Quick Glance: Deiland Pocket Planet Edition
Platform - Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC
Players – 1
Achievements – N/A
Retail Price - $19.99
High Level Premise – Reimagining of the original Deiland on PS4 / PC
Graphics/Style – Brightly colorful sprites and environments.
Music/Soundtrack – Sweet melodies flow through your speakers as you manage your planet.
Story - Arco has landed on the planet Deiland. He must survive by crafting, fishing, gathering, farming, and more.
Replay-ability – Moderate
Time Commitment – Short, automatic saves happen between events.
Have you ever wanted to live on your own planet? Away from the hustle and bustle, and all of the drama? Well now you can with Deiland Pocket Planet Edition! A reimagining of the original Deiland on PC and PlayStation 4, this Nintendo Switch version contains special content unique to this system. Deiland Pocket Planet Edition is a survival crafting game where you control Arco, quite possibly the only inhabitant on the planet Deiland. Using only your crafting skills to survive, you must create tools, farm crops, and search for materials to gather around the planet. While doing all of this you must keep an eye on your food meter and your stamina meter to make sure you can survive for as long as possible.
While you are on the planet Deiland, you will encounter NPCs that visit your planet to give you tasks to accomplish (the game calls them chores). This could be anything from gathering a certain number of materials from your planet, managing the efficiency of a planet probe, or something as simple as trading materials with that particular NPC. There is a slight issue with this system. The NPC arrivals seem random and can upset the pace of your game by not showing up when you need them or not having the materials requested when they present you with their quest. This becomes problematic as they will leave your planet shortly after landing, to eventually come back later. Another issue is the arrival is announced but unless you stop what you are doing and find a place for them to land on your planet, they will just fly away only to come back at a later time. Twice I missed this initially and finally figured out why the NPCs would not land. Again, stopping what you are doing to get these NPCs to visit wrecks the flow of the game.
With all of that being said, Deiland Pocket Planet Edition is a relaxing good time. I had no issues getting started finding the initial materials I needed to cut down trees, break rocks, and farm crops for me to eat. It gets a bit tricky starting in mid-game to find the appropriate resources you need to progress, but once you figure out what you are supposed to do, it’s quite enjoyable. The game progresses with seasons changing, which puts limits on the types of crops you can plant. The hack and slash combat is satisfying too. It comes at seemingly random intervals, but I had no issues quickly dispatching the monsters from attacking my planet. This reminded me of the old 1990’s PC game The Horde, but with less traps to create. There also is a cool mini game where meteorites shower your planet, and you must rotate your planet so that the meteorites land in areas that are not near your settlements, otherwise they may end up destroyed.
I had a really good time with Deiland Pocket Planet Edition on my Nintendo Switch. I had no performance issues while playing either handheld or docked. The dialogue is a bit forced, but gets the point across in both explaining what you need to do and unraveling the secrets of the planet Deiland. I really enjoyed the relaxing tone of gathering materials and creating new structures while listening to peaceful music. This game overall cheered me up, and it’s one you should experience too if you are a fan of world building or survival crafting. Deiland may not be groundbreaking in many areas, but it’s definitely worth buying at the standard price point of $19.99. Maybe one day I will get to see Deiland Pocket Planet Edition in physical form on my shelf. Until then, I must go, another meteor shower is happening!