Is ARK: Survival Ascended Worth It? (May 2024)

only positivity allowed here ;)

Intro - 0:00
Graphics - 0:30
Mods - 1:15
Gameplay - 1:44
Content Updates - 3:18
Technical (bugs, performance, servers) - 5:11
Conclusion - 6:45
Outro - 8:00

[DaveDavidson]

I know for a fact that asa can be a great game, so its always really sad to see it in its current state. sadly, its not just this game either, as games like overwatch 2 have also made little improvement to making their game enjoyable to all that play it (in my opinion). I find it really sad when I don't enjoy they games I used to.

[Sparkles_VT]

The crazy thing is this timeline isn't even accurate anymore even though it's so recent. You can see on the description for the Bobs tall tales DLC they already changed the dates for Aberration and Extinction w/ Aberration coming out in quarter 4 late this year and Extinction coming out in the 1st quarter of 2025. Honestly as of right now I wouldnt recommend this game to anyone who really is willing to get into the franchise, maybe once the initial maps release from Extinction and back i'll start recommending it since there's enough content to keep people preoccupied but until then you really are just paying to future content. At this point you're basically a backer.

[JgHaverty]

lmao you hit the nail on the head. I was mid comment about their business model is EXTREMELY strange. This game should cost 20$. DLC maps should be like 9.99$. Why? SELL SKINS OH MY GOD. It would be fundamentally printing money lmao. How many people would pay 5 bucks to skin their favorite dino? How many people would pay 2.99$ for some cool particle effects or alternate armor models? Its insane they want to charge upfront instead of use their service model effectively lol.

Great video dude.

[randyrcook]

ASA is just a cash grab to fund Ark2. I don't like paying to be a beta-tester.

[chuckironsight]

this is my first ark game to play, so i dont have any complaints that hinge around ark ase being better...this is the only one ive played

[qMendy]

Good video <3 Honestly never knew what Ascended gave you but your video explained it well

[shmoopyroo]

honestly im pretty sure the release dates are revealed by the marketing team with no regard for the dev team. ive been working a job in a similar boat where the marketing team said a date for the premier of it and the date is wildly too soon. we are having to rush things and some features were even cut due to time. it isnt a game but idk if im allowed to say what it is cause NDA and idk the exact details of it and i like having a job lol but trust me marketing teams saying one date not even taking into consideration the logistics of it isnt unheard of. wouldnt be surprised if the ASA devs are in the same boat

[Arindam_Gaming]

ASA needs a CPU having min 6 physical threads. This limits lots of really good CPUs that while dated still allows games to be played at 4k 60fps Epic with a beefy GPU. Ex: i5 7600k with say RTX 3060.

[BelgianWaffle]

Not sure how to feel about asa. I love the ark universe, and have thousands of hours in ase. But the performance issues, lack of FREE content and updates, and the paid mods are all really big negatives for me. Mods should not ever be paid, at least in my opinion. Mods in their very conception are volunteer work, and those who wanted to support creators would do so through donations. But they way they are making Mods paid now is essentially stealing from the creators and forcing them to share their wages with the company. The devs do very little work in terms of content or optimization updates, because they can just wait for a modder to do it for them. It's the same mindset tod Howard has in regards to the fallout franchise. So modders are left doing all the work, making all the content and then only recieving a chunk of what their work is worth. And what's more, is ASA markets the modders work as their own, in their trailers for the game. The fact that now they are starting to release pay to win dlc characters and the fact that this game likely won't be finished for another 3 or 4 years at least, is ridiculous. UE6 will be out, by the time this game is done developing. Idk... I fight the urge to purchase the game because i love ark, and asa looks beautiful (even though it's the ue5 engine doing all the work). But there are just too many issues with the game and the company to commit. One last thing, is why the hell aren't the older dinos redone to have more fluid animations and kits? Why does Bronto still have a walk-shuffle like he has to take a poo, instead of looking smooth and we'll animated like garugas Brachi? Wildcard is literally doing absolutely nothing with their own hands. Modders make the content, the engine makes the game look good, and all wildcard has to do is focus on paid dlc packs and be lazy asses.

[LizardMods]

This is a really good review and even though I really wanna be on island with Dino's I'm gonna have to pass thanks for your review.

[SquirrelGamez]

The thing with paid mods is that the modders themselves don't want to sell mods, they're happy with tips and community appreciation.
Paid mods is basically the company behind the game making worse mods than the fans and charging for them.

That aside, the main Nope for me is the nitrado exclusivity. Nitrado is VERY far from the best server provider. (That and how scummy and awful with money Snailgame is)

[DamorahTalset]

They're at least addressing the performance issues. Apparently with Aberration's upcoming release they're optimizing the heck out of the game by, among other things, updating from Unreal 5.2 (which has TONS of performance issues) to Unreal 5.4, as well as adding support for frame gen for AMD graphics cards like Nvidia has with DLSS. If the Ark Ascended Enable FSR 3 mod is anything to go by, which is essentially the same thing, the performance increase will be massive. Literally double or triple FPS. I use this mod and can confirm that.

[MightyWalrus]

It's still terrible in terms of optimization to play 1440p high settings you need a 4070 super

[Zvxers]

If you have a 4060 at the very least, and you are willing to put up with snail games

Other than that it's pretty solid imo

Also it's very good on console, due to being actually decently optimized, and now it has mods

[whittmanwalters]

I’ve played both a lot. If you don’t have a pc ascended is near unplayable. It’s just the same truth.

[bricktop.]

Hey thanks for the video! My son likes ves dinos and im thinking of getting this for him purely as a single player game. Is it easy to get into as a totally new player and xan the whole thing be done offline?

[Boltreaver]

Thanks for the info. I was looking into buying ark on pc because console optimization is rubbish between pixilation, lack of spawns, and 30 fps on a ps5.

[kesselrunner]

I'd love for the upgraded building, map and hud to come to ASE.

[daffierpython]

It might not be amazing but i miss servers the new dinos look so fun however im probably waiting for aberration given its my favorite map

[cybercybex]

So both Arks are currently on sale right now for PS5.

Which version do you recommend fully?

Ark Survival Ascended or Ark Survival Evolved Ultimate Edition?

This will be my first ark game so I'm not really sure which version should I get.