Info about Soulmask - The Golden Legend:

Official game description:
**An ancient civilization inherited a mysterious relic from the East, the most core of which is a golden mask that contains unknown power.**
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The chosen prophet and leader was supposed to use this relic to guide the civilization’s course, but as the power awakened, their perception and abilities gradually transcended human understanding. The tribe regarded this supernatural gift as a miracle, and their excessive worship ultimately plunged the civilization into an unknown whirlpool of fate. Despite the guardian’s efforts to save them, the ending remains shrouded in mystery. At a turning point in the civilization, the guardian buried the golden mask deep within the ancient ruins and left a prophecy:
"**When the new dawn arrives, may this mask awaken sleeping wisdom, and choose the worthy to reignite the flame of civilization.**"
**This DLC includes:**
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New Mask: Golden Legend  
New Skin: Rising Moon  
New furniture: Sacred Bronze Tree and Mysterious Bronze Man

Release date: Jun 5, 2025

Categories: Survival, Open-World Exploration, Base Building, Crafting, NPC Management, Cooperative Multiplayer, Single-player


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The available playtime-related statements are either vague or not clearly tied to the Golden Legend DLC. The 236-hour figure refers to time since Early Access and does not establish DLC-specific completion time. The other quotes mention only vague total playtime without giving a DLC completion, story completion, session length, or endgame duration. Therefore all playtime metrics are null.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes:
  - Base-Building Systems Architect (buy)
    - Motivation: Optimizing base construction and NPC-driven base management.
    - Playstyle: Designs and manages tribe bases, tests prefab utility, and evaluates NPC AI.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: tribe's main architect
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Semi-PvP Raider (buy)
    - Motivation: Periodic semi-PvP base raiding and demolition.
    - Playstyle: Semi-PvP conflict with scheduled base demolition.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: semi-PVP
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Solo PvE Private-Instance Player (buy)
    - Motivation: Relaxed solo PvE progression in a private instance.
    - Playstyle: Plays solo on a private PvE personal instance.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: solo player
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Technical Stability Seeker (no buy)
    - Motivation: Uninterrupted, stable access and smooth sessions.
    - Playstyle: Checks community reports and requests fixes when bugs interrupt play.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A


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 and appealing gameplay (weight 0.56): Reviewers describe the game as very appealing, fun, and pleasant, with very good gameplay. Many find it more enjoyable than comparable titles like Ark and Conan.
- Active and responsive developers (weight 0.55): Developers are frequently praised for listening to the community, fixing bugs quickly, and delivering frequent, useful updates with new content. Players note the hard work put into the game.
- Lots of content and options (weight 0.51): Players highlight abundant building, management, and crafting options, with dense maps and mechanics that keep them busy for months. The complexity and variety give each player their own path.
- Strong NPC and management system (weight 0.46): Reviewers consistently praise the NPC mechanics, base management, and tribe member management as standout features. Many consider it best-in-class compared to other survival games, with impressive AI and automation granularity.
- Good graphics and visual detail (weight 0.44): Graphics are widely praised as great, with attention to detail, realistic visuals, and a pretty visual mixture. The overall art direction and world design are well received.
- Mask and outfit look great (weight 0.42): Players like the mask and outfit aesthetics, and the mask is also valued for its practical use in finding and recruiting talented minions more easily.
- DLC adds convenience and content (weight 0.36): The DLC is seen as offering a large amount of content, with a convenience-focused theme that helps new players. The free second DLC and the useful recruitment mask are appreciated.
- Good value survival crafting game (weight 0.3): It is regarded as a good survival game with a complex crafting system and many options. The dense mechanics and large maps offer long-term value.
- Well-crafted universe and story (weight 0.29): The universe is described as well-crafted, and both the story and events have depth. The game is considered largely underrated for its narrative and world-building.
- Engaging challenging combat and bosses (weight 0.26): Combat is described as challenging, with bosses notably harder than regular fights. Story missions are considered worth completing through the final boss encounter.
- Best with friends on private servers (weight 0.24): The game is especially enjoyable when played with several friends or on a personal persistent PvE server. Smooth gameplay in private instances is a key strength.
- Improved over predecessor and rivals (weight 0.23): Reviewers say it is much better than the first game and more fun than Ark, with better gameplay and graphics than Conan. Improvements are clear to returning players.
- Recruitment stats preview is useful (weight 0.1): Before recruiting, players can view a character's stats, max proficiency, known and future skills, and negative skills that will be forgotten. This transparency is appreciated.
- Liked base game and first map (weight 0.09): Some reviewers specifically mention enjoying the base game and its first map. This suggests the original content remains a strong point for returning players.
- Material transport works well sometimes (weight 0.08): Material transport is described as quite good in some situations, though the praise is conditional. It is a useful convenience feature when it functions as intended.
- Nice cosmetics and Chinese clothing (weight 0.08): Players like the white clothing set and appreciate the official Chinese-style clothing options. Cosmetics are a small but positive addition.
- Statues look appealing (weight 0.08): At least one reviewer likes the look of the statues, indicating that decorative elements are noticed and appreciated. This is a minor but positive visual detail.

