I still say that eight bit is a big upgrade over seven bit, and worth every penny.
Grab your yoyo, because Irreverend Opinions is taking a spin in Terraria!
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The Blurb
A 2D, 8-bit sandbox game with endgame content, fully editable terrain, and plenty of content. Terraria promises quite a substantial amount, and then delivers.
The Good
The graphics are 8-bit, but not 'cheap', with quite a bit of effort having been taken for the way things appear despite the low resolution. Character customization is substantial, allowing for players to define who they want to appear as quickly and easily.
Audio is decent, though the musical score may get repetitive after a time, cycling through different tracks for day and night, as well as for the different zones; night time deserts have a different sound to daylit jungles, to the Corruption in the rain, to the Hallow, etc.
Equipment is varied and expansive, with an incredible number of tasks that a player can take, and tools to cover them. A player could play as a gun-toting ninja dungeon raider, a demon-summoning architect of marble towers, a bee hunter, a fishing enthusiast, and more.
At it's core, Terraria is about exploration, and covers this with an exhaustive terrain palette, with distinct features that prevent each zone from being a cut-out copy with different color hues. Ice is slippery, sand falls when there's nothing to support it, jungles have thorns, etc.
Exploring through caverns and tunnels is pleasantly alternating, allowing for players to traverse marble halls, granite caverns, lava pits, and more. Treasure can be found in the form of minerals to craft tools from, unique stones to build with, lost chests of gold and equipment, plants to grow, and more. As the game progresses, changes can occur to allow the player a chance at exploring new environments that are opened with the death of a particular boss, for example.
Combat styles can be broken down into a number of equally-viable groups; yoyos (thanks to their partnership with One Drop Yoyos[onedropyoyos.com]), boomerangs, summons, swords, spears, bows, chainsaws, guns, flails, bombs, spells, and crossbows. Pickaxes, hammers, and other tools are typically less viable for combat, but can still be used in a pinch. Different weapons allow for alternate approaches to battle, and may give benefits such as heavy knockback, lazers flying off per swing, and so forth.
Monsters are diverse, from the standard 'charge in and hit' to ranged attackers, spellcasters that can teleport, flying and burrowing brawlers, debuff and damage-over-time specialists, summoners, and more. The AI typically has monsters seeking you despite all situations, though some will run when on low health, some will stop to collect treasure, and similar.
Bosses are neither standardized nor just 'harder hitting normal monsters', giving a range of single-target juggernauts, multi-target swarms, bullet-hells, and brutes for players to try whittling down, or grouping up to fight together. Rewards typically measure up to the challenge that has been overcome, allowing for a sense of progression through the game.
Construction is quite in-depth, allowing players to complete projects of giant, labyrinthine towers with a lava-filled "eye a la Sauron", or sprawling castles, or farming fields, and more. A set of simple 'mechanical' tools allow for some forms of automation, and enough different forms of material texture exist to allow a discerning builder immense free reign for their expression.
Setting up a server to host a multiplayer game is exceptionally simple, both for "while online" and "long-running" server styles. Resource usage is noticeably low, allowing players to enjoy their own server without fear of disconnecting friends from half a globe away, though latency does tend to parse poorly in transcontinental multiplayer. PvP is possible in duel, free-for-all, and team-based combat, with items spattered through that can be used for competitive games akin to variations of 'capture the flag'.
Developers are both friendly and active, having made numerous updates to the game project, including cross-referencing it to their other games.
The Bad
While varied, the music selection per zone is limited, so staying put for something (like construction) can lead to the sound getting quite repetitive.
A steep learning curve for new players, though mitigated by a helpful 'guide' who can tell you what you can build from materials you have.
Despite the wide variety of textures and models, typically weapons, armor, and tools tend to homogenize at the top tier of play, neutralizing the customization on offer.
Merciless with difficulty increases (such as the hardmode plateau), which can put off players who are easily discouraged.
The Ugly
Players have no choice as to taking part in certain boss fights; various bosses will spontaneously spawn and attack regardless of player activity, location, or readiness.
Bosses can appear at the player spawn point, allowing them to repeatedly kill players as they enter game.
Suggestions
The developers seem to actually pay attention to their customers, and have a steady update queue. So, can't really say much for suggestion that the team doesn't already tackle.
Perhaps linking the boss spawns to a certain gear score and/or time playing. New players will be put off by finding that they just purchased a spawn-camping simulator.
The Summary
Eminently playable, more fun with friends. 8/10.
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This review is hosted for archival and backup purposes; the original can be found on Steam.
