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Albatroz Review (PlayStation 5)

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Albatroz Review, Albatroz is a backpacking adventure RPG that will take you through majestic landscapes in search of your lost sibling. A tale about knowing when to let go and start over. Join Isla as she embarks on a journey through “The Forbidden Lands,” a breathtaking and otherworldly realm where two worlds converge.

Albatroz Review Pros:

  • Beautiful graphics.
  • 19.23GB download size.
  • Platinum trophy.
  • Three difficulties – Easy, standard, and hard.
  • HDR support.
  • Controller settings – Invert the axis and sensitivity slider, and you can remap the controls.
  • Game difficulty affects – stats depletion, akill/item duration, adverse weather, fuel consumption, and car protection.
  • Backpacking adventure gameplay.
  • Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
  • A fully open 3D game world with 360-degree camera control.
  • The way the sun’s rays coat the scenery and how it transitions from day to night is spectacular.
  • A very chilled soundtrack.
  • The map can be a small mini one or held down to go fullscreen. It shows your route and points of interest like petrol, save points etc.
  • You can get out of the car and walk around and travel.
  • Any activities you do like resting, refueling, or fixing the car will take X amount of time and the world moves on.
  • Day and night cycle along with many weather types.
  • A beautiful world to explore.
  • Third-person view for both the car and the character.
  • Hunger and energy bars are in play and deplete faster in certain conditions.
  • In-game cutscenes for weather changes, visas, flyovers, etc.
  • Many terrain types.
  • Earn TP by discovering places and points of interest.
  • Get daily updates on your travel stats like distance traveled etc.
  • First-person view when in a building.
  • Mission or interactive prompts show and include distance.
  • The game has sections where it’s split into seperate little chapters, and earn points and a rank based on what you do.
  • I can see what they are going for and it’s a solid idea.
  • Different graphics styles depend on the situation.
  • Pick a map of the location you want to explore.
  • Save points are scattered around.
  • Full backpack management system.
  • Scavenger food and drink from the game world.
  • A lot of systems at play like hunger and thirst, but you also get an angle icon that shows the steepness of the world, and if you engage your legs more it will heat you up and tire you faster.
  • You only start losing health once you deplete your hunger and thirst meters.
  • Stats only go down when you actually move.
  • Find many discoveries and locations.
  • A very chilled experience.
  • With a button press, you can swap clothes, you have them for the different weather types, and wearing the right one will mean the stats don’t deplete as fast.
  • It’s a game that once it clicks you can just explore and have a good time.
  • Each difficulty drastically changes the game experience for easily lets you go about the world in relative safety but anything higher and you have to manage food and water better, deal with harsher weather, etc.
  • The goal of the game is to go to locations and then tick off the destinations or get to a certain point on a map.
  • TP is transversal points and you spend these on upgrading your stats – Health, skills, legs, thirst, hunger, and arm.
  • When sleeping the time bar comes up and you can choose when to get up.
  • At night you use a lamp to help see the world.
  • You can climb, it’s not an in-depth special mechanic or anything, but it does enough.
  • There is a cool dark undertone to it all which I don’t need to spoil.

Albatroz Review Cons:

  • Everything that causes time to move does this Unskippable and repeatable cutscene over and over.
  • If you get stuck and use the free me button it causes time to advance an hour, doesn’t seem a lot but parts of the map can have you going from stuck to stuck to stuck.
  • The music will not be for everyone.
  • I don’t like how every time you do an action like eating and drinking, you get horrible noise and distortion effects as it loads your stats and changes them.
  • Map reading is not as clear as it needs to be.
  • The performance of the game is not great, a lot of pop-ins amd random slowdown episodes.
  • It does weird things like spooking animals or falling too far will trigger a black screen transition.
  • The game doesn’t do a great job of tightening up what you have to do or what you can do.
  • Menus and pop-ups are small.
  • There are so many mechanics to keep track of, your screen constantly has arrows going up and down, and the hunger and thirst meters are hard to read.
  • The game is broken up in a way that breaks immersion.
  • Save points are spread way too far apart.
  • You don’t get told about any of the tasks in the specified sections.
  • Cannot skip the cutscenes.

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Albatroz:

Official website.

Developer: Among Giants

Publisher: SOEDESCO

Store Links –

PlayStation

  • 8/10
    Graphics - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Accessibility - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Length - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Fun Factor - 7/10
7.2/10

Summary

The game boasts beautiful graphics, with a 19.23GB download size and a platinum trophy for dedicated players. It offers three difficulty levels—easy, standard, and hard—each affecting stats depletion, skill/item duration, adverse weather, fuel consumption, and car protection. The game supports HDR and provides customizable controller settings, including axis inversion and sensitivity sliders. The backpacking adventure gameplay is enhanced by tutorial pop-ups and a fully open 3D world with 360-degree camera control. The transitions from day to night, accompanied by a chilled soundtrack, create a spectacular visual and auditory experience. The map can be viewed as a small mini-map or fullscreen, showing routes and points of interest like petrol stations and save points. Players can exit the car to walk around and explore, with activities like resting, refueling, or fixing the car taking real-time to complete. The game features a day and night cycle, various weather types, and a beautiful world to explore in third-person view for both the car and the character. Hunger and energy bars deplete faster in certain conditions, and in-game cutscenes highlight weather changes, visas, and flyovers. Players earn TP by discovering places and points of interest, with daily updates on travel stats like distance traveled. The game switches to first-person view when inside buildings, and mission or interactive prompts include distance indicators. The game is divided into separate chapters, with points and ranks earned based on player actions. Different graphics styles are used depending on the situation, and players can pick maps of locations they want to explore. Save points are scattered around, and a full backpack management system allows players to scavenge food and drink from the game world. Various systems, such as hunger and thirst, are in play, with an angle icon showing the steepness of the terrain. Health only depletes once hunger and thirst meters are empty, and stats decrease only when moving. Players can discover many locations and enjoy a chilled experience. Clothing can be swapped with a button press, with different outfits for various weather types to slow stat depletion. The game offers a relaxing exploration experience once players get the hang of it. Each difficulty level drastically changes the game experience, with higher difficulties requiring better management of food, water, and harsher weather conditions. The goal is to visit locations and tick off destinations or reach specific points on the map.

However, the game has its drawbacks. Unskippable and repeatable cutscenes occur whenever time advances, which can become tedious. The “free me” button, used when stuck, advances time by an hour, which can lead to getting stuck repeatedly. The music may not appeal to everyone, and the noise and distortion effects when performing actions like eating and drinking can be unpleasant. Map reading is not as clear as it should be, and the game’s performance suffers from pop-ins and random slowdowns. The game does strange things like spooking animals or triggering black screen transitions when falling too far. It doesn’t do a great job of clarifying tasks or what players can do, with small menus and pop-ups. The numerous mechanics to keep track of can be overwhelming, with constant arrows and hard-to-read hunger and thirst meters. The game is broken up in a way that breaks immersion, and save points are too far apart. Tasks in specified sections are not clearly communicated, and cutscenes cannot be skipped. TP, or transversal points, are used to upgrade stats like health, skills, legs, thirst, hunger, and arms. When sleeping, players can choose when to wake up using a time bar, and a lamp is used at night to see the world. Climbing is possible, though not a special mechanic, and there is a cool dark undertone to the game that adds depth.

In summary, the game offers a visually stunning and immersive experience with a variety of gameplay mechanics and exploration opportunities. However, it is hindered by performance issues, unclear instructions, and overwhelming mechanics. Despite these flaws, it provides a unique and enjoyable adventure for those willing to navigate its complexities.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!