Introduction

I will never turn down a game where I can swing around a variety of weapons and destroy enemies and objects along the way. There’s just something liberating about games like that. While turn-based RPGs are amazing, I always enjoy a good action-adventure RPG and that’s where we turn our attention to developer Noodle Cat Games’ Cloudheim. Utilizing physics and action-adventure gameplay themes, Cloudheim instantly grabbed my attention and was an easy game for me to think about reviewing. After putting in several hours into Cloudheim—this is a pretty large game for me to finish so I will say I only put in so many hours into it—is Cloudheim a good title to nab before the Christmas season or should you give this only to naughty gamers? I’m going to find out in my review of Cloudheim for the PC!

Gameplay

Cloudheim is at its core an action-adventure game with RPG elements. Players assume the role of a Runari, a character—you can change their appearance—who wakes up with amnesia but is told by some godly being you must save the world. In order to accomplish such a feat, you’ll need to dive into a world brimming with monsters, adventuring, and building.

The base gameplay of Cloudheim is a third-person action-adventure, but where it differs from most is it has physics behind it. Kick an enemy into an explosive barrel and they will react, kick enemies off ledges and boom, instant death. Hitting enemies with various weapons and magic likewise affects them and it’s neat to see how much fun can be had just running around kicking enemies and flying about with your magical grappling beam. You can even use said grappling tool to bring enemies closer or to launch various items at them too. This is all excluding the fact that you also have your own abilities based on one of four classes.

I won’t deny most of the classes feel the same. They range from giving you stronger offensive tools to magic or even range. Yet, regardless of the class or the powers I unlocked as I leveled them, they all boil down to hitting enemies with whatever you have and just watching as their health drops. It’s fun but by the hour mark I was already feeling a bit of déjà vu set in.

When you aren’t beating enemies to a pulp and dodging like a maniac, you’ll be building your refuge. This is your home base of sorts where you can build various constructs. Myself personally I’ve only done the bare minimum, but I’ve entered other games—yes there is co-op and I’m saving that for last on purpose—where players have made entire villages filled with trading NPCs and constant resource mining systems. Cloudheim gives players a lot of wiggle room to develop their land how they want even if it still doesn’t feel anything that crazy compared to other games with that mechanic.

You can play alone in Cloudheim, which is how I spent most of my time—due to a lot of glitches and lag to be found—but there’s also co-op for up to four players. Joining another player’s game is… a mixed bag. Yes, I had a lot more fun with people online battling enemies and just running around, but if you join some lobbies where the player is leaps above you… prepare to get carried. Cloudheim does an admirable job of trying to give you a means to match the highest player’s level, but this was often chaotic and I still felt useless compared to players one-hitting some enemies with high-grade weapons.

Now here’s the deal with Cloudheim. On paper, this game seems almost perfect and as an early access title I can see the final picture being formed. However, Cloudheim is not without its early access woes. I’ve lost progress a few times while playing due to the game crashing—it doesn’t record my game time either for some odd reason—and I’ve lagged out of numerous game worlds I’ve been in. Solo play also has its weird quirks like levels not fully applying and/or graphical glitches but these could be from a multitude of things, like my own PC. However, from reading online I’m figuring it’s the game more than on my end. These issues don’t make Cloudheim unplayable but at times it does make for some rather annoying issues to deal with.

Aside from that I’d really, really recommend grabbing some friends and playing with them. Cloudheim is fine solo but I think I often had the most fun with strangers versus just doing my own thing. When I was playing solo, I often got bored and lost interest if I wasn’t fighting foes.

Graphics

As a fantasy lover, Cloudheim already made my eyes smile when I laid eyes on the visual style it presented. Almost akin to a game like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Cloudheim visually is one of its greatest strengths even despite the gameplay flaws. From large fields to sky-themed locations, Cloudheim is gorgeous. Character designs and enemy models are also very diversified with a nice amount of details and different styles. Cloudheim visually is perfect and I could get lost just exploring fields and forest areas with no gripe in doing so… honestly I might have spent maybe a bit too much time doing so.

Sound

I’ve established the visuals for Cloudheim were epic but that isn’t to say the OST is lacking either. From the solid—and funny—voice work to the great music, Cloudheim is a visual and audible treat. The various tracks go from whimsical melodies to action-fueled set pieces, in particular when battles ramp up and the action goes up with it. There are a few times the calm melodies stay even during extreme fights but I think this could be a glitch more than an intentional design choice. I’ll say overall Cloudheim has a nice balance where I never felt the OST missed delivering just the right sound/song when need be. Is Cloudheim the next legendary OST? I’m not too sure about that but I wouldn’t be surprised if some just play to relax and unwind when in the building segments.

Story

Unlike the beautiful art and incredible OST, Cloudheim’s story is a bit lacking. The fact you are, yet again, an amnesiac that has to save the world is boring. As a writer, I get this is meant to put you more into the role and shape your own destiny but I would have preferred a more traditional MC that has more of a purpose. The lore/story too is uneventful, following themes of Ragnarok and how the world now needs to be reformed by, you guessed it, our amnesiac protagonist. Cloudheim’s story works to keep you trudging through the various quests and story bits but by the first few hours I was already less focused on the story and more on just where to beat the next boss or what new beautiful stage I was about to visit.

Overall Impression

Cloudheim is a fun game that I feel needs to be played with others for the best experience. Alone, it feels like a traditional action-adventure title that, while fun, can be a bit repetitive. I don’t see myself investing hundreds of hours into Cloudheim personally, but those who are completionists who equally like large worlds filled with personality may really want to pour countless hours into it. I equally hope the glitches and bugs are smoothed out as they diminish the game a bit.

Conclusion

Honestly, I’m surprised Cloudheim was more than what I thought it would be. At first I truly felt this was just another developer’s take on an action-adventure RPG but developer Noodle Cat Games clearly wanted to make something a bit meatier. There are plenty of traditional themes to be found in Cloudheim but the way they are tweaked for a more unique take on those said themes is a quite admirable feat for the developers. I personally think Cloudheim is easy to recommend to those who want to grab some friends and beat down random foes online just for fun or to explore a large world oozing with personality. Is it perfect? No, but Cloudheim doesn’t need to be and it works in delivering a fun experience. Plus, this game is still in early access so I’m sure it could get a lot better with some much-needed tweaks and gameplay fixes.

—Aaron