Let's start the review with the obvious: go buy this game.
Now, let's get to the review:
Everybody (that doesn't play Terraria) says that this game is 2D Minecraft. Well, they're wrong. Terraria is like Minecraft but better in any way.
Exploring feels like it should be: quick, simple and rewarding and the arsenal of tools like pickaxes, drills, ropes and torches makes that even more enjoyable. The environment is full of chests and vases that reward you just for walking around. You can also found Heart Crystals that boost your Max HP and Fallen Stars that boost your Max Mana.
Combat feels clumsy at the beggining, but the more you play, the better it will get. The combat turns from a Copper Sword Stabby-Stab to Missiles, Bursts of Energy, Homing Bullets, Falling Meteorites, Massive Swords.
Mining is as it should be: quick! You can spend only 5min just mining a rare ore, where in Minecraft, you will spend hours to find Diamonds and it depends on layers, stripminings, caverns, etc. In Terraria, you have things to help you find ore more easily, such as better tools, Pets that give you light, torches that highlight treasures, potions that show you where the treasures is, equipables that describe your surroundings, bombs/tnt that, for sure, help you get rid of the terrain and you don't feel that you've wasted your materials spending them.
The Progression in this game is top notch. In the beggining you can't even beat a blob, but as soon as you grab some armor you can beat it easily. It's fun to discover that you're still too weak to walk to other biomes like the desert and jungle. And after you get comfortable with the gameplay, when you can beat every mob in the world, the game has the BALLS to strip that liberty away and put you in Noob Phase again. The switch between Pre-Hardmode and Hardmode is a huge step for gaming. It strips your sense of greatness without striping you off your items.
The world, your map change with the flow of the game, new ores appear, the ore changes between worlds, so it is never the same, new mobs appear, corrupted biomes spread to other biomes, and if you don't pay attention, it will, eventually, take over the whole map.
Even if you had explored the map previously, you will still explore the same areas because new ore, loot and enemies will appear. It never gets old being killed by Unicorns and Pixie Fairies.
This is the first game where I do like brewing my potions, in Minecraft that function feels useless, either you don't use it at all, or you only use it for boss fights or breathing underwater. In Terraria you use them for everything. You use potions for Scaveging, Danger Hunting, Boss Fighting, Teleporting, Flying, Water Walking... It feels good using potions, and you don't feel cheated when you use them.
Fishing is under appreciated. This mechanic is way better than Minecraft's or Stardew Valley's. You are not obligated to do it, but it will reward you with ore, vanity items, furniture, money, very good equipables, rods, bait, fish (that can be used for potions). It can be boring at times, but you don't even have to be alert, it functions with a simple mouse click.
Building is god-like, you can build everything, you have all kinds of furniture, you can mold blocks with your hammer, and you can even paint all blocks in the game or create your custom biomes with paint. Even if you are bad at building and you'd like to build great things (like me) you can easily copy any screenshot of any building you see browsing the web. The houses you building will all feel comfortable.
Wiring is like Minecraft's Redstone, but more simpler (sometimes). Wiring gives you the opportunity to build traps, build farms and teleport yourself around the map (yes, TELEPORT). Wiring also gives you motives to be careful when exploring caves because there might be traps lurking.
Even if you play alone, your world feels alive, everywhere you go you have something. Wanna go left/right? You have Desert, Tundra, Jungle, Beaches, Meteorite, Hallow, Corruption/Crimson. Wanna go up? You have Sky Islands and Sky Lakes.
Wanna go down? You have Granite, Marble, Spider-Nests, Mushroom Biomes, and even Hell (Underworld).
The world isn't infinite like in Minecraft (I know it isn't infinite, but c'mon) but it still feels huge, and it even will change overtime with your adventure.
Terraria will still offer you options like Pets, Light Pets, Mounts, Minecarts, Grappling Hooks and even Wings that you can collect if you feel like getting all the items.
Even with all of this variety Terraria will offer events like Blood Moon, Solar Eclipse, etc which will give you another look at more new mobs, even more loot and even more fun. Some of the events change over time too, and offer great loot.
And the bosses? Omg, the bosses are amazing. When you play, you're always thinking of when the new one's gonna come out. You'll get addicted to beat bosses, and Terraria has a fair share of bosses. In the beggining they feels kinda weak and easy, but it will change over time too. Bosses have themes behind them, Queen Bee is in the Jungle, Eater of Worlds is in the Corruption, Moon Lord appears after you defeat the Lunar Events, etc.
Ah, and it even has multiple classes, and each and every one of them feels rewarding to play. Every one of them is fun to play, and the game doesn't force you to choose one of them at the beggining of the game, giving you time to experiment each class during your playtime.
NPC's, in Terraria are very good and distinguished from each other. They don't look alike and don't "NAH" "OH" around. Each have their own personality and each one of them serves a purpose and gives life to your world, you will never feel alone.
After all of this, you get another difficulty, which increases the difficulty (ofc), but increases the drop quality and it even gives you Expert only items that are worth the difficulty just for the items alone.
The game feels rewarding and delivers in everything that is shown, and it is still being updated.
This game is not grindy, you will only have to grind for specific items that are not required.
And even with all of that, you still have mods. I have not experienced them, but everybody , in the Terraria community, knows that mods are god like. Mods like Calamity and Thorium are a must.
And the Soundtrack is very good. Each biome has it's own theme, and it's very recognizable. You can tell the day/night cycle just by listening, or the biome you're in and the transitions between biomes are very well made. The bosses have their own themes too, but I'm always too busy fighting them so I don't even have the chance to listen.
I've played so many games and I have NEVER seen a community like Terraria's. Everyone is so helpful, and the Youtubers are so memorable, from Happydays to Python and Grobeman.
So, after reading my review, and looking at the "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews for this game, what's your excuse for not buying? It's the best time to buy this game, it will get another update soon full with new stuff. This game is still relevant, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Seriously, why don't my friends like this game?!