Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles Nintendo Switch Review

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles Nintendo Switch

Release: May 17, 2018
Publisher: Prideful Sloth
Developer: Prideful Sloth
Genre: Adventure, Family, Indie, Nintendo Switch Categories, Simulation, Switch Reviews
PEGI: 10+
Comments:

 

Comment

I’ve been looking forward Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles coming to the Nintendo Switch ever since I played a demo of it on the Playstation 4. Adam Roffel was definitely a fan of the game. But does Yonder live up to my expectations on the Switch? Is this a game you should check out? Here is my review for Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles for the Nintendo Switch.

Yonder’s story reminds me a lot of Breath of the Wild’s story. Just like that Zelda game, Yonder places more importance on gameplay over story. Both games have a good story but you’ll find yourself getting sidetracked from it often (and even when Yonder’s story is over, theres still a lot of things to do). The open world of Yonder is just big and beautiful. You’ll just have to go off and explore it!

I love Animal Crossing and I’m a huge fan of games like Harvest Moon. I’m also a big fan of the Zelda franchise, especially Breath of the Wild. I mention all of this because Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles takes a lot of inspiration from Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Zelda. Its also its own very unique game.

In Yonder, you’ll find a vast world to explore, much like Breath of the Wild, and yet there is no combat in this game. There is no dying either. In fact, the closest you come to dying is when you try to go into the water. The character you control can’t swim and so will drown if you go into the water. Instead of a game over though, the character will just respawn somewhere nearby.

I really wish the character could swim. I think thats one of the few things missing from Yonder.

I don’t miss combat at all. I love that this game is about exploration more than anything else. There is so much to find in this world. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, you’ll stumble across something new.

As for its Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon inspirations, much like those games you’ll find yourself talking to a lot of people and doing favors. There are also farms to find in this game! Yes, much like Harvest Moon, you can farm. Though you won’t have to water plants. You can create the look of your farm though and hire a farm hand to take care of it.

I also love that this game doesn’t have a stamina bar like Harvest Moon. In Yonder, you can farm, fish, mine, do favors, anything and everything you want as long as you want. You can stay up all (in game) night. I always found the stamina bar restrictive in Harvest Moon. Yonder is much more like Animal Crossing in that you never have to worry about eating or sleeping in this game.

Though, it would’ve been nice to have a place to sleep if you wanted to. While you have houses in Yonder, you can’t actually go into them. You can’t go into any houses in Yonder. I think this is another thing thats missing from the game.

I wish there had been a way to include some inside areas in this game. The closest the game comes to it are some caves and a couple of other areas I don’t want to spoil. Otherwise, the great outdoors will be your play area for this game and man, what an incredible area it is! And there are no load times at all once you get into the game!

Yonder has really excellent controls too. Everything from walking around to jumping and fishing and the other tasks you do work great. There is even some touch screen controls for this game. The games camera and fishing can be controlled by the touch screen. You can also use the touch screen to navigate the game’s menus if you want to. I prefer Yonder’s button controls but I’m glad touch screen use was included for whoever wants to take advantage of it. I love this game.

Yonder is a fantastic game. I love Stardew Valley on the Switch but I’m going to have a hard time going back to it after Yonder. This game takes a lot of my favorite elements of Zelda, Harvest Moon, and Animal Crossing and brings them to a breathtaking open world environment. This game is amazing to look at!

Yonder is a beautiful  game. The graphics are simply jaw-dropping no matter where you go on the map. I don’t hesitate to say that there are areas in this game that could give Breath of the Wild a run for its money. The amount of stunningly detailed sights in this game is very impressive. And Yonder looks great on TV and in handheld mode.

There are a couple of things that keep Yonder’s graphics from being perfect though. The game has some small framerate issues. These issues are noticable but never hamper the gameplay. Yonder especially skips when its auto-saving.

Also, there are some glitches once and awhile like objects hanging in the air or an object getting in the camera’s way when talking to someone. None of these issues break the game, but they are worth noting. Otherwise, enjoy this game. Its breathtaking.

Music wise, though, Yonder is a bit more subtle. The music is nice but nothing really stands out. Much more impressive than the music is the game’s sound effects! The bird sounds and other bits that you’ll hear in Yonder really bring its world to life.

Yonder is such a great game overall. I hope you’ll read the conclusion to this review before going to the eshop to download it!

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is an excellent game. If you love Zelda, Harvest Moon, and Animal Crossing, you must play this game! Yonder is absolutely the best simulation game on the Nintendo Switch right now and thats saying a lot since Stardew Valley is pretty great. This is a can’t miss game for fans of the simulation genre and people who love Zelda. Yonder doesn’t have the Zelda combat, but that doesn’t make it less interesting. In fact, its pretty awesome that you get to explore this fantastic world without worrying about dying.

I highly recommend downloading Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles as soon as you can.

A review code was provided for this game. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles will be out tomorrow for the Nintendo Switch eshop!

Trailer