Recent reviews by Lonelywolf

Great little title for relaxing or just blowing off steam. Doesn't take itself too seriously, but also takes itself seriously enough in gameplay. The fighting can be a bit directional at times making it a bit difficult, and sometimes the shop doesn't run the way you'd expect, but overall a great game, either full price or on sale!

Gameplay
Fighting: 6/10
Crafting: 7/10
Shop: 6/10

Overall
Art style: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Fun factor (subjective) 8/10


Overall would recommend but that's up to each individual.

I had left a review here long ago, while the game was still in early access. That review is of course outdated and no longer reflected my opinions on the game, or the game itself, as it has evolved since then.

What is The Long Dark?

A survival game. It's not like Rust or Ark or the like. You're not pitted against zombies or other players or the week's wipe. Instead, its just you, the cold, and what wildlife remains. There's two modes: Wintermute, which is story built narrative, and Survivor mode, which is just pure survival sandbox.

The Good

Sandbox is complete in the sense that there is nothing missing, per se. That is to say it is 100% fun and playable in its current state. The game may have hit 1.0 release, but updates are still slated to come. As of this writing, the moose is on the way in the next update, slated for December 2017. The sandbox is fully functional and will provide you with countless hours of fun and butt clenching moments. The world is at your fingertips. Four difficulty modes provide a range of playstyles to appeal to both casual gamers and hardcore masochists alike. Each mode tunes such variables as weather conditions, ambient temperature, wildlife hostility and ubiquity, and loot tables. Crafting is available for you in case you can't find the right item. Just make it instead.

The Bad

Despite the original premise for the game being story mode, and its long awaited arrival, it has left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Why? For most players, me included, the first episode is basically a walking tutorial of everything you've mastered in the myriad of hours you've invested in sandbox. Granted, it does set up the narrative for the rest of the story, which will be important as each episode is played, but its quite... boring really. The second episode tries to spice it up some, but still has you running basic fetch quests to learn about the game systems. This is good for players who have never played before, but for veterans like me it is simply busy work as we want to advance the narrative.

The studio is small. This is both good and bad, in a way. But this is the bad section, so we'll cover the bad. Their size hinders their progress because they have two babies: Story Mode and Sandbox: Each one cries loudly for attention. It can be argued that most players here want more sandbox updates and don't give a hoot about story. But equally so, the game was funded in the hopes of story mode, and it must see its course through. Thus, the studio must invest time in both modes until the point in time story mode is completed.

The Objective

This is where each person's opinion comes in. There are certain mechanics about the game that some love, and others hate with a passion. Ages ago, Hinterland had a leaderboard to showcase those who survived the longest. Abusing in game mechanics, it was possible to 'hibernate' in order to use a minimal ammount of supplies in order to skate by weeks, if not months, of in game time. Hinterland's solution? Cabin Fever. This affliction is tuned a tad bit different for each mode but stays the same more or less. Stay inside too long, and the walls make you go crazy. So crazy you're willing to freeze to death in the tundra because you can't rest indoors.

Interior lighting. This bloody thing has been adjusted about 10000 times, and there are countless forum posts praising or bemoaning it. Hinterland has attempted to create a lighting engine that fits each interior location, but for reasons of some sort, the original system left interiors far too dark during full daytime hours. This has been adjusted time and again, and as of this writing, we haven't seen the last adjustment yet. You'd think it wouldn't be too hard to hammer this down, but then again, crafting such a game and engine from scratch is difficult water. The lighting in its current state is indeed passable, although sometimes annoying.

Should YOU buy?

Again, this will ultimately come down to personal opinion. I for one would say BUY!!! But I encourage you to do your research first. If you want some idea of gameplay, both sandbox and story mode, check out my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvGVwh-P8RU8eWLQHajcSew (Shameless plug. I know.) I for one find the game's atmosphere the most compelling thing. It evokes emotions I cannot lay words on. The unique graphic style, the setting, and the audio and music all make for something impressive. If you enjoy a survival experience where its just you versus nature, this is certainly for you. While I can't say everyone will enjoy it, those who appreciate forging their own path and admiring the journey while smashing wolves with a hammer will find no greater joy than The Long Dark.

As of writing this, I've not 'won' the game. I have made it to the final boss once. I first saw this game on a youtube playthrough, and quite enjoyed watching the mechanics and such of the game. I forgot about it after that, and about a year later, thanks to the steam que, it showed up on the store. I freaked and instantly bought it. Do I recommend impulse buying? No. Fired the game up, blam. Dead in about the first five minutes. Instantly ran a second run. Doubled survival time. And I continued from there.
Should you get this game? It depends. Have you ever played dark souls? Imagine that, but jump the difficulty from butt-hurt to insanely-borderlying impossible. Yes, if you think dark souls was hard.... Second, there is no option to modify the difficulty. I'm sure you could mod the starting gear to give you an advantage, but other than that, if you don't like games that are near impossible, don't buy this. It will frustate you to no end and make you want to return it if you aren't into that kind of thing. If you are into insane learning curves and massively difficult gameplay, then you will enjoy this. I've only encountered one bug, and that is sometimes upon startup it will freeze, in which case simply restart it. It runs smooth enough for me and I find the atmosphere and story compelling and interesting.

TL;DR, Buy if you like dark soulsX10, don't buy if you get butthurt easy. Wonderful game and I love it. Would recommend to anyone.