For me, the first person perspective is what makes the game for me. It's so immersive, and it's like playing in VR. I get lost in the game, and it's like an alternate reality to me.
I can totally see that! Even a small factory can feel really impressive and rewarding, which is different then say, a starting facility in Dyson Sphere Program.
BS! This game is for everyone.. to try. One of the best games ever & definitive game of the year. My 7 year old son is enjoying it, to a degree (with my help). my 11 year old son, when we're not playing in coop is finishing the 3rd stage of the space elevator on his bases. P.S. This is a great review and your bases look super neat. Mine are mostly spaghetti! :)
The "hard" part of the game that I suspect burns many people out is that it's completely open ended. You don't have to do anything. There's no time crunch. You can make 1 part power minute or 1,000. You can build wherever you want, however you want. Some people enjoy that freedom while others simply don't know what to do.
Early game is great. Then there is the irritation with getting items back to my main base of operations. Long logistics lines, trucks and trains are just brutal, especially over uneven terrain. Tunneling through a mountain would be nice and add a cool visual element. I like the blue print idea but snapping them into place is a royal pain. Even with Ctrl they don’t behave like other objects.
Did you use the blueprint mode when placing them? They snap nicely together then (although, not as easily to non-blueprinted builds). Trains make uneven terrain fairly easy as long as you don't try to put them on foundations, but just run the tracks on the bare ground. Well, unless you try to scale a mountain ;)
Satisfactory is one of the most accessible factory games, and it has loads of exploration fun. I think the best automation light game like it is Planet Crafter, but the drones almost over simplify it. My wife always bounced off Satisfactory but loves Planet Crafter. I really like both, but for me Satisfactory is a solo game for me, and the spiders suck.
@TheDutchActuary I only put it in that category because the combat is rare and not difficult. Don't get me wrong, both are huge in the sense of game size.
I too have had a difficult time with this game and the first person perspective. I agree it makes a lot of sense for the exploration parts and even walking around your factory, but the lack of any other way to build factories just makes that part feel like a chore to me.
Whatever space you think you need in Satisfatory, you are going to need 4-10x more than you initially thought unless you have a lot of experience in the game and have really planned your layouts well in advance
tldr; Satisfactory is some part a game of technicalities rather than systems, when compared to others in the genre. Immersion, exploration and combat are surprisingly good and feed into the transportation and organisation techs. Dyson Sphere Program is somewhat the antithesis to this where it has almost no technicalities and is pure design and problem solving. Factorio is somewhere in between. An elucidating example is sunrises and sunsets - in DSP they are the result of systems interacting, in Satisfactory the skybox and lightning model changes suddenly on a timer.
I have to use a mod for flying. Can't stand doing things without it. Also, blueprints are a pain in the ass. They are painful to create and manage in Satisfactory. Dyson Sphere Program shows how amazing blueprints can be if done right. Using the BlueprintTweaks mod is also a must, since it adds a ton of functionality. Still enjoy the game. Thank goodness for mods. Good review, TDA.
Yeah I much as I love the game, I realize building in the game is insanely tedious and there aren't enough tools in the game to make building anything feel smooth or "satisfactory". Building in factorio or dyson is completely painless and fun to expand. The limits of nudging, the janky snapping, the zoop limit, the ridculously small blueprints, everything is just so tedious and makes me want to play something else. I have hundreds of hours in the game and have built a 40/min Ballistic Missile Factory but now, I'm done and probably won't come back without mods.
Hi, first of all I want to thank you for your videos, I learnt a lot about the game so thank you. Secondly I wanted to ask you if you are going to make a video about building nuclear power plant
First person perspective is the feature I like in any game, so tick that one. Ladders and a parachute will take you far. If there wasn't a 2 hour play time alarm I wouldn't be writing this comment. Spiders!
If I had to pick between these two games, I'd definitely go with DSP. But that is a personal preference - I prefer the 3rd person aspect and larger blueprint options that allow for easier scaling. Satisfactory aims to do different things, and it does those things well. So objectively, both are great games.
I completed the game at about 130 hours and as a long-term fan was left a bit disappointed with two things. 1) the complexity of the last phase is very strange. You are given all that new tech with things flowing in and out, and stuff taken from thin air... but once you put it all on paper and understand a couple of simple rules, building becomes trivial. Moreover, it is as if it's designed to have just one complex with 1 machine for every part complementing each other - and in some 40 minutes the whole 2nd part of the phase is done. It felt underwhelming, I had just 3 coal and one turbofuel plant - with 2 augmenters it was enough to get some 30GW and complete the game. No challenge at all. It will probably come as a DLC - but it should have been in the main line not a DLC. 2) story. Ends abruptly, never elaborates, leaves (literally). I understand it is a secondary addition but it is an addition dropped in the middle of the path, with the final scripted scene making one think "that's it?" Regardless I never regretted the purchase and still think that it is a great game albeit a little rushed out.
I really enjoyed the ending cinematic (which is fully in line with what the game tells you to do from the start), but the sidestory with the artefacts just... fizzled out. I was hoping on some big reveal there.
