I rarely dabble in simulation games, but I think their unique brand of resource management does have some crossover with role-playing games. However, tech tree progression often feels less about player-expression than it does overall optimization, and combat in simulation titles is rarely a priority, unless you’re talking about games with an action role-playing design philosophy and simulation elements. However, a number of Western-designed simulation games have been implementing combat into simulation games, and Nova Lands is no exception to this trend. This science fiction simulation title combines elements of combat, exploration, and resource management to deliver a straightforward play experience with a few brilliant moments of character and personality.
Gameplay
Nova Lands has players building a thriving colony after crash-landing on an unfamiliar planet. This initially involves gathering resources on your own using a somewhat clunky but serviceable system that involves positioning yourself close to a particular resource node and holding the right bumper. This will automatically begin mining the nearest target, so positioning the player character is important, though it is likely that you’ll accidentally target the wrong node every now and then. The player character will always have a limited amount of inventory space, so constructing various facilities is crucial in managing and storing resources. Then, you’ll be able to convert those resources using furnaces, which cost their own set of resources. You’ll be able to upgrade your furnaces to manufacture new kinds of materials via a lengthy tech tree, and so on, and so forth.
Where Nova Lands attempts to facilitate this is through the construction of robots, which can perform gathering, management, and security tasks. Because they are basic in design, they can perform one very particular kind of action from a list of tasks: gathering robots can mine one type of resource and deposit it in a storage facility, management bots can move resources between furnaces and other facilities, and security bots can take care of potential threats presented by wildlife. This hypothetically frees up your time gathering resources to go off and perform other tasks, such as exploration, construction, side quest goals, and engage in combat.
Narrative and Aesthetics
There’s not much of a narrative to be found in Nova Lands, as you’re really just exploring the world and building out your tech trees to create as efficient a colony as possible. You will find other survivors during your travels, but I found their dialogue to be a bit stilted, which is perhaps a result of the simplistic character sprites or conversely, the lush character art. There are times where the very lovely character designs evoke so much personality that the actual writing doesn’t carry, but given that dialogue is sparing as a whole in the game, it isn’t something that heavily detracts from the overall experience.
The simple pixel art style used for sprites and environments is functional, but also pales in comparison to the artwork used for character portraits and otherwise. There are some moments of personality to be found in character animations, but the game is very straightforward in its presentation. There could have been a bit more diversity in color in regards to resources- it does seem a bit surprising that water fruits and iron ore share the same color blue- and because of the zoomed-out, top-down camera perspective in combination with the generally small size of resource sprites, making sure you’re sorting through things properly can be a challenge in itselWith all that said, Nova Lands is hardly an unappealing looking- or sounding game. There’s a specific sound effect that feels a bit loud and grating to be used for closing menus, but aside from that, firing your gathering and combat tools and slapping down new facilities all possess appropriate sound effects. The music never strays far from “ethereal, science-fiction vibes,” which feels suitable for the game, but hardly memorable.
Impressions and Conclusion
As someone who isn’t particularly well-versed in the popular farming- and factory-sim genre, I can’t claim to have any expertise in creating highly-proficient production lines. My ability to be good at these sorts of games isn’t really going to factor into my overall assessment of the game’s quality, however. I do think that Nova Lands does work very well as an introductory title for those with a passing interest in this style of game, as it does introduce automation very early on in the play experience, which opens up new opportunities for different kinds of goals. If there is one recurring issue I found with the layout of my respective farms and management of resources, it is that storage facilities tend to fill very quickly, which can lead to robots being backed up in their tasks. Now, a full stack of 100 resources should get a player relatively far, which means I could afford to have my robots take a break, but switching robot tasks or assigning them new storage facilities must be performed at a particular menu that the player must travel to and interact with, which feels like a little bit of unnecessary busywork. Ultimately, I might have wanted to advance my tech trees and ramp up production a bit faster than my facilities allowed, so I can’t really blame the game for this.
What I do find fascinating about Nova Lands is its commitment to allowing both combat and pacifism options. There is a combat system that is fairly straightforward, with enemies telegraphing their physical attacks or firing large projectiles that can be dodged with efficient positioning or your jetpack, which ramps up significantly when the player can gain access to tough boss monsters that require environmental management and considerable attention to overcome, but never feels like a skill-intensive aspect of the game. This is again due to the auto-aim nature of the weaponry, which can prove a bit tricky when in swarm situations, but never frustratingly so. The pacifism option, however, is the more time- and resource-intensive route with its own sense of accomplishment, as you can manufacture items that are valuable to bosses and farm resources from animals via herding. With the strong emphasis on coal-based energy at the start of the game and a somewhat hostile world, it’s encouraging to see a tech tree devoted to farming and solar-powered energy options. You can go full-on aggressive and exploitative, or try to be a pacifist, or bounce between the extremes. It’s a subtle, but enjoyable bit of role-playing.
All-in-all, the display of complexity in terms of overarching objectives, specific tasks, and moment-to-moment gameplay is unlikely to sway seasoned fans of this style of game. Nova Lands is a great entry point, however, for an individual like myself or a relative newcomer to the genre. Its map design lends itself to plenty of optimization while also allowing the player to feel they are making tangible progress as they automate more and more of their manufacturing line. Though its aesthetics teeter on the line of unrealized potential and the character dialogue and lore are lacking, the gameplay experience comes together to offer a substantial simulation title with a surprisingly lengthy playtime.
Rating: Okay
Games listed here are flawed, or possess particular quirks that make them difficult to recommend. They can be generic or attempting something wildly unique, but stumbling. However, they may lack elements that distinguish themselves enough from their contemporaries.
Nintendo Switch eShop link
Price: $19.99 USD
File Size: 1 GB
Publisher: HYPETRAIN DIGITAL
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
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