Steep learning curve but rewarding if you persevere. Enjoy the journey, the journey is worthwhile.



You need to eat, drink and sleep. This will see you foraging for berries, hunting wild beasts for meat, boiling dirty water to make it drinkable, setting up tents in safe secluded spots and setting traps around your tent in case you get ambushed, etc.

You also need to manage your body temperature. Get too hot and you can pass out from the heat, but you can cool off by drinking water. Getting cold can result in getting sick, but you can brew a variety of teas using foraged ingredients to cure most illnesses and warm yourself up.

The whole survival experience is just very immersive and comfy. At the same time, nights are refreshingly intimidating. It gets cold, and it gets dark. Really dark, punctuated with glimpses of glowing eyes beyond the meager light of your lantern.

Other survival elements include inventory management and managing equipment durability. They are implemented well and serve important purposes.



The story is nothing special, but it is interesting to experience the same main story through the perspective of different factions over multiple playthroughs. The story serves primarily as a means to push you into the harsh outside world.

The game has a tinge of "choices matter" but the reality is basically being given 4 dialogue options made up of 3 wrong answers and 1 right answer. There aren't really "branching paths" beyond choosing a faction.



Melee combat is clunky and quirky but manageable. It boils down to learning your own moveset, then learning each enemy's moveset.

The magic system is very innovative and one of the most remarkable experiences I've had with any magic system in a game. As a mage you will begin by seeking out and obtaining the tools and techniques for spellcasting, and then you will be encouraged to experiment with these tools on your own in order to discover how to actually cast useful spells. My only complaint is that there aren't more esoteric secrets to discover than there already is.



There are 6 regions, each featuring a unique dynamic soundtrack which changes based on daytime, nighttime, and whether or not you're engaged in combat.

The music isn't bad, but it is out-of-place. It's quite distracting and can get repetitive. It's too in-your-face when it should be more ambient. On a technical level, it can sound somewhat unpolished in the moment when it loops, or when transitioning in and out of combat.

You can turn off music in the settings but this deprives you of an audio cue for when an enemy has spotted you.



Great fun. A fair challenge to save for when you get comfortable with the game.



Introduces an interesting concept but the execution is soul-crushing. Very grindy. Only for the most dedicated players. I recommend avoiding this like the plague.



The learning curve is very steep. Climbing the curve is very rewarding, but there's a cliff on the other side which plummets down to absolute apathy, and the Three Brothers DLC is what pushed me over the edge. Just enjoy the journey, the journey is 100% worthwhile. Then quit while you're ahead.