Many players criticized the ARK: Survival Evolved remaster when Studio Wildcard first announced it. However, MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller is of the opinion that players on the PS5 in particular will benefit from this.
Studio Wildcard has announced ARK: Survival Ascended, a remaster for the survival hit ARK Survival Evolved, which was viewed very controversially by many fans. However, I think console players in particular should be excited about the remaster, as it will significantly improve the gaming experience on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Who is speaking here? MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller is a big fan of ARK: Survival Evolved and has over 1,000 hours of play on PS4 and another 500 on PC. He knows the gameplay both with and without mods.
In addition to an upgrade to Unreal Engine 5, the remaster of ARK should also get crossplay. The highlight, however, is a feature that is also announced for the successor ARK 2, which will not appear on PS5: cross-platform modding.
Cross-platform modding means that console players will have the opportunity to play ARK with mods for the first time. These are currently only usable on the PC via Steam and add new dinos, maps or gameplay revisions to the game.
The remaster “ARK Survival Ascended” is particularly interesting for PS5 players because ARK 2 should not appear on the current Sony console. Xbox players will get another game that supports the use of mods with the sequel.
ARK 2: Check out the 4-minute survival sequel announcement trailer here
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Like playing a new game
I myself have played ARK on the PS4 for over 1,000 hours and had to do without mods there. So when I switched to PC, it was like playing a new game. The mods brought me loads of new content and QOL improvements that I could only dream of before as a console gamer.
Especially with the maps, PC players are currently not tied to the release via wildcard. Popular maps like Fjördur, Crystle Isles or Valguero were playable as mods long before the official ARK release.
In addition, the maps were often slightly adjusted with the official release, which was often viewed negatively by many fans. For example, Wildcard removed certain creatures from the maps for the official release or changed the most popular farm spots.
In addition, modders for ARK: Survival Evolved created numerous creatures such as dinosaurs and mythical creatures that are not included in the normal game. Popular examples include giant snails, the Star Pegasus, and the Indominus Rex known from the movie Jurassic World.
My personal highlight: mods that improve building
My personal highlight among the various mods was anything that benefited me when building my base.
There are mods that improve the construction system and, for example, allow foundations to be stacked and unevenness in the ground to be leveled out. There are also mods that add new building styles or elements, allowing me to build a Viking village or a dwarf town.
There are also numerous decorative items and devices that help me in the production of resources or materials.
For example, some of these devices are supposed to work faster than the normal ARK machinery, others should just fit better with the chosen architectural style – after all, a chemistry laboratory table does not optically fit into a medieval castle.
QoL improvements and luxury changes
The final big plus that mods provide is Quality of Life improvements and new content designed to make the gaming experience as enjoyable as possible. Some things reduce the difficulty of the game, but if you don’t want that, you can always do without it. After all, you don’t have to use a mod if you don’t want to. For everyone else, these tools are real luxury changes.
A popular example is the “Awesom SpyGlass”, a telescope that shows the life bar, the stun progress, the level and the gender of a tamed as well as a wild dinosaur even from quite a distance.
There is also an auction house that allows trading with players from other servers and an upgrade station that you can use to upgrade your weapons and tools if you have enough resources.
The list of helpful mods is endless – a mod for finding your creatures, a mod for better item storage and much more. And even if you don’t want it to be easier in ARK, but want it to be more difficult, you will certainly find what you are looking for.
Mods have massively improved my gaming experience in ARK and given me new motivation to play the survival title again. If community mod support for the remaster gets anywhere near as good as it has for ARK: Survival Evolved, then I’m confident that the remaster and the implementation of mods that will come with it will significantly improve gameplay on the PS5.
While I’m a huge fan of mods in ARK, I don’t want the game experience to be fundamentally simple. For example, I am not a fan of flying animals:
ARK is made far too easy by flying animals – that’s why the successor has to do without it