Goldilock One: The Mists of Jakaira Early Access Review – Rough Survival Concept

Goldilock One: The Mists of Jakaira is a survival action RPG developed and published by Shed of Ideas, and is due to launch into Early Access. You are an outcast exiled from society, though you can’t remember why. Rescued by a doctor in an outcast settlement, you must retrain yourself while helping the settlement thrive. The outcast settlement is barely standing and you must contribute as a newcomer. Exploring the area outside the settlement leads to mysterious ruins that hold secrets. As your journey takes you further into the wilderness, you meet more individuals and learn the reason for your exile.

The current build of Goldilock One doesn’t have much exposition and isn’t long enough to get a good grasp of the story. There isn’t enough time for the game to fully develop any story points, but this early in development there’s plenty of room for an engaging story to unfold.

Most of the current build consists of learning how to play and the basics of exploration. Your weapon is either an axe or a gauntlet with a shield. Potions require ingredients that you can easily gather and some NPCs can help you create new items with recipes. The ease of learning means you can start hunting and questing without missing a beat. It’s not hard to learn what you need to do, where the materials are, and who can process them.

Side quests aren’t too challenging to complete despite some powerful enemies and the only puzzle currently available isn’t difficult to solve if you have some patience. On top of this, rather than spending hours grinding for resources, it takes a few minutes to get what you need – which is great for saving time and getting to the heart of the game without excessive grinding. However enemies spawn quickly to provide continuous resources, ensuring you never run low. Pair this with attack patterns that are easy to grasp and it’s very difficult to lose a battle. You won’t waste much time grinding and there’s no situation you can’t rescue yourself from. Even if you make lots of mistakes, it’s easy to get back on your feet.

Unfortunately, it’s clear that Goldilock One is currently a rough effort of what it could potentially be. The UI struggles to keep up with the inputs and sometimes loses active quest markers. Speaking to one NPC sometimes fails, then overwrites a conversation with another NPC. Autosaves don’t actually tell you when they save, forcing you to rely on guesses or previous quest completion. Enemies sometimes get stuck in the environment and your only ally NPC can step off ledges, never to return.

The short length of the current build makes it difficult to accurately judge Goldilock One’s potential. Everything looks great now and there will likely be fixes in the future, but with only a brief taste, it’s hard to know where this game will go. Only having a few weapons and customization options to work with doesn’t tell us enough about combat. There should be more in this build to give players the information they need at this stage.

Goldilock One: The Mists of Jakaira has solid RPG fundamentals in its current state, letting you craft a powerful fighter with some customization. Combat is easy to learn and gathering materials doesn’t take much time. However, there are plenty of bugs and rough areas that need refining during the Early Access period, such as awkward camera angles and NPCs not tracking conversations. There’s lots to look forward to with this game but without sufficient polishing, it may never reach its full potential.

Victor reviewed Goldilock One: The Mists of Jakaira on PC in Early Access with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and will not be changed.