyable for what is currently available. Reviewers appreciate the potential and look forward to future development.
- Active development and improvements (weight 0.12): The developers are actively updating the game, listening to community feedback, and making significant improvements. This dedication to ongoing development is seen as a positive sign for the game's future.
- Excellent music and characters (weight 0.1): The game's music and sound design are excellent, enhancing the overall immersion. The characters are well-developed and charismatic, adding an emotional dimension to the game.

Common complaints:
- Unstable, buggy, and unpolished (weight 0.89): The game suffers from numerous bugs, performance issues like frame rate drops and stuttering, and a general lack of polish. Many reviewers describe the game as feeling unfinished, unoptimized, and unstable, with some experiencing crashes and game-breaking bugs that prevent progression.
- Lacks content; very short (weight 0.77): Reviewers consistently report a severe lack of content, with the main story being very short and the overall playtime ranging from 2 to 6 hours. Many feel the game is more akin to an extended demo than a full release, especially considering the price point. This leads to a lack of replay value and a feeling of unfulfillment.
- Poor tower defense, base-building mechanics (weight 0.71): The game's tower defense and base-building mechanics are criticized for being clunky, restrictive, and ineffective.  Enemies often bypass defenses, and building placement is awkward.  Some reviewers also noted that key tower defense elements present in the demo are missing from the full release.
- Missing save features, unskippable cutscenes (weight 0.6): The game lacks essential quality-of-life features such as auto-saving, quick-save, and quick-load options. This can lead to significant progress loss due to crashes or bugs, as the game only supports manual saving. Additionally, cutscenes and dialogues are unskippable, further frustrating players.
- Missing level-up notification (weight 0.04): The game lacks clear notifications for character leveling, making it easy to miss the feature and its associated perks. This lack of feedback hinders player progression and understanding of the game's mechanics.
- Placeholder dialogue, audio issues (weight 0.04): The game suffers from placeholder dialogue and voice-over work, which can be jarring and immersion-breaking. Additionally, the game lacks a general audio slider, and the default volume is excessively loud.

Gameplay feedback:
- Core gameplay: build, explore, defend (weight 0.37): The game combines base building, resource management, exploration, and tower defense elements. Players gather resources, construct buildings, and defend their settlements against waves of enemies. The core gameplay loop involves expanding the base, attracting settlers, and progressing through quests on different islands.
- Switch between dwarf, mech, dragon (weight 0.26): Players control a dwarf in a mech suit, accompanied by a dragon companion, and can switch between them. The mech is used for construction, combat, and resource gathering, while the dragon is useful for scouting, attacking, and accessing new areas. This character-switching mechanic adds variety to the gameplay.
- Basic combat, steampunk style (weight 0.12): Combat is described as basic, often involving clicking on enemies with simple combos and timed blocks. While challenging early on, it becomes easier with better equipment. The game features a dwarven steampunk style, with the dwarf often wielding a warhammer in a mech suit.
- Mana powers buildings; critical resource (weight 0.08): Buildings require mana to function, which is gathered from mana wells and delivered via pipes. Running out of mana halts all progress, making mana management a critical aspect of the game. The game does not always clearly indicate which resource is lacking when construction fails.
- Skill tree, research upgrades (weight 0.06): The game features a skill tree that allows players to customize their play style and specialize in different areas. A research base or laboratory allows players to develop technology, upgrade their mech, and unlock new buildings and movement options, often triggering enemy attacks upon activation.
- Periodic enemy base attacks (weight 0.04): The game features periodic enemy attacks, often at night or during storms, that require players to defend their base. These attacks function as waves, turning the game into a tower defense experience where players must utilize turrets and walls to protect their colony.
- Dwarf crashes, explores with dragon (weight 0.04): The player controls a dwarf who crashed on a deserted island and must survive with the help of a small dragon. The game features a classic opening with a crashed airship on a sky island, setting the stage for the dwarf protagonist's mission to scout for new settlements.
- Side quests alongside main quests (weight 0.03): The game includes side quests alongside the main questline, ensuring players encounter most of the game's content. These secondary missions involve tasks such as investigating locations, curing contaminated areas, and clearing nests.
- Dragon excels at scouting (weight 0.03): The dragon is useful for scouting ahead, burning away obstructions and enemies, and scanning for points of interest. Its fire breath can destroy terrain obstacles, making it a valuable tool for exploration and clearing paths.
- Airship travel and building (weight 0.03): The game features airships for travel, with airship pads improving transportation. Players can now build on the airship, though airship travel may be unavailable due to early access development.
- Turrets help, resources scarce (weight 0.03): Turrets are helpful for defense, but resources are scarce early on, limiting their effectiveness. Early colonies remain vulnerable despite building turrets, making resource management crucial for survival.

