Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

Make Groffles, not war in this delightful exploration and crafting sim.

I accept that Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles won’t be for everyone. The lack of any kind of conflict will instantly be a turn-off for some, and it’s a shame, because Yonder should be applauded for daring to do something a little different in creating a completely peaceful experience. Video games don’t have to equal violence. Knowing that no monsters await you around any corner, and that no band of rogues is out to kill you is strangely liberating. Put down your guns, your swords, and your bows and arrows, and step into the world of Yonder just for an hour or two. You might just love it.

Sometimes, you really do just need a laid-back game that drops any semblance of agency or emergency and instead allows you to simply explore everything that it has to offer at your own leisure — something that you can easily unwind with, or a title that’s just relaxing and inviting. Yonder fulfills this purpose wonderfully, and I can see myself revisiting it time and time again just so I can get lost in its world once more.

It seems like nowadays every developer wants to make an open-world game. In the case of a studio like Guerrilla Games, a company previously known almost exclusively for the first-person shooter franchise Killzone, their foray into open-world games was this year’s Horizon: Zero Dawn, which has been one of the biggest critical successes of the year. But when it comes to new open-world games, most aren’t as unique or successful as Horizon, and it’s led to an overwhelming feeling of homogeny within the genre. Enter Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, an open-world exploration game built by just ...

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is hard to categorize. It meanders with a pleasant, lazy pace through half a dozen genres and homages without ever feeling completely settled on any one thing. After hours and hours of playing, I still felt like the game was hiding something from me, that, if I turned the right corner, I might discover yet another feature, mystery or area.

The land of Gemea has been taken over by purple clouds of murk that have broken the Cloud Catcher. It's up to you to save this world from crisis and uncover the story of how this evil mist came to be.

Overall, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a charming and visually pleasing experience that will remind you immediately of 3D Legend of Zelda titles, mainly The Wind Waker, in how the towns, island, and citizens are portrayed. The questing and story progression is okay, but it may become boring and tedious for some looking for more of an action oriented affair. The side activities alone, as well as with the crafting and farm management are what many will have to enjoy to get the most out of Yonder. Otherwise, if you are looking for something deeper, this may be a rather boring expedition...

The beauty of Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is the player’s ability to choose what they want to focus on. Exploring lands full of groffles and magic sprites serves as a refreshing break from other games. Its story and quests are not the most engaging, but the world of Yonder has enough charm that its shortcomings are easy to forgive.

If you enjoy stopping to smell the roses, the fields of Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles are awash with aroma. However, if you're looking for something with a little more kick, you may not get what you're looking for.

Breath of the Mild

In the end, Yonder isn’t inventive, exactly, as the multitude of ideas and cross-media inspirations converge somehow into something infinitely familiar. Missions are cut down to absolute basics to fulfill an open world quota, but it’s possible to forgive this when traipsing through this aesthetically pleasing land and helping these delighted folk. And as importantly, there’s bravery in eliminating things like combat and leveling, allowing Yonder a rare, distinctive brevity.

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a beautiful canvas that needs more detail to make it a masterpiece. Gemea is an enchanting location and the majority of systems in the game function well, but the magic hook is missing. The story isn’t engrossing and the quests just blend into each other for the most part, as do the characters that give them. Gemea is magical, the content not so much.