Overall Impressions
When I first boarded my starship in Cubic Odyssey, I sensed real ambition. Atypical Games has built a universe of vibrant worlds and hidden secrets. I loved the promise of an open galaxy full of life, danger, and limitless possibilities. Yet I encountered glaring flaws. Resource costs felt unbalanced. Crafting a single turret demanded hours of wood, coal, and water—and those turrets barely worked. Warp cells vanished from my inventory, and the game even crashed twice on me. Still, the core adventure remains compelling. In a genre led by No Man’s Sky and Starfield, Cubic Odyssey deserves credit for its bold design. But it needs polish before it can truly soar.
Gameplay Mechanics
Cubic Odyssey’s mechanics grab you immediately: gathering materials, forging tools, and constructing vehicles all feel satisfying. I’ll never forget racing across a violet desert as my hovercraft sliced dunes in search of rare crystal shards—an exhilarating loop that kept me hooked for hours. However, soon enough the grind sets in, demanding buckets of sand, coal, and water, which dulls that initial excitement.
Repetitive farming and fragile gear exacerbate frustrations: one veteran spent “hours farming coal” only to watch crafted tools break under low-level attacks. Turrets cost a fortune yet fire randomly, often ignoring threats and acting as mere décor. Warp cells can vanish in crashes—along with unsaved progress—and enemy AI feels shallow, with ground foes shuffling aimlessly and space skirmishes reduced to predictable dogfights where circling any vessel guarantees victory. These issues undermine the game’s otherwise solid crafting and exploration loops.
Story and Characters
The narrative hides beneath layers of fetch quests and combat trials. You play as a nameless explorer tasked with stopping the Red Darkness. Along the way, you unearth ancient relics and meet eclectic NPCs. Unfortunately, dialogue often feels generic. Townsfolk spawn inside walls or signs, and quest markers repeat across biomes. I completed the same “kill a predator” quest on three different planets. That pattern dulls the thrill of discovery. Yet moments of genuine wonder still emerge. On one forest world, I unearthed a centuries-old observatory, its walls etched with star charts. That scene captured the game’s potential for grand storytelling. If Atypical Games expands side quests and refines NPC behavior, the universe will truly shine.
Visuals and Graphics
Cubic Odyssey wows on first glance. Its color palette bursts with saturated hues. Alien flora glows neon, and crystalline caverns shimmer like kaleidoscopes. Each planet feels distinct—at least at first. Sadly, that distinction fades after you’ve visited three biomes. The “procedural plains” start to look too similar. Still, vehicle design and base-building assets showcase real creativity. Crafting panels snap together with satisfying clicks. Particle effects during a plasma blast shine brilliantly against inky skies. On a technical level, the game runs smoothly on high settings, aside from the occasional crash tied to vanished items. Atypical Games clearly invested in an artistic vision. With more varied terrain and environmental hazards, the graphics could elevate the entire experience.
Sound and Music
Composer Elena Korolev’s score enhances the sense of wonder right from the opening notes. For instance, ethereal strings accompany planetfall, while rhythmic drums drive home the intensity of fierce battles. To catch every subtle detail, I almost always wore quality headphones—this revealed distant waterfalls, alien birdcalls, or even the faint hum of a power generator. That said, the voice acting remains uneven: on one hand, some quest givers deliver lines with genuine emotion; on the other, others trip over awkward phrasing. In combat, sound effects really pack a punch—railgun shots crackle, engines roar, and wind rushes past your cockpit. My main gripe is the turret alarm, which becomes grating after lengthy base-defense sessions. All things considered, the audio team nails immersion, though a bit of fine-tuning would push it over the top.
Difficulty and Replayability
Cubic Odyssey offers adjustable difficulty settings that cater to explorers and combat fans alike. I played on Normal mode to experience the full challenge of resource gathering and enemy encounters. The grind can feel punishing, as multiple players reported. Crafting key items demands repetitive collection, and death penalties can wipe progress. Yet this makes surviving a triumphant moment. I once cleared a hostile plateau teeming with Red Darkness drones. Reaching my ship with depleted shields felt like a real victory. Replay value hinges on Atypical Games adding new content. At launch, the galaxy contains five procedural systems, each with four biomes. After two playthroughs, I began to see the same dungeons and quest patterns. Co-op multiplayer could boost longevity, but as one user noted, non-hosts suffer lag, sync issues, and broken join sequences. Fixing these bugs will be crucial to keeping players engaged.
Developer Trivia
Atypical Games began as a two-person indie studio in Helsinki and quickly gained recognition when composer Elena Korolev, best known for her work on the indie hit Star Seekers, joined the team. Now, Gaijin Network Ltd has fast-tracked a mobile companion app set to launch in Q4 2025, promising seamless on-the-go gameplay. Furthermore, the developers plan to roll out free expansions that introduce deeper NPC interactions and entirely new star systems, ensuring players always have fresh content to explore.
Final Verdict: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Cubic Odyssey shines with its artistic flair, engrossing open-world design, and promising story seeds. Yet imbalanced resource costs, repetitive quests, and persistent bugs hold it back. If Atypical Games delivers robust patches—tuning crafting costs, fixing AI, and stabilizing multiplayer—this game could rival the genre’s best. For now, it remains an adventurous draft of a stellar saga.
Pros
Experience stunning, vibrant worlds that transport players to breathtaking alien landscapes. Coupled with engaging crafting and base-building mechanics, the game empowers you to design custom outposts and forge unique tools. Plus, an immersive soundtrack and expertly crafted sound design elevate every moment, ensuring that exploration and construction feel as alive as the worlds themselves.
Cons
However, some players may encounter an unbalanced resource economy, making progression feel uneven and frustrating. Additionally, repetitive quests and procedural sameness can diminish the sense of discovery over time, as objectives start to blur together. Finally, frequent bugs, crashes, and multiplayer issues can interrupt gameplay and detract from the overall experience, underscoring the need for ongoing patch support and stability improvements.
Who Should Play?
This game is perfect for solo explorers craving vast, customizable galaxies, offering endless horizons to chart at your own pace. It also appeals to crafting enthusiasts drawn to vehicle and base construction, with deep systems that let you build everything from sleek starships to sprawling outposts. And if you’re a fan of atmospheric soundtracks and rich sci-fi lore, the immersive audio design and storytelling will keep you hooked from launch to the furthest reaches of space.
Who Should Wait?
If you thrive on seamless co-op experiences, it may be best to wait until multiplayer stability improves. Likewise, players averse to grind-heavy progression should hold off until resource balancing and progression pacing are fine-tuned. And if you expect polished AI behaviors and a wide variety of quests, giving the developers additional time to expand and diversify mission design will ensure a smoother, more engaging adventure.
Final Thoughts
Cubic Odyssey offers genuine moments of awe. Its universe teems with life, color, and mystery. But to fully live up to its title, it needs balance and polish. I’m eager to see where Atypical Games takes this journey. Until then, I’ll keep charting new planets, hunting artifacts, and hoping for smoother warp jumps.
