Terraria
- November 14, 2014
- DR Studios
- 192h median play time
Terraria: Journey’s End is an impressive expansion, and a true love letter to the game and its fans.
Terraria is a sandbox action-adventure game with elements of survival and crafting, where players dig, fight, explore, and build in a randomly generated open world. It offers single-player, local multi-player , and online multi-player with co-op and PVP options. The game regularly receives free content updates, making the exploration and creation possibilities seemingly endless.
Reviews
- gameplay27,423 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
Terraria's gameplay is widely praised for its engaging mix of exploration, crafting, and combat, offering players a rich sandbox experience filled with diverse mechanics and a plethora of items and bosses. Many players appreciate the depth and complexity of the gameplay, which allows for various playstyles and strategies, while the game's charming pixel art and soundtrack enhance the overall experience. However, some newcomers may find the initial learning curve steep, often requiring external resources like wikis to fully grasp the mechanics and progression. Overall, Terraria is celebrated for its addictive gameplay loop and extensive replayability, making it a standout title in the sandbox genre.
“Terraria is the perfect mix of nostalgic old bit gaming mixed with crafting and survival gameplay that will keep you and your friends having a great time for weeks.”
“Amazing and creative gameplay, overall just an amazing game.”
“The gameplay is a delightful mix of exploration, building, and combat.”
“The new bosses mainly seemed like mechanical reskins of previous bosses.”
“I disliked the mechanics of the game.”
“The gameplay quickly becomes a boring and frustrating grind.”
- graphics14,960 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of Terraria are characterized by a charming pixel art style that evokes nostalgia, appealing to fans of retro games. While some players find the 2D visuals simplistic or outdated compared to modern standards, many appreciate the game's unique aesthetic and the vibrant, colorful environments it creates. Overall, the graphics are often described as fitting well with the gameplay, enhancing the immersive experience despite not being cutting-edge.
“Simple yet timeless graphics, such a large modding and asset creator community.”
“The pixel art style of Terraria is both charming and functional.”
“The graphics, while simple, have a unique charm to them, and the soundtrack is certainly unique in a good, catchy way for most.”
“0/10 graphicks.”
“The graphics are terrible in this game.”
“The graphics suck.”
- music13,295 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in Terraria is widely praised for its exceptional quality and variety, with many players highlighting its ability to enhance the game's atmosphere and immersion. Each biome and boss features unique tracks that perfectly match the gameplay experience, creating memorable moments that resonate with players long after they stop playing. While some find the music can become repetitive over extended play sessions, the overall consensus is that the soundtrack is a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and appeal.
“This game has insane music and a beautiful art style.”
“The soundtrack, with its catchy and atmospheric tunes, enhances the overall experience and complements the game's various moods and environments.”
“The music is a bop, the items are fun and creative, the art and its style are wonderful, and it can be both a very relaxing game to play as well as a hardcore one depending on the difficulty you set.”
“The music is decent, but I personally didn't find it compelling enough to leave it on, and ultimately, I feel as if my gameplay experience benefited from this as many of the sound effects became more clear.”
“The music also gets really old very fast but I just turn the music volume down and find video game music on Spotify.”
“The soundtrack, even at close to 300 hours of game-time, hasn't got the least tiring, being of great quality and with an astounding variety of themes.”
- replayability11,399 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
Terraria is widely praised for its exceptional replayability, often described as "infinitely replayable" due to its procedurally generated worlds, diverse character classes, and extensive modding community. Players appreciate the game's ability to offer new experiences with each playthrough, whether through different classes, challenges, or the addition of mods that significantly expand content. Overall, the game provides countless hours of engaging gameplay, making it a must-have for fans of sandbox and adventure genres.
“The replayability is off the charts, the design is deliciously addictive, and the ease of modding access makes it nearly impossible not to pour thousands of hours into this game once you learn how it all works.”
“Terraria is probably one of the best games I have ever played due to the sheer amount of stuff to do and this game's insane replayability.”
“With frequent updates adding new content, events, and challenges, Terraria offers virtually endless replayability.”
“No replayability, barely any content, terrible combat and movement, and nothing that allows you to be creative.”
“The replayability was practically endless without mods, with them it's even better.”
“The game has some replayability issues after a while, but there's multiple different routes you can take to beat the game, so it leads to multiple good experiences.”
- story10,772 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The story aspect of Terraria is often described as minimal or non-existent, with many players noting that the game lacks a traditional narrative structure. Instead, it offers a sandbox experience where players create their own stories through exploration, crafting, and combat against various bosses. While some players appreciate the freedom and creativity this allows, many express frustration with specific quests, particularly the tedious fishing quests assigned by the Angler NPC, which detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“This game has the best story.”
