“ARK: Survival Ascended” explained through manga Part 1: Survival, where you start from the weakest, is harsh and busy, and you’ll die quickly, but it’s incredibly fulfilling and somehow fun[PR]

Encounter with over 100 dinosaurs and ancient creatures! Reality like living in real life! The “lust for life” that can only be experienced in such a harsh environment is so fulfilling that it’s a shame to log out! Speaking of survival games that love dinosaurs and are loved by dinosaurs…? yes!

It’s “ARK: Survival Ascended” (hereinafter referred to as “ASA”)!

Speaking of this work, it is a next-generation remastered version of “ARK: Survival Evolved” (hereinafter referred to as “ASE”), which became a huge hit as the start of survival games, and just recently (April 18, 2024), Spike -Chunsoft has released a packaged version for PlayStation 5. Congratulations!

Some survivors may have already started playing the downloaded version, but there may also be others who are considering making their debut at this time. What kind of game is it? What should I do in the beginning? Some people may have questions like this.
In order to answer that question, I have put together a four-part manga about the survival drama experienced by one survivor in ASA. While following the trajectory of the survivor “Sushie” who landed on the island, please experience the charm of this work and the basics of survival!

*This article was written based on playing the PlayStation 5 version. The play environment is a PVE server island.

This is the world of the island

★Ascension from the bottom of the hierarchy

A jungle that spreads out as far as the eye can see, towering mountains, and a vast ocean…Sushie, a survivor, landed in a place inhabited by dinosaurs and other ancient creatures.island“is.
The place where I first spawned was in a relatively peaceful waterside area, but if I entered the river I would be preyed upon by piranhas, and if I entered the forest I would be surrounded by Dilophosaurus and attacked by a Triceratops if I messed with them, an island-style baptism. I accepted it. Apparently it’s an environment where you can die within about a minute of walking.

This is because survivors, who have just been born in this world, are the weakest class at the bottom of the hierarchy. He has no strength to resist the threats that befall him, and is always on the verge of death. Under such harsh conditions, survivors repeatedly respawn, gain experience, and pursue the power (civilization) to be able to control even large creatures.
At the very beginning, you will die quickly, but this is a fruitful period where you can experience for yourself what actions can lead to death. Don’t be discouraged even if you die!

This is the point of “ASA”!The graphics are very beautiful

I have been playing this game since the days of ARK: Survival Evolved, and what surprised me when I landed on the ASA island was the beauty of the world. The fresh leaves of the trees that decorate the jungle, the natural sparkle of the water surface, and the textures of the creatures that are precisely drawn down to the smallest wrinkle.
The graphics of “ASA”, which have been rebuilt using Unreal Engine 5, are not only beautiful and realistic, but also have an amazing “realism” that allows you to feel the atmosphere in the place. It is.

The power of civilization is amazing!

★Improve collection efficiency with basic tools

As an undeveloped land, the island is self-sufficient in all food, clothing, and shelter. In order to survive, the power of “engrams” that can unlock recipes for tools and weapons is essential. Engrams contain not only primitive tools such as ice axes and axes, but also civilizational tools essential to life, such as weapons, armor, crafting equipment, and building parts.

Activities such as collecting materials and hunting creatures accumulate experience points, and as your level increases, you get points for unlocking engrams.

Many people may have an image of “ARK” = a life like primitive times, but that’s only at the beginning.If you look beyond the engrams, you’ll see air conditioners, refrigerators, various firearms, autoturrets, and even elevators. There is a lineup, and if you raise your level, you can live a high-tech life.It is difficult to take over the world with just cloth clothes and a spear, but if you master your engrams, you may be able to live an inconvenient life. Whether it can be done comfortably or not depends on the arrangement of the survivor who uses the engram.

You can’t fight if you’re hungry.

★Survival is a battle against hunger and thirst

It’s not just carnivores that pose a threat to life. Survivors are attacked by hunger and thirst, which are inescapable physiological needs.
In the world of ARK, you become hungry and thirsty as time passes, but if left unchecked, your physical strength will decline and you will eventually die. In addition, there is also the annoying feature that the food you get will spoil over time, so in the early stages you tend to have to deal with hunger.

The three concepts of corruption, hunger, and thirst are three troublesome brothers that cannot be separated. In the early stages, aim for a stable supply of food and water to successfully evade their arrival. As a side note, sushiers used to get their meat from dodos, but if there is water nearby, it is also recommended to catch fish with a spear.

At ARK, which has a realistic feel to life, you can eat all sorts of items.You can also end up ingesting non-food items, so be careful not to eat unpleasant or dangerous foods.

Make this your campsite!

★The importance of housing to protect yourself from external enemies

Survivors are only able to live a basic life when they have a set of cloth clothes, basic tools such as an ice ax and ax, and a place to hide. In particular, houses are indispensable, serving as a safe area to escape from attacks by foreign enemies, a place to store resources that you don’t want to lose, a space to focus on crafting, and a safe spot to respawn.

Also, this story is based on an online server, but if the survivor logs out, they will collapse on the spot and be defenseless. If you try to log out outdoors, there is a risk that your empty shell will be eaten. Building a residence is also necessary for safe logout.

If the house is made of straw, it will not be durable. Once you are able to collect materials, collect wood and stones to build a more robust home!

Gathering the materials to complete it is difficult, but there are nutrients that can only be obtained through the process of maintaining the basic needs of life. In this process of gradually improving your QOL, you are sure to feel an indescribable sense of fulfillment and a solid response!

This is “ASA”!Building construction has become easier

If you have experience with “ASE,” you may notice this while playing, but the construction specifications in “ASA” have been changed to allow for smoother building installation. There are a wide variety of changes, but among them is the addition of a mode that automatically snaps along walls and floors when installing equipment, and specification changes that allow installed parts to be collected regardless of the countdown, making construction easier. Now you can do it.

Personally, I was also impressed by the fact that the electric wires and pipes that were required to connect to electrical appliances and water tanks were abolished, and changes were made to allow for smoother handling of the facility. Connecting the pipes was quite difficult…

Another point is that storage boxes, which are daily necessities, can now be stacked on top of each other.By stacking them, you can reduce the floor space they take up.

This is how the first episode of “ARK: Survival Ascended” that you can see in this manga comes to an end! What kind of survival will Sushie, who has obtained the bare minimum of living, develop from now on? Please check out the second part, which will be published at a later date, for the continuation of this story.