I honestly have not been this hooked on a game in a very long time. I had wanted to play Longvinter for ages, but negative reviews kept putting me off. Last week I finally pulled the trigger, and since then I have logged around 50 hours. I could not be happier. If you enjoy the cozy aesthetic shown in the trailers and screenshots, I highly recommend giving it a try, especially when it is on sale.
One of the things I love most about Longvinter is that it never forces you into a single playstyle. If you dislike combat, that is completely fine. You can cook, fish, farm, and mine your way to wealth instead. From there, you can buy PvP arena or bunker locked items from other players' vending machines, find them in rotating vending machines around the map, or purchase them through the general vending machine that lists everything other players have sold there.
I am also completely charmed by the huge variety of small, seemingly insignificant activities the game offers. Who does not love writing a letter and dropping it into a neighbour's mailbox, sitting by a campfire, or petting doggos?
While Longvinter may look simple at first glance, it has a surprising amount of depth. You can fish, craft, cook, hunt, mine, build and furnish houses with gardens, raid bunkers, oil rigs or other player's bases, and go treasure hunting or looting. And the best thing? They are all interconnected. Quests help guide you through your first playthrough and provide meaningful ability boosts. Hats, devices, and other special items add even more variety. The crafting chains are especially well designed and require a satisfying balance of looting, grinding, and trading.
Overall, Longvinter is incredibly cute and cozy. The art style, animations, and UI are chef's kiss, and the community is mostly very friendly. When I was just starting out, a kind neighbour gifted me a reindeer mount and the rarest seed in the game, which helped me immensely. Progression feels rewarding at every stage, and the PvP system is very well thought out. Other players can raid your plot (only in PvP-mode), but never your house, so you never lose the items stored inside. In roughly 30 hours on the EU West PvP server, I have only been raided once and have not even been shot at.
Honestly, I cannot name a single thing I dislike about Longvinter. I did not encounter any bugs during my 50 hours of play. That said, I often relied on the unofficial Vinternote website for its interactive map and crafting information, as well as the official Discord when I had questions.
Have fun, and press "c" to wave if you see me on the official EU West 1 PvP server. I am always happy to give back what other wonderful community members gave me when I was starting out. <3
