THE LONGING

It's not that I don't LIKE The Longing, but rather... I would struggle to think of anyone I would recommend it to, even in the sense of a general audience and not just my friends and acquaintences. Primarily because The Longing isn't... really a 'game', in the sense that most people think of a game. It's more of a... kind of emotional, artistic experience. And it's less about preventing people from playing this, and more about managing expectations.

The Longing is a 'game' about waiting... a very long time. Often days or weeks. And not 'in-game' days or weeks, LITERAL days or weeks in REAL LIFE, because many of the game's events are tied to specific moments in time on a countdown clock that is always visible at the top of the game screen (and which continues to count down even when it's closed and you are not playing, which is why even though it takes at maximum 400 days to play, I only have 33 hours of playtime despite running the clock all the way to 0). While there is a way to advance time faster in the game, it takes a bit of exploring to unlock which, again, can take days or weeks.

Again, I should state for the record, I personally enjoyed this game. As slow and plodding as the game is (the game map is HUGE and your character, the Shade, walks at a snail's pace), and as different as it is from other games I play (such as WarFrame or Wizard of Legend), I found something relatable in this little fellow's isolation. It was less like playing a game, and more like checking up on a friend, or a pet.

Actually, that's a great way to think about it. It's like a tamagotchi you don't have to feed, clean or look after. Just a cute lil' guy you check up on once in a while to see how he's doing, maybe take him for a walk and explore a little bit more of the gigantic cave system he calls home, maybe find something nice for him to decorate his room...

There's something admirable about this little black birdnosed freak. How his big, yellow eyes constantly stare forward as if keeping his gaze set on a hopeful future, in spite of being trapped in a deep, dark cavern from which he's certain there is likely no escape.

Personally, the only thing I don't like about this game is the developer's insistance that for the sake of emotional and artistic impact, you should only play it once and then never again. Once the game ends, it is locked on the ending screen, even if you close the game and boot it up again.

There is, of course, a way to start over, but the developer purposely HIDES it from you. Although, in retrospect, the way they did so was quite clever. Like many other things in the game, you gain access to this by simply waiting. If you let the game linger on the endscreen for about 10 or 15 minutes you will be given the option to restart, albeit with a polite request by the developer that you consider not doing so. I'm torn as to whether this was a clever move that simply maintains the core theme of the game, or a kind of jackass move to force people to play his game the way he thinks you should play it.

Either way, I WILL be playing again. I missed the Birthday achievement on my first time around and I want it. So there.



~~~~~EDIT: Because I have been getting some comments about it, I would like to address why I gave this game a "negative" review despite enjoying it.~~~~~

I personally believe it is actually inaccurate to recommend or not recommend a game based on purely your own personal enjoyment of it. If you are going to recommend something it has to be something you think other people will actually like. I selected "Not Recommend" because quite bluntly I think that I very much enjoyed it in spite of the fact that I truly believe most people would not see it as a good game.

I did not do this to lower the game's rating or even prevent people from playing it entirely. I did this to prevent casual nonces from playing the game with a certain expectation, getting pissy about it and then popping negative reviews that the game absolutely does not need from people who should have just known better what to expect.

My intent was and still is not to destroy the game, but to gatekeep it so that only the truly worthy who could actually appreciate it (and give the game the positive reaction it actually deserves) will touch it.

I truly do like this game, but I also do truly believe I am a complete f**king weirdo and expect most people do not share my strange tastes or my willing patience.

While most of the comments I received over this review have been overwhelmingly positive and I thank you all who read, understood and appreciated the message, I have been getting more critics lately and it is kind of an annoyance to see the notifications, so I will be disabling comments for the future.

From now on my review will speak for itself and you can think whatever you like about it and very damn well keep it to yourself.

As a retired senior during the pandemic, this is a very fun game, sorry to see it end soon. Loved the slow pace and discovery. Use of guides/walkthroughs/discussions allowed me to fully enjoy the adventure.

The simplest way to describe this game is as a sort of "reverse" clicker. Rather than shooting for a high score, you're seeking out multipliers and actions which aim to reduce the daunting 400 day wait.

It is so much more than that, however. Instead of flashy loot and upgrades, the game encourages you to read classics, create drawings and play music. It wants you to explore an ever-evolving world, creeping along in real time, with change happening slowly, over weeks and months. It's a game which tests patience, and rewards creative thinking.

It's also hell on my OCD. For a game which may come across as boring to some, to others, there are challenges which test your consistent persistence and time management to the extreme. This is the kind of game where some elements are still unknown to players, simply because not enough time has elapsed since it was launched.

There are several endings as well, all dependent on choices which are never made immediately obvious. There are halls which may go on forever, and some people have been walking them for months, even as I write this, just to see if there is an other side. It's a game some will easily put thousands of hours into, despite it being, mechanically speaking, little more than a "walking simulator."

The Longing is a game to ponder over. With its indirect narrative and subtle storytelling, It's a game not just about spending time, but savouring it, and spending it wisely... or not. Since time progresses regardless of your intervention, you may choose to log in, start the game, and then never log in again until 400 days later, just to see what happens when the clock runs down. Even just for that, I can imagine worse ways I've spent $15.

The choice is yours, and the Shade is waiting.