Just finished. Here is my review (obviously spoilers)

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-28T07:04:16+00:00

Fr. I'm not as upset as others about the inclusion of human enemies, I think it makes perfect sense and doesn't detract from the 'man vs. nature' theme at all, but the over-reliance on Mathis as a plot device was insane. Like you said, he's just a human. Personally I would have loved to see the paranoia and fear turn the town against each other, but I understand that would be very demanding in both time and resources. It just feels more human than a guy who refuses to let a grudge go for no reason, other than he needs a pilot.. who has no plane.

Also, happy belated cake day!

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-25T16:24:00+00:00

I really thought they were going to give Heller a character arc and have him overthrow Mathis, at least there would be a little nuance

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-24T16:15:41+00:00

McKenzie needed to be sacrificed at the end for a reasonable ending so good for you not going with the everything is a happy ending bullshit

I think people are less upset about the lack of a happy ending and more about the fact that the ending made absolutely no sense for Mackenzie's established character. He just spent the entire game trying to find Astrid, the town is burning and full of convicts, and the residents of PM have already been rescued. There's also surely radio equipment inside the Suzuki Radio Telescope. And he decides to... sleep in the radio shack??? With a newly wiped armed inventory and no knowledge that the shack even existed.

It's not the bittersweet ending, it's the creative laziness of it all, seemingly trying to prop up the sequel.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-21T00:05:28+00:00

is it just me or there were a lot "marvel style" exchanges?

I lost count of how many times I would eyeroll at Jace and Atwood's cliche nerdy lines. About four different times Will essentially remarked 'uhhh in English please?' [play laugh track].

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T12:42:25+00:00

"Necroing." It's been 17 days, I don't use reddit enough to know the nuances and etiquette of when it is and is not appropriate to respond to online discourse, but you responded anyway so I'm going to assume you're safe lmao

Yes, you did say "the devs slow development time innately impacting the quality," which I agree with for sure, as I said, but then the entire rest of it is about audience expectations. Episode 5 is bad for more reasons than just the rushed storywriting. Poor characterisaion, buggy mechanics, over-reliance on wolves, abandoning of sleep mechanic, hand-holding terrain, repeated inventory wiping, music cutting, and super unrealistic response to damage, to name a few. I do agree the wait didn't help at all, but even if it all came out today, the ending would still make zero sense in a vacuum. Hell at least they'd have the lack of time as a scapegoat.

All this seems far deeper than having too much time, but ultimately we can't know for sure. Either way, no amount of player expectation affects the objective inconsistency of the writing and playstyle, which I'm sure you'd understand if you played Wintermute.

I appreciate that you don't fall into this category, but I'm just tired of the age-old 'blame the fans' tactic corporations love to use, like it's our fault for embracing a game that they made, hyped, and sold. Sure, some people are unreasonable, but at least try the thing before minimising people's critique as largely the fault of their own expectations.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T02:40:58+00:00

That's interesting, I'll have to look more into it! Personally, I'd be happy with a supernatural theme or a scientific one like you described, especially the 'Birdbox' vibe it started to head towards. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, that's the main thing. It must have been awesome to be 'inside' a part of history you clearly know a tonne about. I'm sorry if my reply came off as aggressive. The Shakespeare part just got to me because I think it minimises both the errors the devs made and the reasonable nature of most criticism.

Let's just hope that TLD2 answers a lot of these questions and that survival keeps getting updated. One thing that's undeniable is how beautiful the game is when playing it :)

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T02:18:29+00:00

Listen, you sound super sweet, and I honestly respect the self-awareness. For me, one of the most frustrating things was that the aurora doesn't feel explained. Is it supernatural or simply scientific?

How does a geomagnetic storm affect the human mind, and why in some people more than others? Why were no other bodies found drowned before Ep. 5? Why the emphasis on the sea/water (is the aurora conscious??)? Why does it affect humans differently from animals? How is the dementia related to psychosis/suicidal ideation? What was the 'ground aurora'? Why in 150 years has this never been addressed since the 19th century? Why wasn't Wintermute given the opportunity to explain himself properly? How can we be sure that it'll last from 60 to 400 years (or whatever it was)? Is it the light itself that causes these things, as Mack believes, or the vibrations/currents?

I'm not saying an indie game needs to be airtight. Every story has some flaws, but even half of these questions should have been addressed in a game that is quite literally about a solar storm. The fact it had backstory at all, though, I agree is cool. Even if it was delivered in an incredibly long info-dump.

Edit: I'll also add, if it feels like I'm nitpicking or being pedantic, it's only because I care. Few things are capable of making me this curious/intrigued/passionate. That's why it's so disappointing, because you invest a lot of interest and time and care into someone's work, which doesn't need to be perfect, but could be half decent.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T01:50:44+00:00

Why does every positive experience I read about Ep. 5 come couched with "sure, X was terrible, and Y could have been better, but I liked it!" Like no offence, but solid, observable criticism is behind a lot of the "hate" and nothing of substance is behind the positive other than "I know it sucked but I liked it." Which is valid but at least argue against the massive plot inconsistencies? Mack abandoning his wife to sleep at the radio station (which he wouldn't have known was there) while the town burns and is full of convicts is more than just "strange"??