Common complaints:
- DLC ownership not recognized (weight 0.57): Players who own the expansion pack still receive messages requiring the DLC, with items and menus remaining greyed out or locked. This occurs even when the DLC appears in the library.
- Download button launches game (weight 0.52): Clicking download starts the game instead of downloading the content, affecting both base game and DLC downloads. This prevents users from actually obtaining the files they requested.
- DLC content missing after launch (weight 0.33): Purchased or free content such as masks, skins, and statues do not appear in the game or cannot be used despite being in the inventory. Some items are unlocked but remain inaccessible.
- DLC separate from base game (weight 0.32): Content is delivered as DLC rather than being part of the base game, with early access work released as paid DLC instead of core content. Releasing a free DLC separately during early access feels illogical.
- Rough launch with bugs (weight 0.32): The launch was rough, with bugs related to how to acquire items and two bugs that required a restart. Player feedback is ignored.
- Animals are boring and useless (weight 0.3): Wildlife amount is reduced to a minimum, tamed animals cannot fight and can only be ridden and bred, and animal interaction becomes boring over time. Masks obtained from bosses are also useless.
- Wire and power system awkward (weight 0.3): Wire connections have short range and require relay points, wires are easily obscured, and automatic mining requires placing on ore veins, providing power, and assigning a worker. Building a base 800-900 meters away makes laying poles and campfires along the route impractical.
- Game fails to launch (weight 0.27): After an update the game no longer launches, and removing all workshop mods did not resolve the issue. The game appears in the library but does not respond when launched.
- Flight ruins progression and PvP (weight 0.26): Flight is available from the first level, removing the need for a ship for a long time, and the flight mechanics ruined PvP. In semi-PvP players can only fight and nobody comes out.
- Boss difficulty and design issues (weight 0.26): Bosses have unclear animations and instant attacks, include long pauses waiting for them to arrive, and their difficulty values are overtuned. A boss at a low realm level takes a long time to kill and kills the player in two hits with appropriate gear.
- Mask system redundant with mod (weight 0.26): The new mask's function overlaps with the A-mirror mod and requires replacing the current mask, whereas the A-mirror is an item that preserves other mask functions. The mask also does not appear as a selectable option during character creation.
- DLC purpose and integration unclear (weight 0.26): Players find it unclear what the DLC is about and see no visible way it integrates with the base game. The content is not worth paying for.
- Building and furniture lack variety (weight 0.25): Building and furniture elements have little variety, and pre-built practical structures feel underwhelming to a tribe's main architect. The decorative Bronze Sacred Tree blueprint cannot be used.
- Survival difficulty too low (weight 0.18): The survival difficulty needs to be increased by several levels, and the early game is unforgiving before characters can be saved on the table. The balance feels off.
- Map layout feels uncurated (weight 0.17): The map layout does not feel like a curated path, and areas near mines cannot be built on. This makes navigation and base placement frustrating.
- Visuals look cheap (weight 0.17): Lighting and shadow effects make things look cheaper, and the game does not yet look as good as Conan Exile or better. This affects overall visual quality.
- Online multiplayer unavailable (weight 0.11): Players are unable to play with other players online and can only play with their NPC tribe. This limits the multiplayer experience significantly.
- Structures outside fire range break (weight 0.1): Buildings outside fire range break easily, forcing players to place campfires along routes. This adds unnecessary complexity to base building.