Performance notes:
- Technical issues and instability (weight 0.28): Many reviewers reported a variety of technical issues, including bugs, crashes, stuttering, and frame rate drops. These problems appear to be more prevalent during specific events like rain or sieges, and when numerous enemies are present. While some consider these issues typical for early access, they significantly impact the gameplay experience.
- Rain/particles impact performance (weight 0.21): Several reviews specifically mention that rain and particle effects cause significant performance degradation, leading to frame rate drops and stuttering. This suggests that these graphical elements are not well-optimized, impacting the overall gameplay experience, especially during visually intense moments.
- Performance varies by configuration (weight 0.04): Some reviewers have reported good performance with specific settings or hardware configurations, including using XeSS or running the game on Linux. This suggests that the game's performance can vary depending on the system and settings used.
- Co-op/split-screen mode issues (weight 0.03): Co-op and split-screen modes suffer from issues such as attack warning animations not displaying correctly for all players and general problems with registering in-game events. These issues can hinder effective teamwork and communication, diminishing the enjoyment of the cooperative experience.
- Resolution settings are lacking (weight 0.03): The game lacks proper resolution settings, with reviewers unable to select or specify their desired screen resolution. Additionally, the 'resolution quality' setting appears to have no effect, limiting players' ability to optimize the game's visuals for their hardware.
- High power consumption (weight 0.02): The game consumes a significant amount of power (250 Watts) even in the main menu. This could indicate inefficient resource management or optimization issues, potentially leading to higher energy consumption and heat generation for players.
- One-directional voice direction (weight 0.02): The voice direction is one-directional, which may detract from the immersive experience.

Recommendations:
- Wait for further development (weight 0.91): A common sentiment is that the game, while promising, is currently incomplete and not worth the full price in its early access state. Reviewers suggest waiting for further development, significant content additions, bug fixes, and balancing before purchasing. Some recommend wishlisting the game and checking back later or trying the demo first.
- Anticipating future updates and content (weight 0.85): Many reviewers are looking forward to future content updates, bug fixes, and optimizations, with some specifically mentioning anticipation for the 1.0 release and beyond. They express hope that the developers will continue to improve the game and fulfill its potential. Some reviewers plan to revisit the game after major updates to reassess its quality.
- Strongly negative opinions (weight 0.35): Some reviewers express strong negative opinions, stating the game is not worth any money or that it is unlikely to improve. These points lack specific details and may be signs of review bombing, so the importance is reduced.
- Avoid for multiplayer (weight 0.03): Some reviewers strongly advise against purchasing the game for multiplayer, suggesting it's only worth playing in single-player mode. This indicates potential issues with the multiplayer experience.
- Try the demo first (weight 0.03): Several reviewers suggest trying the demo to form your own opinion about the game. This allows potential players to experience the game firsthand and determine if it aligns with their preferences before making a purchase.
- Good for specific genres (weight 0.03): The game is recommended for fans of mech defense and city-building genres, as well as those looking for a multiplayer base-building experience. This point highlights the game's appeal to specific niche audiences.
- Concerns about developer priorities (weight 0.02): One reviewer expresses concern about the development team's focus, suggesting they prioritize sales over game improvement. This is a critical point that could deter potential buyers.
- Potential Subnautica success (weight 0.01): One reviewer anticipates the game will be as successful as Subnautica upon full release. This is a hyperbolic statement without specific details, so the importance is reduced.
- Game is flawless (weight 0.01): One reviewer claims the game is flawless. This is a hyperbolic statement without specific details, so the importance is reduced.

Other player notes:
- Early access, active development (weight 0.2): The game is in early access, developed by a small team, and the developers are actively addressing issues and communicating through Discord. Expect changes and prioritize quality over speed, as feedback can influence development. The game is considered a raw gem with potential.
- Limited islands, more planned (weight 0.07): Currently, the game features a limited number of islands to explore, with more planned for future updates. The initial island serves as a tutorial, and a larger one is in development. Exploring the islands is visually appealing but can be time-consuming.
- Story: dwarf engineer explorer (weight 0.04): The story casts the player as Tru, a dwarf engineer explorer, accompanied by mechanical armor and a young dragon named Ragna. The player scouts locations for new colonies, finds resources, and removes danger before summoning other dwarves.
- Dragon, airship travel inconsistencies (weight 0.04): The game features a dragon for flying around the world, and an airship for later travel. However, there are inconsistencies, such as a third island accessible by dragon but inaccessible to the dwarf or mech.
- Lacks tips, feedback impact (weight 0.03): The game could use more tips, as some mechanics are not immediately obvious. Leveling up and research are straightforward but lack visual or auditory feedback.
- Translation errors, font issues (weight 0.03): The game features translations into other languages, but there are some grammatical errors and poor attention to fonts. Subtitles are cut off in longer sentences.
- Mana connector defense strategy (weight 0.02): To prevent power outages, it's better to build mana connectors and attach defensive towers directly to them. This is a specific gameplay tip that could be useful for players.
- Buildings with unknown purpose (weight 0.02): Some buildings, like temples, have unknown purposes and cannot be used for teleportation. This suggests a lack of clarity or unfinished features in the game.

Emotions:
No emotions}