“The story is amazing and there are lots of paths to take in this game.”
“The depth of literally everything in the game from items, crafting, story, progression and bosses is astounding!”
“This game has no story at all at the beginning (who am I? What am I doing in this world? Why is the NPC helping me? etc.), zero explanation of what to do besides vague hints from the NPC.”
“The fishing quests in the game were the most boring part of the game, by far, and serve no purpose besides wasting the player's time, which makes completing the game more tedious than it has to be.”
“The 200 fishing quest achievement is a nightmare. It makes you not want to play the game, which I thought was impossible.”
- grinding10,576 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of Terraria is a significant point of discussion among players, with many noting that it can be both extensive and rewarding. While some players find the grinding tedious, especially for rare items or during the early game, others appreciate the sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming challenges and defeating bosses after long sessions of resource gathering. Overall, the game is characterized by a blend of exploration, crafting, and combat, with a heavy emphasis on grinding that can be enjoyable, particularly when played with friends.
“Very good, not too grindy, compatible with most mods, vanilla experience is genuinely fantastic.”
“The different ways to summon bosses makes it really fun and not grindy.”
“It's not too grindy (although many people disagree, so don't buy it if you don't like grinding, because you have to grind to progress) and the progression is extremely well designed.”
“It took a ton of grinding, planning and didn't really pay off.”
“Even with all the grinding we did, we still didn't even have anywhere near the right amount of ore to actually stand a chance against them.”
“Game artificially pads its length by making you do tedious busywork.”
- humor5,458 mentions
- 99 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The humor in Terraria is widely praised, with players highlighting its quirky dialogue, funny item descriptions, and amusing death messages. Many reviews emphasize the game's comedic value, especially when played with friends, leading to hilarious moments during gameplay, such as unexpected deaths and chaotic boss fights. The developers' sense of humor is also noted, with references and easter eggs that add to the overall fun and charm of the game.
“The progression may be slow at first and you may die a lot, but it is a lot of fun and really funny to play with friends.”
“Re-logic is removing the funny little symbols on the character creator (it won't affect gameplay in any way), and it's making lots of gamers very mad (extremely funny); 10/10 game, 10/10 devs.”
“It's an unpredictable, hilarious adventure from start to finish!”
“Not funny.”
“Joke or not, it's not funny and impacts the game reviews.”
“You're not funny!”
- stability997 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 2 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
Overall, "Terraria" is generally regarded as a stable game with relatively few major glitches, though some players report occasional bugs, particularly in multiplayer modes. While many enjoy the game without encountering significant issues, others have experienced frustrating freezes and crashes, especially on certain platforms or under specific conditions. The developers have been noted for keeping some glitches that enhance gameplay, but there are still calls for improvements in stability, particularly regarding world corruption and multiplayer connectivity.
“It is almost entirely bug free aside from extremely niche examples, and the game runs incredibly well.”
“Runs great on any computer, and I never ran into a bug or issue.”
“Due to how long this game has been out, you won't, or at least shouldn't find any game-breaking bugs, nor any bugs you should come across accidentally, it's almost bug free, which is what every game should be.”
“Game freezes a lot and crashes.”
“This game is a horrible buggy piece of bullshit, not to mention the gameplay is just the same shit over and over: kill boss, get new materials, kill boss, get new materials, repeat.”
“The game is amazing but whenever I want to play a world or change the settings it freezes so I can't play the game, please take this seriously.”
- atmosphere872 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in Terraria is widely praised for its immersive quality, enhanced by a captivating soundtrack that complements the diverse biomes and gameplay experiences. Players appreciate the nostalgic pixel art style, which, despite its simplicity, effectively conveys a whimsical and engaging environment. The combination of dynamic weather, ambient sounds, and unique music tracks creates a rich and inviting atmosphere that encourages exploration and replayability, making it a standout feature of the game.
“The soundtrack, with its catchy and atmospheric tunes, enhances the overall experience and complements the game's various moods and environments.”
“The game's music and sound effects are very fitting for its overall atmosphere.”
“The audio design, including the game's soundtrack and sound effects, complements the visual presentation well, enhancing the atmosphere and immersion of the game.”
“The atmosphere of the game achieves its goal overall, but when the goal was underwhelming from the start, it doesn't take long to get bored of what you're looking at.”
“The game has atmosphere, but is by design disjointed and can feel at times like just a bunch of parts thrown together.”
“Despite the graphics being not on par with triple-A games, they feel a bit nostalgic, and paint an overall coherent atmosphere.”