Gameplay feedback:
- Deep building and management systems (weight 0.48): The game combines building, furniture placement, and a management system with NPC mechanics. Players manage tribe members and assign NPCs to work, supported by automated tasks with high granularity.
- Masks drive recruitment and utility (weight 0.44): Masks are selected during character creation and used to find talented minions. A DLC mask reveals a recruit's stats, max proficiency, known and future skills, and negative skills before recruiting, though it replaces the current mask.
- Map guides mask and ship hunting (weight 0.37): The open world map shows the acquisition location for masks and marks a sunken ship icon south of the map in the black zone. Reaching the ship requires diving and sufficient lung capacity.
- Survival game with solo and co-op (weight 0.36): Players describe the game as a survival title that supports both solo play and co-op with friends. This dual-mode structure is a core part of its appeal.
- Multiple modes and server options (weight 0.3): Players can save characters at a table and run a personal persistent server with friends. Semi-PvP mode and a private PvE personal instance offer different play styles.
- DLC adds convenience features (weight 0.29): The DLC focuses on convenience, offering pre-built practical structures and material transport. It also adds white clothing and Chinese-style outfits as cosmetics.
- Story, events, and easy difficulty (weight 0.28): Story missions and events provide narrative structure, while the survival difficulty setting is described as easy. Boss masks also appear as a feature.
- Varied combat and boss scaling (weight 0.25): Combat is challenging with tougher bosses, and boss difficulty scales accordingly. The game has story missions that culminate in a last boss.
- NPC tribe and leveling system (weight 0.24): An NPC tribe system is featured alongside online play, and NPCs have their own leveling system. INPCs are described as a resource or creature that players search for and find.
- Automation requires setup constraints (weight 0.24): The automatic mining system must be placed on ore veins, needs a power supply, and requires a worker. Wire connections have limited range and need relay points, and some areas near mines restrict building.
- Flight, ships, and rideable animals (weight 0.23): The game includes a flight mechanic, ships, and tamed animals that can be ridden. These traversal options expand exploration across the open world.
- Gear stats and complex crafting (weight 0.18): A gear and stat system underpins character progression, complemented by a complex crafting system. These systems add depth to itemization and preparation.
- Fire range affects building decay (weight 0.1): Buildings placed outside fire range deteriorate over time. This adds a spatial planning constraint to base construction.
- Many options in one game (weight 0.09): Reviewers highlight that the game offers a wide variety of options within a single package. This breadth is presented as a strength of the overall experience.
- Cosmetic mask skins and statues (weight 0.09): A golden legend mask skin and statues are available as cosmetic items. These provide visual customization beyond gameplay function.

Performance notes:
- Game fails to launch post-update (weight 0.19): Players report that the game does not open after an update is applied. The launch failure persists even after removing workshop mods, indicating a core issue rather than a mod conflict.
- DLC download breaks game launch (weight 0.11): Downloading the DLC causes the game to skip or fail to launch properly. This points to a specific problem introduced by the DLC content itself.

Recommendations:
- Strongly recommended overall (weight 0.18): Players broadly recommend the game with enthusiasm, with one review calling it highly recommended. The positive sentiment is consistent across multiple reviewers.
- Grab the free DLC now (weight 0.17): Reviewers repeatedly urge players to pick up the DLC while it is free. Since it costs nothing, there is little reason to skip it.
- Appeals to Conan fans (weight 0.1): One reviewer highly recommends the game specifically to players who enjoyed Conan. This suggests the game carries similar themes or mechanics that will resonate with that audience.
- Story missions worth finishing (weight 0.1): Players consider the story missions worth playing through to the final boss. This indicates the narrative content holds up until the end.
- Safe purchase, no worries (weight 0.09): One reviewer states the game can be bought without fear, signaling confidence in its quality. This reinforces the overall positive reception.

