ReCore: Definitive Edition

The best thing I can say about this game is that it's a poor man's Horizon (Sony) game.

Interesting idea with untapped potential ruined by bloated open world and very shallow combat. But regardless of this, I had fun playing this game, probably because of the effort put in by Team ASOBO. I wish Microsoft would have given this a good budget and chance to make its comeback, but seeing the current MC, I doubt we will see a sequel any time soon.

I would not recommend this game to most unless you're looking for a very, and I do mean very, casual experience. Also, the game has some unexpected difficulty spikes, which can lead to some frustrating moments.

Overall it could have been an 8/10, but as of right now it's barely a "6/10." It's fine. Pick it up on sale and don't expect too much, and then you'll have a good time.

I know ReCore gets a lot of bad press—and to be fair, some of it is deserved—but I’ve always had a soft spot for this game.

I originally bought ReCore on Xbox at launch. I genuinely loved the story, the world, and the core concept, but the load times were absolutely brutal and seriously hurt the experience. The Definitive Edition didn’t completely solve that problem, but it did improve things enough to make the game far more playable.

I recently picked this up again on Steam specifically so I could play it on the go on my Steam Deck, and honestly, it feels like the way the game was meant to be enjoyed. Performance is solid, the improvements from the Definitive Edition help smooth out some of the rough edges, and the core gameplay loop still holds up.

At the end of the day, I still love ReCore for what it is: a game with a strong heart, a compelling story, and a lot of unrealized potential. I really wish the developers had been given the chance to make a sequel and continue the storyline—it deserved more than just one outing.

If you can look past its flaws and appreciate its strengths, ReCore is worth your time.

So I recommending this because "Mixed" is a little unfair, but it's also... not. Because this game is definitely a mixed bag.
It was billed as a realistic take on Megaman, and a part of me loves it simply for that idea--a girl and her robots exploring a dried-out wasteland populated with dangerous robots, trying to figure out what the heck went wrong with the terraforming plan. It's a solid plot, and honestly it does map onto Megaman pretty well, as does the ability to take other "Cores" from defeated robots.
But it's buggy. It's repetitive. The gameplay doesn't flow well, the requirements for different dungeons is just too transparently arbitrary, and my GOSH the end boss is frustrating,
There's just a lot going on. I really wish they could have gotten this working better because there's the bones of a really interesting game here.

The graphics were good. The manoeuvrability was great especially with the pets.
The battle system even with the pets is pretty generic.
The story is really good in my opinion. I enjoyed the start to the finish and how you progressed through the story.
It also works extremely well on SteamDeck.
Seriously, I wish they would make a second one.

Yes, BUT...
The game you should only buy on sale!
It feels odd, like it was supposed to be from 2006-2010 era, it doesn't look or feel like a game from 2016. Imagine that it's been released in times of The Witcher 3, AC Unity, and dozens of other games that look modern even today. And this one feels like a relic in comparison.
I assume it was cheap to make, but still: the world is bland, the movement is stiff, the combat has interesting ideas, but like two of them in total.
And there are a lot of problems: no difficulty slider, but if you get into boss fight, you stuck there. Unless you beat the boss, you are there forever.
Fortunately, it's responsive and runs on a toaster!

Played the Definitive version of this game on PC. The story was ok, there is a ton of audio logs - but they are hidden all over the open-world and its a drag to collect. The gameplay is interesting with the whole rip the core out of enemies + the robots who help you. I passed it around 14hr or so and the gameplay got a bit of repetetive. The open world feels barren and empty. After the main story you can play to finish all the dungeons and collections you missed - but did not want to do it. Speaking of dungeons - for every dungeon, and I MEAN every dungeon - you have 3 challenges. 1 to pass it under some time, 2 to hit all 8 hidden switches and 3 to collect the hidden yellow key. For completion of the dungeon you do not need to make all 3 challenges - but if you want to complete them all - you need to replay them all for it ... which in itself is kind of tedios. I am glad i played it, but it left me with more to be desired.

ReCore: Definitive Edition honestly felt like one of those underrated games that had way more charm than I expected going into it. It’s not perfect, but there’s something about the mix of exploration, platforming, combat, and robot companions that kept me enjoying the adventure the whole way through.
What hooked me the most was the world and atmosphere. The desert setting feels lonely but interesting, and exploring old facilities, ruins, and hidden areas constantly gave me that feeling of uncovering remnants of a failed future. The environments aren’t always massively varied, but the game still does a good job making the world feel mysterious.
The robot companions are easily one of my favorite parts. Watching your little robotic crew grow stronger over time and helping you in combat or exploration adds a lot of personality to the game. Each companion has different abilities, and I ended up getting weirdly attached to them — especially after they saved me from getting destroyed by giant robots for the tenth time.
The combat surprised me too. It starts off fairly simple, but once you begin juggling enemy shield colors, weapon types, dodging, and extracting cores during fights, combat becomes much more engaging. Some battles can get chaotic in a fun way, especially when multiple enemy types start jumping around the arena trying to ruin your survival plans.
I also really enjoyed the platforming and exploration. A lot of areas encourage you to come back later with new abilities, which made progression feel rewarding. There were plenty of moments where I spotted something unreachable and immediately knew I’d eventually return just to satisfy my curiosity.
The Definitive Edition definitely helped improve the experience too. Load times, performance, and extra content made the game feel much smoother and more complete compared to what I heard about the original release.
That said, the game definitely has some rough edges. Backtracking can become repetitive, some dungeons feel longer than they need to be, and the combat occasionally gets a bit too messy when the camera and enemy spam decide to work together against you.
But honestly, the game’s charm carried a lot of that for me. There’s something genuinely enjoyable about traveling through this ruined world with your robot companions while slowly becoming stronger and uncovering more of the mystery behind everything.
For me, ReCore feels like one of those AA games that may not be flawless, but has enough heart, creativity, and fun gameplay ideas that I ended up enjoying it far more than I expected.