- emotional848 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of Terraria is deeply felt among players, with many expressing nostalgia and a strong connection to their experiences within the game. While some reviews highlight moments of joy and heartwarming interactions, others reflect on the heartbreak of losing progress or characters, leading to tears and a sense of loss. Overall, the game evokes a wide range of emotions, from happiness and empowerment to sadness and frustration, making it a memorable and impactful experience for many players.
“Terraria makes me nostalgic and emotional; everything about it brings me good memories.”
“You made me cry over this game.”
“Thank you, Re-Logic, you have changed my life, made memories, made me cry.”
- optimization717 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game is generally well-received, with many players noting that it runs smoothly on a wide range of hardware, including low-end systems. However, some users report occasional stuttering and performance issues, particularly in multiplayer or when heavily modded. While the game is praised for its accessibility and solid performance, there are calls for further improvements, especially for specific platforms like Mac and Linux.
“Regarding the crafting system, I found it incredibly overwhelming as a brand-new player, but as I spent more time in the game, I realized the developers had actually made an incredibly optimized crafting system given the sheer number of craftable items in the game.”
“The simplicity of the graphics doesn't detract from the depth of gameplay and allows the game to run smoothly on a wide range of hardware.”
“The gameplay is smooth and optimized; the game runs amazingly well in both single and multiplayer.”
“Optimization fucking sucks even for a 2D game with silly little graphics.”
“This game is horribly unoptimized; I have a Dell gaming laptop that can run other games on 1080p60 with no stutter at all, but the best I can run this game at is 1600x1000p30 at best and even then I can still stutter a lot of the time.”
“My only problem is the performance: lots of the time even on lowest settings and high priority in task manager I get about 40 fps.”
- monetization388 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The monetization model of the game is highly praised, with users noting the absence of microtransactions, DLC, and pay-to-win elements, making it a refreshing alternative in a market often criticized for exploitative practices. For a one-time purchase of around $10, players receive extensive content and years of free updates, which many reviewers consider exceptional value. Overall, the game's approach to monetization is seen as a testament to the developers' commitment to providing a complete and enjoyable experience without the pitfalls of modern gaming monetization strategies.
“This incredible value is only $10, with no additional paid DLC or microtransactions!”
“Over a decade of free updates with no paid DLC, microtransactions, or increase in price.”
“Retail price $10 USD for thousands of hours of content with no locked DLC or microtransactions.”
“Only get this game if you want spam ads for awful drinks 'partnerships.' Revolting.”
“I love this game but your cash grab merch sale almost got me scammed by 50 scam productions.”
“Used to love this game when I was younger, now it's just a shameless cash grab / easy milk for some sub par 'merch'.”
- character development102 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
Character development in Terraria is highly praised for its depth and customization options, allowing players to mix and match various class archetypes, gear, and cosmetic choices. The vibrant pixel art style and detailed environments enhance the immersive experience, while the game's mechanics encourage creativity and replayability. Players appreciate the variety of character designs and the ability to evolve their characters through exploration and crafting, making each playthrough unique.
“Incredible character development and a huge selection of weapons also make the game extremely exciting.”
“Terraria possesses tremendous character development in multiple dimensions and four distinct class archetypes that can be mixed-and-matched as desired, lending to mechanical breadth and depth.”
“The variety of things you can create is amazing, and the variety of styles that exist for each thing you can create makes it easy to customize your character's look, home, tools, weapons, etc.”
“Anyway, in short, it is a decent game if you like pixel graphics, crafting, building, and not much in terms of story and character development (RPG?).”
“Great game, love how great characters can become despite the lack of persistent character development, e.g., level-up skill points, etc. It promotes creativity and simple good fun; I would definitely recommend it.”
“The second is that the game occasionally will put you in a position where you will die (which I can deal with), but because of the character development and your dependence on your more powerful items and the increased danger of the situation that killed you - you are completely unable to recover the things you dropped upon dying.”
Critic Reviews
Terraria Review
I feel like I’m starting off a lot of reviews in the same way lately, but I’m going to say it anyway: I didn’t expect to like Terraria when we first got it.
80%Terraria (Switch) Review
Nintendo Switch has awoken!
80%Terraria Review
As you may have expected, the Wii U version of the game is quite the improvement over the 3DS release, featuring more content, more features and better overall performance. If you have both a 3DS and Wii U and were patient enough to wait and see how this version turned out, then let it be known that this is definately the better release. If you're looking for a compelling sandbox-style game with tons to do and optional online co-op, look no further - you've found it.
80%