Other player notes:
- Free DLC and regular updates (weight 0.56): Players appreciate that DLC is offered for free, even if for a limited time, and that developers regularly add new content and updates. This is seen as positive support for the game.
- Favorable comparisons to Conan and Ark (weight 0.44): Reviewers frequently compare the game to Conan Exiles and Ark, often stating it surpasses Conan in gameplay and graphics. One reviewer ranks it as their 4th top sandbox game behind Minecraft, Enshrouded, and Conan Exiles.
- Some content locked behind paid expansion (weight 0.31): Certain content, including maps and items, requires purchasing an expansion pack or DLC separately. This is noted as a gating mechanism.
- Cosmetic items like masks and clothing (weight 0.31): The game includes cosmetic items such as a free mask, a DLC mask, and Chinese-style clothing introduced via DLC. A mod (A-mirror) provides a mask-function item, and the bronze mod pairs well with the white clothing set.
- Developer responsiveness to feedback (weight 0.17): Opinions are split: some players note that developers listen to community feedback, while others report that the developer does not respond to player feedback.
- Mining and power compared to other games (weight 0.17): The mining and power network design is compared to Grounded, and power transmission is likened to Subnautica's power pipes that ignore obstacles. These comparisons highlight similar mechanics.
- Graphics compared to Conan Exiles (weight 0.11): The graphics are said to be on par with or potentially better than Conan Exiles if lighting and shadows are improved. This suggests visual quality is a point of discussion.
- DLC map disliked compared to base map (weight 0.11): The DLC map is compared unfavorably to the base game's first map, indicating player dissatisfaction with the expansion's map design.
- Persistent personal servers supported (weight 0.1): The game allows players to set up personal persistent servers for playing with friends, which is a valued feature for multiplayer.
- Early access status noted (weight 0.1): The game is currently in early access, which may affect expectations regarding content and stability.
- Reached Bronze Age progression (weight 0.08): One reviewer mentions reaching the Bronze Age, indicating a progression milestone in the game.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.24): Players report unclear boss animations, instant attacks, and excessive difficulty for the intended gear level. Many also face bugs, rough launch issues, and DLC content that does not unlock or work in-game despite ownership, including masks, statues, and blueprints.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.1): The mask is effective at finding talented minions, and the game offers many building and management options with a large amount of content. Players enjoy playing with friends and appreciate the depth of the story and events, as well as the update improving INPC finding.
- Confusion (weight 0.1): Players cannot find how to access the mask in character creation or understand how the DLC integrates with the base game. They are confused why owned items require an expansion pack, why DLC items do not unlock after download attempts, and how the mine and power connection system works.
- Appreciation (weight 0.09): Players appreciate that the mask is free, the statues look good, and the second DLC is free instead of paid. They value the developers' hard work and new free content, and find the DLC's convenience theme helpful for new players along with the Chinese-style clothing.
- Disappointment (weight 0.06): The DLC map does not live up to the base game, and early access work was released as DLC instead of core content. Players are also disappointed by never being able to play with anyone other than NPC tribe and by pre-built practical structures feeling underwhelming.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Players find the game fun with a lot to do, a complex crafting system, and challenging combat with harder bosses. The overall gameplay is described as quite fun.
- Dissatisfaction (weight 0.04): Flight mechanics killed PvP, and in semi-PvP players only fight and nobody comes out. Survival difficulty is also considered too low and needs raising.
- Anger (weight 0.04): Troubleshooting by removing mods did not fix the game, and the DLC is broken while feedback goes unheard. Players are angry that the DLC is owned and installed but the game still demands the expansion pack.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.04): Players are enthusiastic about the attention to detail and realistic gameplay, as well as the NPC mechanics and base management. One reviewer calls it the best survival game they have played.
- Annoyance (weight 0.03): Players are annoyed that content was added as DLC rather than to the base game. A feature remains greyed out and requires an expansion pack.
- Mild disappointment (weight 0.03): Building and furniture elements are too limited in variety. Lighting and shadow effects make the visuals look cheaper.
- Disgust (weight 0.01): The DLC map is much worse than the first map, which players find disgusting.
- Attraction (weight 0.01): The game is described as very appealing, drawing players in.
- Amazement (weight 0.01): Players are amazed by the many options in a single game and the active developer support.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Tamed animals can only be ridden and bred with nothing else to do with them, leading to boredom.
- Pleasantness (weight 0.01): Players find the game an enjoyable mixture of familiar survival game elements.
- Love (weight 0.01): Players express love for the game overall, based on their enjoyment of it.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Players are looking forward to the new map.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Players expect that the issue will be fixed.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Players admire the game's universe, gameplay, level design, and management systems.}