‘Dysplaced’ is the second open-world title from the developers at 10Ton Ltd, following up from their original title, ‘Dysmantle’, released in 2021 to excellent reviews on Steam. I am excited to see how this new title plays. Dysplaced can be described as a survival RPG that blends open-world exploration, crafting, and destructible environments in a fantasy world. Let’s jump in and see how it plays in early access.

You start off in your home in Bleakmarsh, where a disaster has hit, and the roads and bridges have caved in. You have to complete your daily chores of fixing leaks and saving electricity, then you hear something in the backyard, and this is where the game transforms. Your ‘Guardian Angel’ appears, and you follow her through the portal that the ‘Watchers’ created to save you. The portal has drained the sacred amphoras of all their magic, and now you are tasked with assisting the Watchers against the eternal threat. ‘The Cult of the Bleeding Eye’ has taken the leader of the Watchers, and it’s up to you to try and get them back.

There is a nice character selection screen as you start the game, enabling you to customise your character to your own desire. You have gender, skin colour, face, hair, facial hair, and colour, a sparse little range. Once you have chosen whether you are playing single player or multiplayer, it’s onto a cut scene, and then the fun begins.
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The view is a pseudo-isometric view with a twist, as you can rotate the camera 360 degrees and also zoom in and out, giving you complete freedom over your movements as you navigate the world. While Displaced is a survival game, the big difference is that nearly everything you pick up, you can recycle down, so it’s not like most games where you gather one resource and grind out on it. You have the ability to hunt and also fish, two of my favourite tasks in a survival game, and it ensures you can eat a nice roast instead of berries as you unlock more recipes that give you various buffs.

You have a polished inventory system that shows the contents of your backpack and also what clothes you are wearing. This is also where you can view what quest items you have, recipes for crafting, knowledge tree, and stats ( Offence, Defence and Miscellaneous).

Your knowledge tree has 114 unlocks; it isn’t as simple as clicking and unlocking them either; you have to gather the resources required to unlock them first.

The game is very much about questing and surviving; you are always reminded of your current task or quest in the top left of your screen. The map is large and full of surprises. Being a fantasy world, you can expect some weird and wonderful enemies; they are beautifully ugly if that makes sense.

Like most survival games, it is essential to set up a base and make it your focal point. From gathering, farming, crafting, upgrading and storage. My first shack is complete, and it’s time to cook. I am cooking grilled chicken in my cauldron, closely followed by some fresh onion soup, and now I am off to find a village.

As you are transiting around, you also have the ability to craft using the NPC’s benches if you have the right material, which is a handy feature instead of running back to your own base all the time, as there are some considerable distances to overcome. Once you unlock a horse or the quick travel portals, you will save yourself a lot of time. Unlike 10Ton’s first title, in Dysplaced, you can jump as well, which opens up more movements and scenarios alike.

You battle your enemies with a simple block and parry battle mechanic while managing your stamina, although the stamina system confuses me a little, as when you aren’t in battle, you don’t have stamina unless you are in the water. But as soon as you target an enemy, a stamina system kicks in. The interesting part about the enemies is that they will maneuver to counter you and also heal during battle, so it really makes you think about your tactics instead of just running in there.

If you die, you will respawn at your last campfire you lit with full health, and a tombstone will be placed as a death marker to regain your goods. When striking enemies, the system will swing the direction the mouse marker is facing, which is a neat little system, as I found myself rotating the screen and views during some larger battles.

As you progress, the game forces you to upgrade to stronger tools and weapons through your workbenches and knowledge tree. Your level 1 axe isn’t going to cut it the further you go looking for artifacts. The food and rest system is very much like the Valheim mechanic; certain foods will give you buffs to stamina and attacks, sleeping or resting will give you endurance. There is quite a lot of depth to the game you will need to explore, which will ensure you have some good longevity.

​The graphics can only really be described as cozy. They are rich in colour and variation, especially with all the different items you can collect and break down. It is a fantasy combat survival game, but it doesn’t feel dark. The rivers and water textures are beautiful; you can see a nice tidal movement in the water and ripples when you walk or jump into them.

You have a small mini map with some great detail, including time, temperature, and coordinates, which is handy if you are playing multiplayer. There is a day and night cycle as the shadows get darker on the trees, but it doesn’t stop you from playing, as you can still see, and it is still a nice feature, as there is a noticeable difference.

The sounds match the graphics; you can hear your footsteps on the paths or in the water, and birds and crows chirp in the trees. When swinging your axe and hitting items, you get that nice thump, and even the wildlife running away when you hit them, it gives some nice ambience to match the cozy graphics. The music wasn’t to my taste, and I turned it off straight away.

​Overall, Dysplaced, for me, is a cozy, dungeon questing game; it is a lot of genres mixed into one, and it works. It’s hard to pigeonhole this game into a specific genre, and that’s what I love about it: it can be many different games to different people. Want to run through and kill all the enemies, go for it. Want to set up a nice cosy base and take it at your own pace, that’s an option too. 10Ton’s first title received 4810 “Very Positive” reviews on Steam, and this title, I would expect, will do the same; that should tell you all you need to know. If you are on the fence, jump on in; you won’t be disappointed.

Written by: Mike Bridge