Breathedge

Try not to suffocate… or die of boredom. Breathedge's concept of survival crafting in space may be good, but it just isn't fun.

Ultimately, it's a game full of great ideas and some addictive gameplay mechanics, but clashes with some poor pacing and a complete shift-up in the second half that loses all the charm. For an Xbox Game Pass title, there's undoubtedly some fun to be had in the survival space sim if you can look past its flaws. Just don't go in expecting the Lost in Space experience the game tries to sell.

Breathedge takes an interesting premise and shoves it out the airlock with an overreliance on tired jokes and half-baked survival sim mechanics. An admirable attempt to move the genre forward collapses under the weight of too much self-awareness and not enough polish.

Breathedge is one of those games that does its best to honour past games of the genre whilst also blazing its own path. The ride through space sure is a fun one, though ultimately your mileage through the vacuum of space may vary. You are “Man”, the last known survivor of a galactic wreck. You are tasked with taking your grandfather’s ashes to his out-of-this-world funeral. Once your spaceship crashes you must begin to find supplies to survive and scour space to find a way back home.

Breathedge is a game at odds with itself. It tries to tell a compelling story, but the core narrator drones wearisome and unfunny dialogue; the world is beautiful and begging to be explored, but only ever an inch at a time; environments are curated with dark humour, but the gameplay loop doesn't allow time to take it in; and, worst of all, it undercuts players that commit hours to these systems by replacing them with a grim excuse for a walking simulator. For a title set in the vast expanse of space where anything is possible, it just isn't worth the time.

Breathedge is a bit difficult for newcomers to this genre. However, if you give the game enough time and increase your endurance a little, you will enjoy it.

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Unfortunately the gameplay itself suffers from a few serious pacing and mechanical issues, but the story may be funny enough to push you through. Ultimately Breathedge is, at best, a mediocre survival game with a pretty good story. While I wouldn't suggest this as your first survival game, if you're a fan of the genre, specifically Subnautica, you'll likely find some things to enjoy here.

'Breathedge' is far from your normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill survival games for a magnitude of hysterical reasons that are worth discovering for yourself. Although the game starts a little slow, the constant slapstick dad jokes break up the mundane repetition that players normally encounter when starting a new survival game. It will take a little bit of the game to build up steam and really get going but it's a necessary element that pays off later when players are required to solve more creative puzzles. Breathedge is one of those games you can play casually at your own pace and doesn't require long consecutive amounts of time to play. Sparring 15-20 minutes here and there is all that's required for a steady progression through the game but still very enjoyable if you've got ample time up your sleeve as well. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys easter egg styled dad jokes or wants something oddly rewarding to play at a casual pace.

If you're addicted to survival games like myself, this may be something you'll want to play to try out yourself. But if you're wanting to enter the genre, this isn't your entry point. There's plenty of better options out there, and Breathedge simply ends up existing when it could have been shining.