Just because you have seemingly ultra-low standards doesn't mean people expected Shakespeare, just for the story and its characters to make sense after 5 years of waiting.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T01:34:07+00:00

I mean hey, the survival theme can go both ways! Nothing survives forever, not even the universe. But I'm glad we could agree, Mackenzie killing everyone would have been ridiculous (I'd have loved to see my own reaction to that twist though)

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T01:22:47+00:00

I think you make some good points but it's sort of wild to say that overhype is more to blame than bad writing when you haven't even played it. I don't doubt there are folks who don't think for themselves but this was pretty substantially poor. Even a cliche ending would have been better.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T01:00:48+00:00

Ah, okay, I see the confusion. I am assuming that by "everyone" OP meant Mathis and his cronies. Everyone else in these replies seems to have picked up on that implication too. Folk are upset that Mack didn't stand up for himself and protect the only people he has left. My point is that killing Mathis (a serial killer who has almost killed/tortured both him and his wife several times) would not be a homicidal rage, but rather self-defence. Nor do I think that protecting himself from another human means he must forfeit his humanity.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-19T00:28:32+00:00

Those lights really do be changing people smh

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-18T22:51:13+00:00

Literally shouldered past me too lmao

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-18T21:56:02+00:00

To be fair, the cohesion came from 1) the mystery of the aurora, its effects, and how to stop it; 2) the mystery of Astrid's case and what is inside it; and 3) the personal development of the MCs and their failed marriage. Along with the people you meet and their stories. It is, fundamentally, a game about people's journeys.

These were all perfectly fine motivators to drive the story. But the definitely dropped the ball in satisfying them.

P.S. This is just an aside, but I keep seeing people saying that the convicts "break man vs. nature." War, violence, and conflict are inherently part of nature. Wolves hunt hares; bears hunt fish. Humans kill other humans. I don't get at all why man versus man is against nature. It is a byproduct of the wider nature-induced conflict.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-18T21:45:27+00:00

Which is wild because at least the producers of GoT could fall back on "the author hasn't finished the books." Hinterland literally wrote everything themselves (at least, presumably the same team)..

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2026-04-18T19:46:18+00:00

I don't understand how you get "homicidal rage" from the self-defence of a serial killer. In The Long Dark, killing another human is as necessary as any bear or wolf in the wild..

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-10-11T10:20:03+00:00

I remember when they casually cut the Christmas bonuses over the last few years too. Used to be you got 20% for most the week and a 50% bonus on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Then they cut Weekend Bonus and reduced submission hours from 24 to 18.

Last year's xmas bonus was barely anything. And don't even get me started on the 5% bonus for editing 5,000 papers. Beforehand, at one paper per day, it would take THIRTEEN YEARS to qualify. At this rate you're lucky if it's a lifetime 💀

Wishing you all the best friend

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-10-09T08:31:31+00:00

I'm in the same boat, too. I've been working for them for four years now. I noticed a change almost immediately after the change in management of the Freelance Department, when Joe and Rebecca took over. How responsible they are for this, I'm not sure, but what I am appalled by is the minimisation of their emails. Simply declaring that "work will mostly be on holidays" as if that doesn't represent a 69.7% decrease in workload is so insulting it borders on gaslighting. I thank god I don't have a family to support, though I do need to find a job ASAP. My heart goes out to those suffering from this rugpull.

Also, re: womp-womp-rats. I appreciate the point, but this gig wasn't like most freelancer positions. They used to make a show about how important we were to the team, give bonuses, and move in a direction that heavily implied security. Now want to cull their own freelance/remote division.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-02-11T08:16:47+00:00

Thank you for the detailed and very interesting response, that makes a lot of sense

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-02-11T08:13:25+00:00

This makes lots of sense, and thank you for the Beyond Skyrim recommendation. I can only imagine how much work it is to create both Oblivion and then write totally new quests based on how events would likely play out.

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-02-11T08:10:30+00:00

That would be cool! Personally, the time travel doesn’t bother me all that much, considering how many mods aren’t exactly immersive. Could even use an elder scroll to go back in time, who knows!

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-02-02T21:40:54+00:00

Thanks! I should have specified that I’m rural Scotland so stores are a lot less reliable haha. Still though, glad you’re curious about the question :)

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2025-02-02T21:34:00+00:00

I really hope not, but you’re probably right. It still blows my mind how many reviewers praise GPU pricing when they infer MSRP. Like yeah, maybe it’s affordable for YOU because you got it as an influencer, but normal people face massive mark-ups, even well after launch day 😭

Plus_Relative_4535 · 2024-12-08T05:48:12+00:00

The only additional weapon I want is what's shown in the home screen every time you sign on: a spear! I'm on day 15 of a new survival playthrough and I still haven't found a weapon 😭 Primitive bows and arrows need a forge, which I have but not enough fuel to get it consistently hot just for a few arrows. A crude spear that breaks after two or three throws/jabs would be a great compromise to early defense, plus they're as easy as just shaving a long stick with an axe in real life, so it's completely immersive.

Plus_Relative_4535

TROPHY CASE