the long return is wonderful little puzzle game in which you play a fox that gets separated from it's mother. not knowing what else to do, you retrace the steps of your last journey with her to learn her fate.
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[b]gameplay:[/b]
at it's core, the long return is all about seeking and solving puzzles. the game has a handful of different sorts and each puzzle builds on the last. from this perspective, the game introduces a mechanic or idea and then fleshes that out over subsequent puzzles, throwing in little wrinkles here and there as the game progresses.
none of these are /particularly/ difficult, but there is a hint system built into the game that consumes the collectible currency that you find during your explorations. while i never needed these, it's a pleasure to see that the designer of the game was thinking ahead of the different sorts of players who might tackle this little game.
outside of the puzzling, there's some very light platforming and some fairly simple exploration across several biomes [a winter level, a spring level and so on.]
the game even has a couple of boss fights - one of which - in a pleasant and unique twist - is tied to puzzles in the game that you have to complete before the boss takes damage. the other's a bit of a dexterity challenge.
so there is plenty to see and do while you're playing.
[b]plot:[/b]
the plot of the long return is told through little vignettes that are doled out as you solve puzzles out in the world. there's nothing /too/ complex about it, but the game does some very smart story-telling without using any words. it's very easy to tell what happened, and the game - while somewhat cliched - is affecting when coupled with the stirring music. [more on that in a moment.]
[b]graphics and sound:[/b]
this is most certainly not the most demanding of games - everything is a shaded polygon of some persuasion, so it's not going to win any awards for it's graphics, however, the game has a great tone - making use of it's sparse graphics to immerse the player in the game in a quiet and careful sort of way.
the graphics are accentuated and punctuated by a wonderful score that builds as the game progresses.
combined with the plot, it's easy to get whisked away into the world of the long return, even given it's short length.
[b]problems:[/b]
having heaped all this praise on the game, i do have to point out a couple of frustrations that are pertinent to future buyers.
if you're a completionist, you may want to know the following:
full clearing of this game is a little tricky. there are gems scattered around and about - these are the currency of the game. the problem is that if you miss even a single one, you have to play the game from scratch because there's no level select.
one particular achievement is tied to a no-death run. this is tricky, at best, when coupled with some of the stages that require your fox to be quite nimble when the game's controls aren't really particularly good at that. [there are floating bridge puzzles where you need to step on each block that makes up the bridge. go too fast? well, you might just fall off the edge and die.]
the bridge puzzles are also not particularly well telegraphed. i drowned several times before i figured out what i was doing wrong.
for everyone else:
there's a maze. it's an un-fun maze. it's right at the end.
it's not a very long game. i clocked in at four hours, one of which was spent in the kitchen making food. i may have finished this one a lot faster, were it not for the iffy controls on those bridge puzzles [that and i didn't immediately figure out what i needed to do, there.]
[b]recommendation:[/b]
this is an indie dev who worked hard to make a wonderful, sweet game with a poignant story. i'd like to suggest that if you have any interest in this game that you buy it at full price if you can to support them. however, for most, given the short run-time and the unkown nature of this particular developer, i suspect that waiting for a sale might be the more prudent way to go, however you choose, i do urge you to pick this one up.
