Over the course of the past years, we have seen a lot of dinosaur sims announced, projects that went live on Kickstarter, and titles released in Early Access however very few developers have actually managed to deliver anything interesting in this beloved genre. Path of Titans is a dinosaur survival sim MMO set in vast, open-world maps where you play as a dinosaur and live through the life of the dinosaur that you have always wanted to be. This review looks over Path of Titans and at how Alderon Games have managed to tackle this fan-favorite genre and for a brief spoiler, things are looking good so far. Now let’s dive deep into our review of the Nintendo Switch version of Path of Titans.
Path of Titans is a dinosaur survival sim set in a vast, open world and is played in the form of an MMO. The game features 26 dinosaurs at launch and they are distributed into two categories: herbivores and carnivores. Based on your selection, you can choose what species you want to play in the game and then begin your journey as a baby dinosaur in a vast, open world filled with other dinosaurs and pre-historic critters. In the carnivores section, you will find dinosaurs such as Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Megalania, Daspletosaurus, and more while in the herbivores section, you have dinosaurs such as Iguanodon, Styracosaurus, Stegosaurus, Kentrosaurus and more. Both sections have plenty of decent dinosaurs including iconic species and some of the lesser known species of dinosaurs as well. Alderon Games is adding new species to the game as well so if your favorite dinosaur is not present in the game now, it may arrive soon in the form of a DLC.
After choosing your dinosaur and customizing its visual look of it, you will enter the game map after completing a brief tutorial. Each dinosaur has five growth stages and to progress to the next stage, you have to complete various missions or quests. The missions or quests include different tasks such as finding different locations and collecting various items such as flowers, acorns, and more. These quests are basically just different tasks that the game takes into account time passage in the game when it comes to growth. Growth is only possible by actual progression with the help of these quests. Normal day and night progression in the game do not equate to the growth of your dinosaur. Apart from growth in size and form factor, as you grow older, you will also get access to additional moves, skills, and attacks depending on what type of dinosaur you have chosen for your game. Apart from basic skills and abilities, you can also go for a skill tree that allows you to make a customized build of your dino.
There are no AI dinosaurs in the game at this point which might make the game a little boring for the time being if your server is not filled with players. The only AI-controlled animals in the game so far are the fish you will find swimming in the water bodies and smaller critters that leave their underground borrows when you disturb their lairs. This was perhaps one disappointment for me, not seeing any AI dinosaurs roaming around the maps because this is one of the reasons why the game feels empty if you are playing on a server with few players. In servers where there are plenty of players, you will have the opportunity to team up with others and fight the remaining players off to extinction or you might get yourself killed if you run into some bigger dinos. There are Home Caves in the game which are large caves cordoned off from other dinos and you can spend some time there chilling out without the worry of getting eaten or attacked by others. You can also purchase and decorate these Home Caves with various items such as dinosaur bones and more.
Right at launch, the Nintendo Switch version of the Path of Titans comes with one map called Panjura and it is a behemoth 8KMx8KM highlands forest map. While it is a mostly forest map, there are tons of different areas on the map which offer a unique and different look. You have rivers, lakes, large ponds and even running streams at various locations. You will find open plains, high and low cliffs, caves, fields, and many different types of areas on the map that offer plenty of diversity in the scenery. Each location will also bring its own challenges, for example, if you are a huge carnivore and you go inside a dense forest, you will have a difficult time looking around for smaller critters and dinosaurs. This way, each location in the game brings with it its own challenges for various dinosaurs and benefits for some. Even with Nintendo Switch’s limited power, the grassy forests have enough trees and shrubbery to make them look like proper Jurassic forests however the level of detail is pretty low when compared to other counterparts.
For playing Path of Titans, you will need to create an Alderon Games account. The main advantage of this is like having the same Epic Games account for Fortnite. Creating and playing Path of Titans with Alderon Games allows you to have cross-platform progression with cross-play with players from different platforms. The game also allows cross-commerce which means that all of your purchases on one platform transform to other platforms as well. You just need to sign in on all platforms with your main Alderon Games account and your created dinosaurs, their progress, and all purchases including dinos and skins will transfer over to the platform of your choice. There is no cross-purchase of the game however as you will need to separately purchase the game on each platform. You can only make progress and purchases across platforms, not the game.
If you do not want to buy the entire bundles of content at the same time, the game also allows you to purchase particular dinosaurs at the start of the game from the Upgrades section. These single dino packs cost real money so if you want to expand your experience, you will need to dish out real money on the game. You can also purchase various bundles of dinosaurs that are coupled together based on various factors such as their dietary classification, living age, and more. If you already own dinosaurs and want to customize their looks, you can also purchase new skins for the dinosaurs and unlock new looks for them. These are currently backer-exclusive skins however in the future, we can expect future new skins for the dinos as well. Coins are the premium currency for the game, and you will need to purchase new DLC content in the game.
For this review, I tried custom maps(user settings for the same map), the official online matchmaking servers as well as the single-player experience of the game. On the Nintendo Switch, the game is seriously lacking a player base now and it is hurtful to see the game with this much potential getting so little attention. I understand that the game feels like a barebones experience at this time however the developers are actively working to expand the game and as of me writing this review, the developers have already teased the next new map for the game. The game needs more activity around the maps apart from the smaller critters. Having AI dinosaurs roaming around the map would be one of the best additions to the game as well and will greatly help with the current emptiness of the game.
There are tons of server options, but the player base is currently not that much but during the games, I did find some other players, there was certainly a bloodbath. The dinosaur selection in the game is amazing and with the Nintendo Switch release, players now have the fan-favorite T-Rex in the game as well. New content is making its way to the game gradually and it shows dedication to the project, and this is why I am hopeful that Path of Titans will indeed become an amazing open-world dinosaur survival game with more support. At this point, I will suggest that you wait a little more time to allow the developers to release more content to the game along with various updates. The visuals are somewhat lacking on the Nintendo Switch as well but the gameplay remains the same as that of other consoles.
Final Verdict:
Path of Titans is an ambitious project however at this point, the game’s biggest challenge is maintaining its servers and players coming back. With official servers, the ability to play on custom servers created by other servers and even playing in single-player mode gives the game huge potential for success. The gameplay itself is pretty solid and you actually feel like a huge dinosaur roaming through vast open spaces while playing the game. The world might seem empty at times, and this is my main concern about the game at this point. The game requires a dedicated community to keep it alive because the game offers tons of opportunities to have fun solo and with friends and tons of cross-play options. The developers have released a solid base for the game however it is up to them to expand on the concept and bring more to the game. If you are looking for a dinosaur survival sim on the Nintendo Switch right now, there is no better game than Path of Titans however if can wait for a little on the purchase, you will have additional features and content later added to the game.
Final Score: 7.5/10