I really want to love this game, but there are a few things that drove me mad when playing (I haven't played since update 6 or 7 maybe). The shear amount of time it took me to build a large factory was mind boggling. I know there are blueprints now, but it still will take a ton of time to set up blueprints that I would use all the time. I also didn't love the 1st person perspective. The shear size of all the machines made building so much more tedious IMO. I much prefer the top-down perspective from Factorio and DSP. The factory and logistic complexity burned me out after I got through Aluminum.
Yeah it's definitely a bit of a challenge. Without blueprints, I don't think the endgame would be very enjoyable (my pre-blueprint runs ended somewhere around Aluminum as well because the amount of WORK was just... not fun anymore). Blueprints help, but the true MVP of 1.0 is the Dimensional depot. No more backtracking because you run out of concrete or iron bars!
I miss a dynamic atmosphere in the game and a survival challenge, like animals attacking the base, a radioactive storm... something that gives a sense of urgency to build defenses and protect oneself. I think it would be cool and make the game better and more engaging.
This is a point that seems very divisive in the factory building communicatie. When enemies were introduced in Dyson Sphere Program, the most asked question I got was 'But I can turn them off right? Right?!?!' Seems like people either hate or love such a mechanic, with very few being in the middle :)
I love, The Riftbreaker It's one of the games I've enjoyed playing the most. It presents this mechanic in an incredible way, a mix of tower defense with construction and crafting. When I played Satisfactory, I remembered this game, which is why I missed that survival challenge.
I hate the hard drive madness. I don't enjoy tearing down factories just because I know a better alternative is coming. Especially since ALL alts aren't unlockable from the beginning.
You should definitely play the game in whatever way makes it the most fun for you! I did the same in my last pre-1.0 run and it made things MUCH more enjoyable!
Don't forget to like the video to help me out!
I recorded this before the game won the 2024 Golden Joystick for Game of the Year which just proves again that this game is ' pretty decent '!
For me, the first person perspective is what makes the game for me. It's so immersive, and it's like playing in VR. I get lost in the game, and it's like an alternate reality to me.
I can totally see that! Even a small factory can feel really impressive and rewarding, which is different then say, a starting facility in Dyson Sphere Program.
BS! This game is for everyone.. to try. One of the best games ever & definitive game of the year.
My 7 year old son is enjoying it, to a degree (with my help). my 11 year old son, when we're not playing in coop is finishing the 3rd stage of the space elevator on his bases.
P.S. This is a great review and your bases look super neat. Mine are mostly spaghetti! :)
It's criminal Satisfactory isn't even nominated for GOTY at the Game Awards
I love this game so much. The only thing I miss is more content. Hopefully, they'll come out with a DLC or add a randomized map.
The "hard" part of the game that I suspect burns many people out is that it's completely open ended.
You don't have to do anything. There's no time crunch. You can make 1 part power minute or 1,000. You can build wherever you want, however you want.
Some people enjoy that freedom while others simply don't know what to do.
Great video, thanks for covering this game. It was so helpful to have some guidance
Great review! I just completed Phase 5 for the first time, thanks to your Masterclass series!
Good job!!! Fiscsit will soon send you alternative objectives to ensure further utilization of your efficiency.
Early game is great. Then there is the irritation with getting items back to my main base of operations. Long logistics lines, trucks and trains are just brutal, especially over uneven terrain. Tunneling through a mountain would be nice and add a cool visual element. I like the blue print idea but snapping them into place is a royal pain. Even with Ctrl they don’t behave like other objects.
Did you use the blueprint mode when placing them? They snap nicely together then (although, not as easily to non-blueprinted builds).
Trains make uneven terrain fairly easy as long as you don't try to put them on foundations, but just run the tracks on the bare ground. Well, unless you try to scale a mountain ;)
Place blueprint as close as you can then lock with H and shift it in place with arrow keys
I'm close to having put more hours into Satisfactory than Factorio even!
Less than a minute into the video I knew the game was not for me, thank you so much
I have marching towards completing phase 5 thanks to your masterclass series. Thanks!!!
Satisfactory is one of the most accessible factory games, and it has loads of exploration fun. I think the best automation light game like it is Planet Crafter, but the drones almost over simplify it. My wife always bounced off Satisfactory but loves Planet Crafter. I really like both, but for me Satisfactory is a solo game for me, and the spiders suck.
Interesting take! I'm not sure I'd consider Satisfactory a 'light' game, although Planet Crafter is probably more suited for that class ;)
@TheDutchActuary I only put it in that category because the combat is rare and not difficult. Don't get me wrong, both are huge in the sense of game size.
You couldn’t be more right about the spiders. I’m several hundred hours in, and they still give me a scare!!
Absolutely. Terrifying.
I too have had a difficult time with this game and the first person perspective. I agree it makes a lot of sense for the exploration parts and even walking around your factory, but the lack of any other way to build factories just makes that part feel like a chore to me.
Whatever space you think you need in Satisfatory, you are going to need 4-10x more than you initially thought unless you have a lot of experience in the game and have really planned your layouts well in advance
Oh yes!
tldr; Satisfactory is some part a game of technicalities rather than systems, when compared to others in the genre.
