Soulmask: Shifting Sands Review Summary

The appreciated free early-adopter DLC adds flying-ship gameplay that rivals the base game, but broken balance, pervasive bugs, and severe optimization and server issues drag it down.

Free DLC appreciated: Many reviewers highlight that the DLC was provided for free, calling it a huge win and a classy move by the developers.

Flying base and ships highlight: The flying base and airship features are repeatedly called great, enjoyable, and a highlight of the game.

DLC highly praised: Players overwhelmingly describe the DLC as magnificent, awesome, and a huge, excellent addition.

DLC rivals or beats base game: Some players feel the DLC is better than the base game or adds a whole new game, while others still enjoy the base game.

Strong game foundations: Reviewers praise the game's backbone and foundations, stating it is good and worth playing.

DLC balance broken: The DLC is criticized for poor balance, bugs, and jank. Players feel it lacks polish even after delays.

Many bugs present: The game has many bugs, including NPCs that stand still and do not function.

No South American servers: There are no South American servers for online play, affecting players in that region.

Optimization issues: The game suffers from optimization problems, including frame drops in certain areas.

DLC PvP not working: The DLC is designed for online PvP but does not work properly, and lacks long-term PvP servers.

Flying ships are core: Multiple clusters highlight that flying ships and airship building are central to the game. Players can build, pilot, and use ships as mobile bases.

DLC adds flying features: The DLC introduces new flying capabilities such as a flying base, airship, and flying mask, expanding aerial gameplay.

DLC includes new map: The DLC adds a new map called Shifting Sands with an Ancient Egypt theme, and it also expands the existing map.

Sandbox survival gameplay: The game is described as a sandbox survival game with building elements, and it also includes tribe or village management.

DLC introduces bosses: The DLC features several new bosses, including a giant fish boss, a final pyramid boss, and a dungeon boss named 'Destroyer'.

High ping on servers: Many players, especially in South America, experience latency over 200 ms due to the lack of local servers and high ping on official servers.

Severe optimization issues: Numerous reports describe poor optimization leading to low FPS, stuttering, and crashes even on high-end systems. The game is often called the worst optimized game by reviewers.

FPS drops in specific areas: Frame rate drops significantly in certain locations, such as flying over the starting area, near cable cars and auto-miners, and in sea areas with high CPU usage.

Memory-related crashes: Players experience crashes due to running out of memory and VRAM exhaustion, often triggered by opening certain menus or after extended play sessions.

Server lag and desync: Combat suffers from packet loss and desync, and official servers frequently have ping spikes to 200-999 ms for hours almost every evening.

Game is worth buying: A number of reviewers positively recommend the game, considering it worth the price and fun to play.

Not recommended in current state: Many reviewers give a thumbs-down due to bugs, poor guidance, and broken features in the current build.

Only worth it if free: Several reviewers state the DLC is only worthwhile if obtained for free, and not at full price.

Wait for fixes before buying: Reviewers frequently advise waiting until the DLC is fully finished and patched before purchasing.

Base game map is better: Players often recommend playing the original map instead, citing more content variety and better progression.

Community fair range: $14.99 - $19.99.

Reports point to a slow start shaped by a condensed tutorial and a slog toward airship unlocks, with the first airship flight and co-op play as the clearest fun payoffs. Some players still find the current or DLC state boring, so the profile is mixed.

Friction: Condensed tutorial and learning curve for new players; Long, slogging grind for airship unlocks; Restriction on building on land; DLC early-game progression feels pointless after character migration; Multiplayer ship flying can desync; Current map feels boring and empty compared to the first map.

Unlock drivers: First flight of a built medium airship; Playing co-op with friends; Assigning tedious work to tribesmen; Choosing the original map for more sensible progression; Reworked balancing and progression in the DLC and 1.0.

Competitive PvP Clan Raider: Group PvP on wipe-based servers, raiding and contesting resources, and avoiding solo play unless duo or solo PvP servers exist. Motivation: Competitive PvP progression and clan raids with enough time to gear up. Stance: no buy.

PvE Base-Builder and Tribe Manager: Solo or co-op PvE with large bases, villager harvesting, and extended progression. Motivation: Long-term base building, tribe management, crafting, and PvE progression. Stance: buy.

Airship Explorer and Vehicle Builder: Exploration-focused PvE with airship and land-ship construction, sometimes in multiplayer. Motivation: Exploring a large open world and building and flying airships. Stance: buy.

The low-VRAM Windows cohort is mostly negative due to VRAM overflow and optimization complaints, and the 8-11 GB VRAM cohort is uniformly negative with severe frame-rate drops, lag, and stability issues.

Windows <8GB VRAM: negative. On 8 GB Windows cards, users report repeated VRAM overflow and poor optimization, despite one positive note about DLC performance improvements.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. All included reports are negative, citing severe FPS drops, lag, low CPU/GPU utilization, and crashes.

Monetization: The reviews focus on a paid DLC/expansion and a limited free-claim window for base-game owners. Some users allege cut content or an unfinished DLC and resent having to spend more, but no review provides direct evidence of in-game purchases, real-money gacha, loot boxes, battle passes, paid power, paid convenience, currency obfuscation, or an aggressive cash shop. Under the audit rules, this is traditional paid DLC monetization and cannot be scored above 20.

DLC free for early adopters: The Shifting Sands DLC was offered free to existing owners and Early Access buyers during a limited first-month window, and many positive reviews stem from this promotion.

DLC unfinished and buggy: Reviewers report that the DLC is incomplete, with missing endgame areas, unimplemented bosses, and obvious bugs, akin to an Early Access product.

DLC now paid for new players: After the free period, new players must purchase the DLC, while existing owners may retain it permanently; some confusion exists about whether free access was temporary.

DLC offers massive content: The expansion provides a significant amount of new content, potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay, with some likening it to a new game within the old one.

DLC adds Egypt-themed content: The expansion introduces a desert map with Ancient Egypt-inspired elements such as new bosses (crocodile, Anubis, scarab), flying pyramids, and themed assets.