I had the absolute privilege of getting an early copy of Voyagers of Nera, and after 23 hours and all three biomes later, all I can really say is that it’s a good start. The game is in early access, so let’s keep that in mind.

Voyagers of Nera is a survival RPG set in a chain of islands, where you’re tasked with finding spirits and rescuing them from the Deepling creatures, evil corrupted sea monsters. You have a trusty spirit companion and various abilities you can unlock, along with a gambit of craftable tools. Your typical array of survival items like axes, picks, sleeping spots, and shelter are all here. Weapons, of course, armor, and accessory slots. Food in this game works much like Valheim. Eating different tiers gives you more stamina and health. More on this in a minute, though.

Let’s start with what the game gets right. On the surface, it’s a beautiful game with a lot going for it. It has a Moana vibe. The spirit system is different and actually gives you a reason to find all the spirits hidden around the archipelago. It’s very easy to get started; It almost feels too easy. Is this meant for a new generation of survival players? Maybe. There is one caveat to this line of thought, which I’ll touch on in the downsides below.

The biomes are actually interesting and remind me a little of an island-hopping Link but without survival elements. The character models are nice, not overly cartoonish, and fit with the aesthetic of the rest of the game. Combat is responsive, and I absolutely love the slash/dodge cancel ability. You have no idea how many times that saved my bacon. There’s enough content to keep you coming back and wanting to explore one more island chain.

As I prefaced at the beginning of this review, Voyagers of Nera is in early access. And unfortunately, it feels like it. I’ve played my share of early access survival games, and by no means it’s a bad game. It’s commendable, even. However, there are a lot of issues. Most of them are quality of life. Others, however, need to be addressed in order to give me a reason to return once I finish the third biome.

Let’s start with the graphics. While it is pretty, there are flickering issues, mostly from the camera and housing or shelters. This is especially prevalent when you’re working at crafting stations. There are mismatched surface polygons on a few of the islands that make them look weird from a distance. Underwater is pretty nice, but unfortunately, there seems to be little to no reward for exploring the depths. There’s no “life” below the waves, it just seems square, empty, and unimpressive. When there is stuff to see, it seems to be in small areas or patches. This feels very inconsistent.

Those, to me, are the biggest issues. There are, of course, a plethora of quality-of-life fixes that I feel need to occur. Things like sharks and deep fish attacking your boat way too often and unnecessarily. It got to the point that once I unlocked the surfboard, it made getting around much easier and less resource intensive. Yeah, I had to keep my stamina bar maxed to speed across the waves, but it’s better than wasting resources on boat repair kits.

Speaking of sharks and deep fish, let’s talk about The Deep. I love the concept of this, and unless I missed some clues somewhere, it was extremely painful to get through the first few times. I took my time in the first biome, upgraded everything before moving toward the second, and The Deep absolutely destroyed my progression until I bumped around in the dark enough to figure out how to get through. This difficulty spike was rather frustrating. With all the handholding the game had done up to this point, throwing up an obstacle like The Deep really felt out of place.

Food variety is good, and cooking is fine, but I’m listing that here as a negative because I feel the Valheim food method is overdone in survival RPGs and, for me, just doesn’t add anything good to the gaming experience. I don’t even like it in Valheim. Other than adding a gate you need to pass through before doing pretty much anything that will affect your health and stamina, it doesn’t do anything. This is just my opinion, though.

The sound and music are alright. Nothing massive or intensive. It just seems like this game would benefit from a massive score.

Overall, Voyagers of Nera has some great moments, but there are a few rough patches that need to be ironed out, which make the game an average survival RPG as of this moment. I, for one, will keep an eye on the horizon and dive back in once things settle down.

This review reflects the impressions of a single Gameoneer team member, while the Gameoneer score represents the combined feedback and the average of team members’ individual scores.