Everwind

Everwind is an Early Access survival and crafting sim centered around exploration, ship-building, and island-hopping in a procedurally generated world. Players progress through tiers of gear from wood to steel, unlocking new biomes and islands vertically arranged in the sky. The core gameplay loop involves gathering resources, exploring islands, upgrading your flying ship, and repeating the cycle. The game offers a variety of biomes including timberlands, jungles, deserts, and swamps, each with escalating difficulty and unique points of interest.

While the game shines in its creative ship-building mechanics and a relaxed yet engaging exploration experience, it currently suffers from issues typical of Early Access titles. Players report bugs such as ship clipping and save corruption, a slow pace in traveling between islands, and some imbalance in combat, especially with magic being underpowered. The RNG-based blueprint system for crafting adds exploration incentive but can frustrate progression. Despite these drawbacks, the developers are actively updating and listening to community feedback, showing promise for future growth. The game is praised for its unique flying base concept and potential to become a standout in the genre.

Highlights

Players especially praise Everwind's innovative flying ship mechanic, which allows for a mobile base that can be customized extensively. The game's graphics and art style, reminiscent of Minecraft but with vibrant textures and lighting, receive consistent acclaim. Exploration is rewarding with diverse biomes and procedurally generated islands offering varied challenges. The combat system, while basic, provides satisfying action, particularly for melee builds. The RPG progression through gear tiers and crafting adds depth, and cooperative multiplayer enhances the adventurous experience. The developers' responsiveness and frequent updates contribute positively to the game's reception.

Criticisms

Common criticisms focus on the game's slow pacing, especially the lengthy travel times between islands and the sluggish ship movement early on. The RNG blueprint system can hinder gear progression, leading to frustration. Magic combat is underpowered compared to bows and melee, reducing build variety. Players find inventory and crafting menus cumbersome, and the block-building system is seen as clunky with limited color variation. Technical issues such as save file corruption, ship clipping, and performance drops at higher altitudes are reported. The world can feel empty with repetitive enemies and small biomes, and some players desire more meaningful content, story, and points of interest to sustain long-term engagement.