Cubic Odyssey Review: A 1.0 Release That Feels More Like a 0.5 Alpha
This game is a buggy, broken, half-baked mess that I am hopelessly, furiously addicted to.
This is one of the weirdest reviews I've had to write. I've clocked over 50 hours in Cubic Odyssey, and a huge part of me is absolutely addicted. The scope of what this game is trying to do, a true "No Man's Sky meets Minecraft" sandbox, is amazing.
The core loop is great for just unwinding. The atmosphere is top-notch, with great music and beautiful, diverse planets. And that seamless transition from a planet's surface straight into space with no loading screens? It's a thing of beauty.
I get why so many people give this game a "Recommended" stamp. It's a product that deserves to exist.
But let's be blunt: This game is half-baked, unfinished, and has no business being sold as a 1.0 release.
The Good: A Stroke of Genius
When the game works, it really works. The single-player experience is a fantastic, chill sandbox. It's a joy to just fly around and explore the gorgeous scenery.
The early mining is a bit of a chore, but the game has a stroke of genius in your little robot buddy, QB-1. Once you find a single block of an ore, you can scan it, and QB-1 can then scan the area for more, basically giving you a "wallhack" for that resource. This turns a mindless grind into a focused, satisfying hunt.
The base building is cool, and the ability to create blueprints of your base, scan it, and then rebuild it on a new planet is a fantastic touch. There's even a story to follow, giving you a purpose that Minecraft never does.
The Bad: Broken, Janky, and Unfinished
But for every good idea, there are ten things that are just... broken. This is not a polished game.
The entire itemization and progression system is a joke. I'm not exaggerating. I walked into the first space station and bought a gold-tier gun, completely skipping over four tiers of crafting and progression.
The late-game is just as bad. That "glowing ore" you're supposed to grind for? It's incredibly hard to get, and by the time I could, I realized it was... useless. I could just buy or find everything I needed, making the whole crafting chain pointless. Even the derelict ships in the hardest sectors are just the same crappy starter ships.
And the feel of the game? It's awful. The ship controls are "beyond janky" and "barely usable". Controller support is "frustrating and shoddy". And good luck figuring any of this out. The game explains nothing. It's so bad I had to keep a wiki open on my other monitor just to learn basic mechanics.
This is alpha-level jank. I can't rename my bases. I can't place my own map markers. There's no search function in the crafting tables. This is not a finished product.
The Ugly: A Co-op Catastrophe
If the solo experience is a 7/10 with an asterisk, the multiplayer is a 1/10 dumpster fire.
If you are thinking of buying this to play with friends, do not. I'm serious. It is "unspielable". It is a "catastrophe".
I'm not talking about a little lag. I'm talking about game-breaking, "miserable synchronization". My friend joined my game, and my entire base was just... gone for him. Sunk into the terrain. He couldn't see me. I couldn't see him. We couldn't share ships. Chests would bug out and lock everyone out.
One player reported their entire save file being deleted after a 4-hour session. Another lost all their hard-earned ship items just for switching ships while in a co-op game.
This isn't just "buggy." This is a completely non-functional, broken feature that's being advertised as part of the game.
The Verdict
I'm torn. I'm still playing the solo mode, which says a lot. The devs are active, and I'm rooting for them.
But this game is a "work in progress" that's being sold as a 1.0 release. It's a "typical EA state" game without the EA tag, and that feels dishonest.
The core idea is fantastic. The solo sandbox, for all its infuriating jank, is "ok and enjoyable". But it's a 6/10 experience, at best. It's carried by its potential, not its execution. If you are a strictly solo player with a high tolerance for bugs and a love for the grind, you might find something to unwind with.
For everyone else, this is a hard pass until it's actually finished.
Score: 6.2/10 - A "Minecraft meets No Man's Sky" dream that's still a developmental nightmare.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.