Immersion, exploration and combat are surprisingly good and feed into the transportation and organisation techs.
Dyson Sphere Program is somewhat the antithesis to this where it has almost no technicalities and is pure design and problem solving. Factorio is somewhere in between.
An elucidating example is sunrises and sunsets - in DSP they are the result of systems interacting, in Satisfactory the skybox and lightning model changes suddenly on a timer.
I have to use a mod for flying. Can't stand doing things without it. Also, blueprints are a pain in the ass. They are painful to create and manage in Satisfactory. Dyson Sphere Program shows how amazing blueprints can be if done right. Using the BlueprintTweaks mod is also a must, since it adds a ton of functionality.
Still enjoy the game. Thank goodness for mods. Good review, TDA.
Yeah I much as I love the game, I realize building in the game is insanely tedious and there aren't enough tools in the game to make building anything feel smooth or "satisfactory". Building in factorio or dyson is completely painless and fun to expand. The limits of nudging, the janky snapping, the zoop limit, the ridculously small blueprints, everything is just so tedious and makes me want to play something else. I have hundreds of hours in the game and have built a 40/min Ballistic Missile Factory but now, I'm done and probably won't come back without mods.
Hi, first of all I want to thank you for your videos, I learnt a lot about the game so thank you. Secondly I wanted to ask you if you are going to make a video about building nuclear power plant
Thank you! I don't have anything planned for Nuclear power at the moment.
First person perspective is the feature I like in any game, so tick that one. Ladders and a parachute will take you far. If there wasn't a 2 hour play time alarm I wouldn't be writing this comment. Spiders!
Parachutes helping you fly UP against mountains solved about 90% of my climbing issues! :D
vs dyson, what do you think ?
If I had to pick between these two games, I'd definitely go with DSP. But that is a personal preference - I prefer the 3rd person aspect and larger blueprint options that allow for easier scaling.
Satisfactory aims to do different things, and it does those things well. So objectively, both are great games.
I completed the game at about 130 hours and as a long-term fan was left a bit disappointed with two things.
1) the complexity of the last phase is very strange. You are given all that new tech with things flowing in and out, and stuff taken from thin air... but once you put it all on paper and understand a couple of simple rules, building becomes trivial. Moreover, it is as if it's designed to have just one complex with 1 machine for every part complementing each other - and in some 40 minutes the whole 2nd part of the phase is done. It felt underwhelming, I had just 3 coal and one turbofuel plant - with 2 augmenters it was enough to get some 30GW and complete the game. No challenge at all. It will probably come as a DLC - but it should have been in the main line not a DLC.
2) story. Ends abruptly, never elaborates, leaves (literally). I understand it is a secondary addition but it is an addition dropped in the middle of the path, with the final scripted scene making one think "that's it?"
Regardless I never regretted the purchase and still think that it is a great game albeit a little rushed out.
I really enjoyed the ending cinematic (which is fully in line with what the game tells you to do from the start), but the sidestory with the artefacts just... fizzled out. I was hoping on some big reveal there.
I really want to love this game, but there are a few things that drove me mad when playing (I haven't played since update 6 or 7 maybe). The shear amount of time it took me to build a large factory was mind boggling. I know there are blueprints now, but it still will take a ton of time to set up blueprints that I would use all the time. I also didn't love the 1st person perspective. The shear size of all the machines made building so much more tedious IMO. I much prefer the top-down perspective from Factorio and DSP. The factory and logistic complexity burned me out after I got through Aluminum.
Yeah it's definitely a bit of a challenge. Without blueprints, I don't think the endgame would be very enjoyable (my pre-blueprint runs ended somewhere around Aluminum as well because the amount of WORK was just... not fun anymore).
Blueprints help, but the true MVP of 1.0 is the Dimensional depot. No more backtracking because you run out of concrete or iron bars!
Also having 100% the game, I'm voting it as steam game of the year.
I bet you're not the only one! :D
I miss a dynamic atmosphere in the game and a survival challenge, like animals attacking the base, a radioactive storm... something that gives a sense of urgency to build defenses and protect oneself. I think it would be cool and make the game better and more engaging.
This is a point that seems very divisive in the factory building communicatie. When enemies were introduced in Dyson Sphere Program, the most asked question I got was 'But I can turn them off right? Right?!?!'
Seems like people either hate or love such a mechanic, with very few being in the middle :)
I love, The Riftbreaker It's one of the games I've enjoyed playing the most. It presents this mechanic in an incredible way, a mix of tower defense with construction and crafting. When I played Satisfactory, I remembered this game, which is why I missed that survival challenge.
@@marcoscaetano3069 Riftbreaker... now THAT brings back memories of frantic defense lol :D
I hate the hard drive madness. I don't enjoy tearing down factories just because I know a better alternative is coming. Especially since ALL alts aren't unlockable from the beginning.
While I *really* enjoy the alternative recipes, the fact that there are *so many* of them does make it a bit tedious.
I hate building straight while standing on the ground. I use flight mode now. I don't care about achievements.
You should definitely play the game in whatever way makes it the most fun for you! I did the same in my last pre-1.0 run and it made things MUCH more enjoyable!