The Longing
The Longing | |
---|---|
![]() Cover art for The Longing, showing the player character "A Shade" and the countdown timer at 399:23:59:59. | |
Developer(s) | Studio Seufz |
Publisher(s) | Application Systems Heidelberg |
Director(s) | Anselm Pyta |
Producer(s) | Stefan Michel |
Programmer(s) |
|
Artist(s) |
|
Composer(s) |
|
Engine | Unity[1] |
Platform(s) | |
Release | March 5, 2020 |
Genre(s) | Point-and-click adventure, idle |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Longing (stylized as THE LONGING or :THE LONGING:) is an indie point-and-click adventure and idle video game, released on March 5, 2020 by Studio Seufz. Based upon the Kyffhäuser legend, the game follows a creature called "A Shade" as he waits 400 days to awaken a sleeping king. During this wait, the Shade must find ways to pass the time. The game is notable in that the 400 days progress in real-time, regardless of the game being open or not. The Longing received positive reviews and was praised for its experimental nature.
Gameplay and story
![A small cave. Crystals and hand-drawn paintings line the walls. There are various carpets on the floor. A small fire is lit in the corner. The Shade sits in an armchair next to a mostly filled bookshelf, smiling. There is a table next to the bookshelf for drawing, and a musical instrument to the right of that. A large curtain and a stuffed horse head are near the cave entrance at the right of the screen.](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/55/TheLongingVideoGame_ShadeHome.png/220px-TheLongingVideoGame_ShadeHome.png)
The gameplay of The Longing revolves around a real-time countdown of 400 days as the player character, called "A Shade", waits to awaken his king. Interaction with the world is slow-paced by design,[2] with the Shade's movement speed being significantly slow.[3] The gameplay consists mostly of exploring caves, gathering resources to furnish the Shade's home, and other time-wasting activities such as reading[a] and drawing.[5] Many aspects of the game are time-dependent, for instance, roadblocks which require the player to wait a certain amount of time before progressing.[2] The game is intended to, at least in part, be played idly,[2] enabled by features such as idle reading and a bookmark system,[6] by which the player can direct the Shade to automatically walk to a previously saved location, his home, or randomly wander around.[7][8]
The player's main goals are driven by a to-do list of things to improve the Shade's life,[9] however, no interaction with the game world is required to advance the timer, as it continues regardless of what actions are taken[b] and increments independently of the game being open.[10] Time advances faster in the Shade's home depending on how well-furnished it is, as well as while performing certain actions such as drawing.[7] As a result of the timer's constant progression, it is possible to beat the game by opening it once, waiting 400 days, then opening it again, although this is not the intended way to play.[2] To prevent cheating, the game also has a dungeon system as a consequence for players who attempt to circumvent the time limit by changing their computer's system clock.[2] The game features several endings, and not all require the player to wait out the 400 day timer.[7][11]
Development and release
The Longing's story was largely inspired by the Kyffhäuser legend, particularly by a dwarven character within the poem "Kyffhäuser Mountains Barbarossa" by Friedrich Rückert, which was based upon the legend. The dwarf was tasked with checking every 100 years if its king was ready to awaken. Anselm Pyta, director of The Longing, found the character interesting, and focused in on it and its mental state.[2] As such, much of the game was built around the theme of loneliness.[1] The gameplay was inspired by idle games such as Clicker Heroes.[2] Prior to release, a demo of the game was showcased at AdventureX 2020.[10] The game released on March 5, 2020 to Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux.[12]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 76%[13] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
4Players | 70%[8] |
PC Gamer (Sweden) | 82%[14] |
The Washington Post | 90/100[5] |
The Longing was received positively by critics, aggregating 76% on Metacritic.[13] In particular it was praised for its experimental nature; PC Gamer's Joakim Kilman called it a "fascinating experiment",[14] and Christopher Byrd of The Washington Post spoke of how "[its] level of creativity reinvigorates my expectation of what games can be," drawing comparisons to The Witness and The Beginner's Guide, among others.[5] In part due to its release date, Rachel Weber of GamesRadar called it "the game that best sums up life in the 2020 pandemic".[15] Some reviewers criticized the game's lack of content;[16] Feronato Emaneule of The Games Machine praised its story, but stated that it "[clashes] with the lack of puzzles and too many pauses."[17]
Awards
Award | Category | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
2020 Deutscher Computerspielpreis | Best Debut | Won | [18] |
2020 Independent Games Festival | Nuovo Award | Nominated | [19] |
A MAZE 2019 | Long Feature Award | Won | [20] |
Animated Games Award Germany 2019 | — | Special Mention | [21] |
See also
Notes
- ^ Mainly classical literature including Moby Dick and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, supplied through Project Gutenberg.[4]
- ^ With the single major exception of the "Halls of Eternity", upon entering which time is stopped.[3][4]
References
- ^ a b Couture, Joel (February 18, 2020). "Road to the IGF: Studio Seufz's THE LONGING". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jackson, Gita (December 18, 2020). "One Way To Beat This Upcoming Puzzle Game Is To Wait 400 Days". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Cunningham, James (March 6, 2020). "The Longing Completes its Yearning for Release". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Valentine, Rebekah (February 27, 2020). "Designing the end of all Longing". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ a b c Byrd, Christopher (March 5, 2020). "Review | 'The Longing': Patience (and lots of it) is required, but it's worth every minute". Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ Gregoire, Jesee (March 5, 2020). "The Longing Review - Jump Dash Roll". JumpDashRoll. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c MacLeod, Riley (March 9, 2020). "The Longing, Which Can Take Over A Year To Finish, Encourages You To Embrace Waiting". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Verfondern, Maja. "The Longing - Test, Adventure". 4Players (in German). Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ Bell, Alice (March 12, 2020). "The deep darkness of caves and mushrooms in The Longing". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Hadley, Jupiter (November 25, 2019). "'The Longing' Explores Gloomy Depths Over 400 Real-World Days". Indie Games Plus. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ Bell, Alice (April 2, 2020). "I have finished the sad tamogotchi game that is The Longing". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "Pass 400 days underground in IGF-nominee The Longing, coming to Steam on March 5 (Win/Mac/Linux review copies available now)". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ a b ":THE LONGING:". Metacritic. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Kilman, Joakim (March 5, 2020). "The Longing – Recension". Svenska PC Gamer (in Swedish). Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ Weber, Rachel (April 3, 2020). "The Longing is the indie game that sums up self-solation perfectly". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ Aravositas, Athanasios (March 24, 2020). "THE LONGING (PC) Review". Cubed3. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ Emanuele, Feronato (May 3, 2020). "The Longing – Recensione". The Games Machine (in Italian). Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ "Nachwuchspreise: Bestes Debüt The Longing". Deutscher Computerspielpreis (in German). March 28, 2020. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ "Finalists and Winners". IGF. September 22, 2016. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ A MAZE (April 12, 2019). "Long Feature Award goes to: @AnselmPyta with The Longing #Amaze2019 #AMazeAwardspic.twitter.com/eogPz0q4Ik". @AMazeFest. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "THE LONGING Presskit". www.399d-23h-59m-59s.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
Further reading
- Green, Holly (September 3, 2019). "In The Longing, Time Is Everything". Paste. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- Barnewall, Chris (March 5, 2020). "'The Longing' Is a Game That Will Take 400 Days to Beat". UPROXX. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- Gordon, Lewis (May 11, 2020). "Animal Crossing's Embrace of Cute, Capitalist Perfection Is Not What We Need". The Nation. Retrieved May 24, 2020.