After a long and winding road through development, which saw plenty of bumps along the way, Hytale is now in the hands of gamers around the world, and the first impressions are encouraging.
Hypixel Studios warned players before they jumped in that Hytale is still very much in an early access stage, with bugs and issues likely to be encountered, but, actually, my experience so far has seen no such problems. In fact, the release, so far, has been smoother than many full releases I’ve played in the past.
While it’s still very early in Hytale’s progression, and there’s plenty of changes to come in the future, the early impressions have blown me away, and I genuinely think that Minecraft could finally be knocked from its perch.
Hytale is The Minecraft We’ve Been Calling For
The similarities with Minecraft are obvious, which should be no surprise given the game began as a modded server in the Mojang title, but as soon as I started to get to grips with the world around me, I quickly discovered that Hytale has a bunch of features players have been calling for in Minecraft for years.
When crafting, materials are pulled from nearby storage. It’s easy to stack and sort items in inventories quickly, and chopping a block out of a tree results in everything above it collapsing, which means there’s no annoying, floating blocks of leaves scattered across your world.
Those minor quality-of-life differences may not mean much to new players in the genre, but for those who have played Minecraft since the early days, it’s chalk and cheddar. However, this merely scratches the surface of what makes Hytale so impressive.
The world of Hytale is stunning, with star-filled skies bursting with colors and an environment that has more wildlife than a small zoo. From mice to bears, deer to foxes, Hytale feels alive, and it took me a moment to realise that yes, this was the base game, and I hadn’t downloaded any additional mods to increase the variety of wildlife around me.
Enemy-wise, there’s also a fair amount of variety, and I’ve been able to continue my hard work at nighttime in the game, safe from any threat of a horde of skeletons wandering onto my doorstep or a Creeper popping over to say hello and destroying all my hard work. While some may prefer a more threatening approach, I’ve found it to be the ideal balance for my playstyle.
The Tip of The Iceberg
The one thing I still can’t quite get my head around is the fact that we’re still in the very early stages of the game, and there’s much more on the horizon, including from Hypixel Studios and from all the talented modders who will look to add their own spin on the game.
Hytale’s modding support essentially gives creators a canvas to create whatever they want using the same tools that the game has been built with, opening the door to endless possibilities, and Hypixel itself has already revealed plans for additional content, including proximity chat and new biomes to explore.
Updates are certain to come thick and fast during early access, and the game will continue to get even better. Considering the bar has already been set very high, it’s an encouraging sign, and the fact that as little as $19.99 can get you into the game right now is a breath of fresh air in a world where prices for games are going sky high.
It’s still very early days, but I’m already prepared to make a pretty firm prediction that I’m highly unlikely to ever play Minecraft again.
What are your first impressions of Hytale? What does the game need to improve on? Share your thoughts in the Insider Gaming Discord.
For more Hytale coverage, learn how to find the Forgotten Temple, find out what each Workbench is used for, and check out the best mods available to download.
