There's some really good stuff in this game, and the design is quite fresh. Lots of genuinely nice ideas. I'm not recommending it because it loses cohesion roughly halfway through and playing it becomes boring, and that's for two reasons.
[h1]Complaining[/h1]
One is what I call "System Shock Syndrome". You are rewarded for your efforts with stronger weapons, tools, different kinds of armour, food, but your inventory remains limited and before you know it you're spending more time rearranging your items and carefully wondering what to drop, what to eat, which tools and weapons are you willing to carry. And - unlike in System Shock - there are no stashes, at least I never found any.
So you have your powerful armour you got from a Leshy, but you want to try a different one? Yeah, having two armours in your inventory... that's not going to work, unless you're okay with not picking anything up. So you'll have to sell one of them. But they're both unique quest rewards. And it's not like one of them is objectively better than the other - they're for different situations. Hmm.
Also, if you're the kind of person who likes to uncover all little secrets - dig up all the holes, open all the chests - you're going to have to carry a whole toolbox with you. Shovel, lockpicks, fishing rod... and that's on top of all that food that you will need to heal yourself. More on that later. So after a while you'll find yourself with very limited space to pick up precious, precious loot, and that's just no fun. Unless you're okay with visiting the merchant after every three wolves.
And the second thing: the game immediately establishes its focus as an exploration game. It's about discovery. Of the world, of the lore, of the interesting hidden mechanics. But unfortunately after some time it kinda... stops with the new stuff. Obviously, that's just how it is, all novelty fades, but the base gameplay loop isn't fun enough to sustain the goodwill you got from all these delicious promises of happiness.
[h1]Although...[/h1]
Still, I played it for 4 hours, and I can tell I've actually gotten somewhat close to the end. So what it does right, it must be doing at least somewhat right.
The food/healing system is actually ingenious, but awfully unrefined. There's a nugget of gold here, for sure, just needs some careful work. Unlike in other classic roguelikes, you don't have levels of satiation. Instead, there are three states: you're satiated ("digesting"), you're not, and you're hungry. If you're hungry, you'll slowly lose stats until you die, so you'll better eat up. Being neither satiated nor hungry only means that you're capable of consuming a meal. And this is where it gets interesting.
A meal has benefits, as well as satiation length. Both of these depend on which ingredients you used for cooking. So, let's say you have a meal that restores 2 HP over 2 hours, and a meal that restores 2 HP over 6 hours. The first one is better, right? Not necessarily! Eating the first one will heal you faster, true, but it also means you'll have to eat sooner. Which could mean that you'll be able to heal again. But what if your meal also grants bonus armour? You'll want it to last as long as possible, right? See, there's nuance!
And you really have to be careful here, as your health and mind do not restore on their own. The only other way to heal (except visiting an inn) is to sleep, but you can only sleep every 12 hours. You might want to eat one of these long-lasting meals before bed so that you get additional heals upon waking. But with all this nuance, you have to be very considerate of what you're eating and carrying, and as I mentioned before, inventory is very limited. Meals are huge, too, but you can only cook them at camps, so you simply have to carry some (admittedly, there are also travel-friendly meals, but figuring this out isn't completely trivial).
The battle system is automatic. Reminds me a lot of Loop Hero, and that's a great thing. Cooldowns, HP, damage, you know the drill. Nothing to add here.
There are also some other interesting mechanics, but I won't write about them here. Just because I'm not recommending the game doesn't mean the game's bad, so perhaps you'd like to play it and see for yourself. The plot managed to surprise me - which is also quite rare these days, so my compliments to the chef, as it were.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
It's not bad. I don't think the game's price has anything to do with its quality, so I'm judging this one by the same standard as I do all other Steam games. In other words, if you think a game being free makes it better for some reason, then this is a good game.
I can't say how many people beat it, as there are no achievements. That's alright with me.
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