Review based on patch 1.3.0.0
Story:
Set in a post-post-apocalyptic world 300 years after the "Day of Calamity", an event that destroyed civilization and most technology. The people who survived had to rebuild society from scraps. The player character is part of the "Alliance of Free Cities", a coalition of independent city-states comprising Atara, Highwind, Lucien, Portia, Sandrock, Tallsky, Vega 5 and Walnut Groove. They are wary of technology but not completely opposed to its use. The Alliance is engaged in conflict with the "Empire of Duvos", which seeks to expand its territory and obtain powerful ancient technology. Non-affiliated and neutral countries include Barnarock, Ethea, Meidi, and The Peripheries.
Max or Lucy (default player character names) is a "builder" who travels to Sandrock from Highwind to take up a job offer after the previous builder, Mason, retired to Portia. The remote desert settlement of Sandrock struggles with dire water shortages, a dwindling population and funding. Ongoing attacks from mutant lizard-men called "Geeglers" and and an outlaw called Logan, have the local Civil Corps, comprised of Justice and Unsuur, stretched thin. Although they occasionally receive assistance from the local superhero, Pen. The player character also assists with defense of Sandrock while repairing old infrastructure, providing for the community, and restoring stability to the area.
For such a "cozy game" Sandrock can be surprisingly dark and deep at times, which caught me completely off guard in a good way. It delved into how well-intentioned people can use their creed to do harm, and how that creed can be manipulated by less kind individuals. They explore the impact of infidelity on a relationship and the harm it can do to someone who unknowingly got involved with a 'taken' person. A major character (Logan) has a parent that "went out to get milk", and in one of the more heart-breaking storylines (Fang) there is outright child abuse and a lack of parental responsibility. This is also one of the rare few games in the genre that I have seen include single parents: the father of an adopted child (Logan) and a divorced mother (Catori), both of which are romanceable and very well written.
The main story missions were surprisingly intense with well written conspiracies, betrayals, and the dialogue had me laughing multiple times, especially anything from Cooper who was always on point. Sandrock really managed to capture the hardships of frontier living and survival. It always felt like there was something at stake or some looming threat on the horizon - be it attacks from wildlife, outlaws, water shortages, lack of funding, foul weather, or the possible invasion of the Duvos Empire. With a town that is essentially on life support, every outsider questions why anyone would willingly choose to live in a place so harsh and dangerous. It makes the starting point really feel like rock bottom and where you end up a place that was built up by your hands and given a second chance at life - something that is mirrored in many of the relationships you can form with the townsfolk.
The NPC's constant interactions with each other and their collective involvement in major events, as well as the community's willingness to weather any hardship together, created an attachment to this fictional world that I didn't quite get with Portia.
There are multiple social interactions for deepening the player character's friendship with the Non-Player Characters (NPC). Talking and gift giving are staples of the genre, or you can engage in friendly sparing matches, or plan a day to hang out. Raising someone's friendship level will also boost the levels of their friends and family members, which is a feature I have not seen replicated anywhere else. Sandrock has added a ton of unique interactions and events for each of the townsfolk, which did a lot to keep me invested in the world and is something I think the previous game, Portia, would have benefited from.
Romance exists but it is minimal. Each character only has 1 to 2 dating specific quests and almost none of them have post-marriage content, which is fine because this is a building/farming simulator first and foremost, not a dating sim. Kids are optional and will grow up to be around the same age as the other children in-game. The player's kids will mostly be clones of the builder's appearance and are essentially furniture. No one mentions them, including their step-siblings. They never go to school with the other kids and there aren't any family related outings, play-dates, or activities to do with them. While unfortunate, it is pretty standard for the genre. Rune Factory 4 and 5 are the only games of this type that I have seen treat player children as proper NPCs with their own personalities and quest-lines. What is atypical is that the player is expected to raise a baby: daily feeding, gifts, sickness, and diaper changing. It is enough to detract from the core gameplay loop and make you wish for Stardew Valley's dove feature. Thankfully the babies do grow up and become self-sufficient, but they are never as likable as the NPC kids who have actual personalities.
The 150 hours spent on my first playthrough went by quickly and I would have kept playing if there was more.
Gameplay:
Sandrock is a farming-sim type game centered around refining raw materials and building things rather than raising crops and animals, although you can still do a little bit of that if you like. Compared to Portia, the previous game in the series, Sandrock is a big step-up in terms of scale and quality. Fewer machines are needed to process materials and they finish tasks much quicker than before. Mining isn't as tedious as it used to be and provides more resources than its predecessor. Mining/salvage companies can also be hired to gather most (not all) materials for you during the late game, freeing up time for other activities. The biggest change over Portia was the need to find or buy water (at increasing rates) in order to keep your machines from overheating.
More unique NPC requests and events help to further break up the monotony of regular commission work. I also really like that the Builder keeps in touch with their friends and family through the mail, including replying to messages. This is the only game in the genre I have played where the protagonist not only had a life before coming to Sandrock, but their friends and parents actually come to visit. The builder also receives the local newspaper (if you subscribe) through the mail, along with gifts from friends and letters from an anonymous pen-pal. Every member of the community was a joy to be around and I ended up missing every one of them by the time the credits rolled, from the charming saloon owner Owen to the local eccentric Unsuur. Even the villains - Matilda, Pen, Stev, and Yan - were pleasantly quirky and left a noticeable absence.
While my time was overwhelmingly positive, I did encounter a few issues, namely screen tearing, infinite loading screens (a restart fixed it), and NPCs fusing together. These were infrequent enough that they amounted to little more than slight annoyances, but they still left a negative mark on an otherwise stellar experience. My Builder also had dark circles appear around their eyes which I thought were a graphical glitch for the longest time. They turned out to be related to how much sleep the Builder receives. I like the idea but I don't think the visuals communicated it well. With future releases going in a more realistic direction perhaps this sort of thing will read better. What really got to me though, was having to spend a great deal of real-world time individually stacking ores, materials, and relic pieces in storage chests. Chests are already linked (in a way), so why can't they automatically detect which chest has a similar item and automatically stack them? Why do I have to manually cycle through each chest? This was the one daily chore that I dreaded each in-game day.
Somehow the home decorating has both improved and regressed from Portia. You can build and decorate your own custom home from scratch instead of using pre-made ones, but the min and max room sizes were a bit restrictive, especially with how large the stairs could be. On console certain roof types wouldn't work/align correctly. There is a decent selection of furniture but most of it can't be built or purchased; it has to be obtained from quests (some missable), a mystery box (of limited quantity), or from paid DLC. For some reason furniture can be painted on PC but not on consoles, and the text indicating that furniture can be painted wasn't changed or removed in the console versions. Not only is this an odd disparity that limits player creativity, but I have played more realistic and complex games than Sandrock that allowed for items to be re-colored on console. So I know this sort of thing should be possible on console. Additionally, most furniture has slots for item placement, but there are very few things besides books that can be placed on the furniture. Relics, ores, toys, stationery, and NPC gifts to the player have 3D models in-game that you can't place on desks or shelves. Food can't go in the fridge, spices cant go in the spice rack, guns cant go in weapon displays, and mugs and vases can't go on tables. All the parts for a high level of player customization and creativity is here, you just can't use them.
Conclusion:
Sandrock's story works as a standalone piece that runs concurrently with Portia, so you do not need to have played the previous game in order to understand what is happening. Although, the way the two game's stories slightly intermingle is an interesting and fun aspect for those who have played both. Overall Sandrock is a wholesome game about the environment, human connections, and building a better future. The characters were all easy to like and the core gameplay loop is addictive.
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