I did not anticipate it’d take me an hour to start my first game of Hytale after loading it up, but you can thank its surprisingly involved character creator for that. Eventually,though – after fashioning a blonde ‘tashed, barechested, leather-clad lothario who swings a little more ‘porn star’ than I was going for – I finally went in, and the positive impressions just kept coming.
In case the drama has passed you by, Hytale’s early access launch this week is something of a miracle. Last summer, after a decade of development, the ambitious RPG-styled Minecraft-a-like was cancelled by League of Legends studio Riot Games, who’d bought its creator Hypixel some five years prior. It looked like there’d be no happy ending for Hytale, but the stars aligned, Hypixel co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme re-acquired the rights, and here we are now, one day after its hugely successful (to the tune of 2m players) release.
It’s a lovely victory in an industry that’s felt a little short of good news in recent times, but with all that development chaos, my expectations for Hytale’s earliest early access were pretty low – particularly after Collins-Laflamme’s pre-launch warnings that the game, in its initial guise, wasn’t “good yet”. But it turns out Collins-Laflamme was perhaps being a little too modest, because this early version of Hytale, while certainly far from complete, is good, and in the few hours I’ve played, I (and my porn-tashed avatar) have been having a blast.
Admittedly, whatever Hytale might eventually become as development continues, it’s hard to describe it as anything other than fantasy Minecraft right now. There are some obvious differentiators – a magic system, for instance, and an enjoyably flexible combat system built around varied weapons and attack styles – but the core experience it currently offers, at least from what I’ve seen so far, is a very familiar one. This is a game of exploration and survival, of building, resource gathering, and crafting, all in a vast, blocky sandbox world. And if you’ve even a modicum of Minecraft experience under your belt, you’ll feel immediately, instinctively comfortable here (although, if you’re anything like me, prepare to be unreasonably dazzled by the fact that smashing a tree trunk with your axe causes the whole thing to come down).
But honestly, that familiarity is fine. It’s a tried and tested (and massively popular) formula, and already Hytale pulls it off extremely well. And while any major differentiating flourishes might still be some way off, what’s here, crucially, feels remarkably polished, all centred around some impressively robust tools – and if the success of a sandbox game is defined by the possibilities it affords, Hytale already feels well on the right path.
There’s cooking and smelting and smithery; weapon crafting, furniture building, farming and animal husbandry, with progression through each nudging you further afield. And the worlds Hytale is currently capable of generating show plenty of promise. So far I’ve seen dust-swept deserts and rich green meadows; I’ve explored autumnal forests and sweeping coast lines. I’ve spelunked to peculiar depths where lava seeps and forest blooms, and portaled to stranger climes too. And scattered throughout, giving the world a welcome bit of extra texture, are ancient ruins, dilapidated mansions, crumbling farmhouses, mysterious temples, and more. Not all of it’s particularly interesting after the initial thrill of discovery, mind, but it feels cohesive and coherent, nailing a certain whimsical fantasy appeal.
And as day turns to night and back again, as the fog rolls in and storm clouds erupt, the world also manages a pleasing sense of of dynamism, helped along by a pleasantly relaxing environmental soundscape (the chill music’s pretty good too) and a decent menagerie of critters and foes. I’ve bashed skeleton warriors and giant spiders, been chased by bears and gollum-like guards. I’ve spotted frogs, startled fawns, spied foxes, sheep, chickens, bears, snakes, rats, many of them meandering around with little ‘uns. World-wise, if I’ve any complaint right now, it’s a comparative one; the terrain is all rather same-y, with none of the dramatic landscapes Minecraft’s world generation conjures well. Changes, though, are coming.
There’s plenty more planned too, of course (including a more structured Adventure mode with a proper story and quests) but, without those more significant differentiators, it may be a while before Hytale can properly escape Minecraft’s shadow. Even so, this week’s early access release feels like a splendid start; a flexible, well-featured – and already enjoyable – foundation with plenty of polish and attention to detail. And beyond what Hypixel is currently cooking up itself, the studio’s offering substantial support for modding and other creative avenues as it looks to foster the sort of community that’s served Minecraft so well. So yes, only a day in and Hytale shows lots of promise – and with the next two years of funding already secured, the once seemingly doomed game could be looking at a very bright future.
