Greetings fellow Thomas The Tank Engine fans! I grew up watching the original Thomas The Tank Engine series, during what a lot of fans now call the "golden era" (seasons 1-5, during the model series, with Ringo Starr/George Carlin narrating). As a kid, I wore out VHS tapes from re-watching them time and again, and had a vast collection of the dye-cast metal Thomas trains, a playset of the shed (complete with turntable) and a playmat which had various locations around Sodor on it. As the years went by, I never got into newer Thomas (the CGI series just really didn't do it for me), but I remained a huge fan of the Britt Allcroft/David Mitten episode from the early years. My other passion growing up was video games, and to this day still is. My background however isn't in train sims - in fact, before this game was announced, I had zero idea who Dovetail Games were, and I certainly didn't know anything about train simulation games. I was into Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Call Of Duty, The Division, Arc Raiders etc. As a child, I had a Thomas The Tank Engine game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. While I enjoyed it, it was *very* much a kid's game: simple reading activities, matching memory games...basically, it was something I outgrew very quickly. Other Thomas games that following that just never really appealed to me because they were very clearly aimed at like the 5-8 crowd. Then, through some of the other adult Thomas fans I watch on the 'net, I heard about the release of this game and needless to say, I was super stoked. The first thing that appealed to me was the respect of the lore: building the whole world based off Audry's lore notes and map of the Sodor Island was an amazing choice. The other most appealing aspect was the fact that the game wasn't completely directed only at children. Can kids enjoy this game too? For sure! But, an adult isn't going to be put off by wanting to enjoy a Thomas themed game and then have to play a color matching game meant for pre-schoolers. What really sold me on this game was that it also gives us more mature fans of the series something to enjoy by having Thomas do what he does best: be a train. I'd never heard of Dovetail or ever played a train simulator, so I went into this purely based off of what Dovetail was advertising to players: an open world Sodor with Thomas characters that wasn't just a game for preschoolers. I'm happy to say I have been really enjoying this game! The tutorial is simple enough, and even with my complete lack of train sim experience, I was able to get on board (pun kind of intended), and understood what was going on without issue. What Hooked Me As a classic Thomas fan, I loved the attention to detail. The thrill of driving around Sodor and see such iconic areas from the show be fully modeled and come to life really just hit me right in the feels. The lighting, visual and world look great from all the different weather effects and sound effects to the beautiful orchestral theme that plays over the detailed and great look map of Sodor on the main menu. The story missions (many of which I remember from the TV show), are great too. I grew up with the George Carlin Thomas narration, but having one of the longest running narrators for the UK version of the show narrate is also a really nice touch and he does a great job. Thomas Goes Fishing was one of the stories I watched a lot as a child, and getting to play that out in a video game was a blast! The free explore mode was also a great idea, bringing a creative kind of sandbox playstyle to the game. Ever wanted to know what would happen if five Gordon's all crashed into each other? Now you can? Want to re-create shots or moment from your own favorite Thomas stories? Now you can. Spawning in trains is easy, and provides a lot of silly fun - and does what most games should do: let you explore and try things without worry of failure. The trains themselves are modeled exceptionally well! Because they were going to be the main focus of the game, the developers went all out making them look nicely detailed, colorful and like a nice cross between their original model designs and the CGI era. The branch line schedule mode that lets you run Thomas or one of the other characters as a regular service is where I have a lot of my fun. I don't know if you could call a train sim "cozy," but running Thomas along the branch line past the iconic windmill like the opening of the TV show is just such a vibe! Yes, this mode can get a little repetitive, but that isn't usually an issue as they break up each train's day into "bite-sized" segments, so you can always pick up where you left off last time. Being able to launch into any of the story missions you come across while in this mode (marked by icons on the map) is a great idea too, as you can switch between activities. I've seen some people grumbling about the instant mission fails for making a mistake, with one person going as far as saying "it's not respectful of the player's time." Maybe it's just that I've been gaming for so long, but I do NOT think that Dovetail should change this. It's an excellent challenge and forces you to be careful about how you tackle your route and objectives and keeps you on your toes a little bit. What I'd Like To See I understand that game development is a long, difficult and expensive process and I think the team at Dovetail did a great job - aside from the odd bugs here and there I've been hearing about the game runs great (I play on PS5), and looks amazing! These are just my thoughts on what I'd enjoy seeing added as someone who has been playing video games for almost over 30 years. -Skip option during cutscenes I have no problem with the instant mission failures and full restarts. I think not having checkpoints and the like make the game more challenging, but doing this without a way to skip over the cutscene is tedious. The cutscenes themselves are great - maybe have it where the first time players much watch them, but then each subsequent attempt can give the player a skip option. -Future DLC with more of the mainline engines Down the road, I would 100% be willing to pay for additional add-ons: more engines with their own stories and routes, cosmetics for player character as well as for trains (Thomas' snow plow anyone?). -Being able to view your collectables I love how the Knapford station has a gallery and a book store which shows what you've collected thus far, but it would be nice if you could see a full screen, close up view of these in the menu screen as well. -A event randomizer mode This would be huge for replayability. A mode where the game gives you a series of random events that you must complete as the engine you're currently driving. Like the timetable mode, but you'd go from running passengers, to shunting cars, to dropping off cargo etc. -Online Multiplayer...or even local multiplayer (big ask, but hear me out) I know it's easy for me to sit here and suggest things when I know they're not always the easiest to implement, but an online or even local multiplayer mode where you could explore Sodor with a friend, drive a train together, or maybe race each other? All in all, thank you Dovetail game for making a Thomas the Tank Engine game that respects its older fans! You have no idea how thrilled I've been to play a Thomas game that isn't shovelware for preschoolers.
