Happy Life
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The opinion of a boomer who once wanted to play it, didn't, and now finally closed that loop for fun.
Atmospheric? Yes. Scary? No. I could call it slightly disturbing in places for some, because the atmosphere is well-built, the art design is polished, and the tags are well-chosen. Also, the first couple of times, it might be tense to spend the night in the shack, but ultimately, it's just a game, and it can't really evoke a feeling of fear, because the worst that can happen is reloading a save.
Not a bad story, even though I didn't fully delve into it.
The only problem with the game is the gameplay. It's not terrible, but it's tedious and doesn't reward you with much. Hitting enemies with a stick and crafting new items is cool, but otherwise, it's just okay. Inventory management, and even stamina in 2021? Well, you get the idea.
But that's okay, within the context of the pacing here, it affects the gameplay more and isn't so annoying that it becomes unbearable. The main problem is that you have an open-world map that seems to be atmospherically drawn and populated with lore-rich locations, but exploring it is not so much objectively uninteresting as it is stressful and ultimately doesn't give you any benefit. So you go to an unexplored place on the map, see a ruined house. You kill the monsters around it and inside, loot what's there – generic loot that you can find anywhere else. Yes, it's atmospheric, it's kind of cool, some remnant of life before the cataclysm, but your inventory is already full, and you either have to run back to the cabin to dump the loot or choose what to throw away. You go to another place, it's the same, and then night falls – you go back to the cabin and sit there again, listening to the knocks and sighs behind the wall. A new morning – you repeat the process, and so on. You're on the clock 24/7, you're kind of forced to move around and do something, but it's not necessary for your survival – there are plenty of resources, the chests are overflowing, and the actual development of the theme and atmosphere of the setting – that is, the main positive and most well-developed aspect – often boils down to the fact that you need to run somewhere, loot something, constantly manage your inventory and stamina. This tired me out a lot, and if I played the first half with more or less interest, when you don't have anything, you haven't seen anything yet, you're gradually getting used to it, building up resources, getting to know the world, and so on, then I almost dropped the game in the second half out of boredom, and I gritted my teeth and speedran it in a couple of evenings.
In short, I want to give it an 8, maybe 8.5, for the effort, the interesting idea, and the way it's presented, but the bugs and gameplay wouldn't let me rate it subjectively higher than a 7. So I'll leave it without a rating. Overall, I don't regret playing it and finding the strength to finish it. I suppose that people who are different from me in the above-mentioned aspects may really enjoy it.
Atmospheric? Yes. Scary? No. I could call it slightly disturbing in places for some, because the atmosphere is well-built, the art design is polished, and the tags are well-chosen. Also, the first couple of times, it might be tense to spend the night in the shack, but ultimately, it's just a game, and it can't really evoke a feeling of fear, because the worst that can happen is reloading a save.
Not a bad story, even though I didn't fully delve into it.
The only problem with the game is the gameplay. It's not terrible, but it's tedious and doesn't reward you with much. Hitting enemies with a stick and crafting new items is cool, but otherwise, it's just okay. Inventory management, and even stamina in 2021? Well, you get the idea.
But that's okay, within the context of the pacing here, it affects the gameplay more and isn't so annoying that it becomes unbearable. The main problem is that you have an open-world map that seems to be atmospherically drawn and populated with lore-rich locations, but exploring it is not so much objectively uninteresting as it is stressful and ultimately doesn't give you any benefit. So you go to an unexplored place on the map, see a ruined house. You kill the monsters around it and inside, loot what's there – generic loot that you can find anywhere else. Yes, it's atmospheric, it's kind of cool, some remnant of life before the cataclysm, but your inventory is already full, and you either have to run back to the cabin to dump the loot or choose what to throw away. You go to another place, it's the same, and then night falls – you go back to the cabin and sit there again, listening to the knocks and sighs behind the wall. A new morning – you repeat the process, and so on. You're on the clock 24/7, you're kind of forced to move around and do something, but it's not necessary for your survival – there are plenty of resources, the chests are overflowing, and the actual development of the theme and atmosphere of the setting – that is, the main positive and most well-developed aspect – often boils down to the fact that you need to run somewhere, loot something, constantly manage your inventory and stamina. This tired me out a lot, and if I played the first half with more or less interest, when you don't have anything, you haven't seen anything yet, you're gradually getting used to it, building up resources, getting to know the world, and so on, then I almost dropped the game in the second half out of boredom, and I gritted my teeth and speedran it in a couple of evenings.
In short, I want to give it an 8, maybe 8.5, for the effort, the interesting idea, and the way it's presented, but the bugs and gameplay wouldn't let me rate it subjectively higher than a 7. So I'll leave it without a rating. Overall, I don't regret playing it and finding the strength to finish it. I suppose that people who are different from me in the above-mentioned aspects may really enjoy it.
My sword, my trusted ally, unphased by my aspect.
