- Emotional story about environmental destruction.
- Beautiful and distinctive art style.
- Survival, care, and resource management gameplay.
- Excellent and atmospheric soundtrack.
- Repetitive and monotonous gameplay.
- Overly sad and depressing story.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 89% · Negative 11%. Score: 11 / 100
Positives:
- The game delivers a powerful and emotional narrative centered on environmental destruction, human impact, and the struggle for survival. It evokes empathy, encourages reflection on humanity's relationship with nature, and highlights the importance of conservation. The story explores themes of loss, resilience, and maternal love, often leading to strong emotional responses from players.
- The game features a beautiful and distinctive art style, often described as reminiscent of Impressionism, with smooth lines, rich colors, and detailed environments. The visuals are complemented by a well-crafted soundtrack, enhancing the game's atmosphere and emotional impact. The combination of art and music creates a captivating and immersive experience for the player.
- Players experience the game from the perspective of a mother fox, tasked with protecting and caring for her cubs in a dangerous world. The fox family is portrayed as adorable, with detailed animations and charming interactions that create a strong emotional connection. The game effectively conveys the challenges and responsibilities of motherhood in a hostile environment.
- The game features an excellent soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere and emotional impact of the experience. The music is described as beautiful, pleasant, and well-timed, with unique cues that complement the gameplay. Many reviewers enjoyed the music so much that they sought it out separately, even purchasing it to support the developers.
- The game encourages exploration and rewards multiple playthroughs, revealing new details, side stories, and connections within the environment. The world changes over time, adding depth to the experience and making it feel more alive. The game also features a flexible pathing system that enhances the sense of freedom and immersion.
Negatives:
- Reviewers found the gameplay repetitive, monotonous, and sometimes boring. This is due to scavenging for food, avoiding predators, and retracing the same paths repeatedly. Some reviewers also noted the lack of engaging mechanics.
- Many reviewers found the game's story and ending to be overwhelmingly sad, depressing, and emotionally taxing. Some felt the game was excessively cruel and manipulative, while others found it to be a realistic portrayal of the world's harsh realities. Some reviewers express that the game is not for the faint of heart.
- Many reviewers feel the game's price is too high for its short length and limited content. They suggest waiting for a significant sale before purchasing. Some reviewers feel that the game is a 'rip-off' at full price.
- Reviewers found navigation frustrating due to confusing map design, a restrictive camera, and poor pathfinding. This often leads to backtracking and getting lost. Some reviewers also noted that the game does a poor job of explaining itself.
- The game features harsh realities for the fox family, including the death or kidnapping of cubs. Reviewers found these events emotionally upsetting and sometimes frustrating due to gameplay flaws that prevent reverting or replaying sections.
Gameplay:
- The core gameplay loop revolves around survival as a fox mother, requiring players to scavenge for food, avoid predators and humans, and care for their cubs in a harsh, environmentally damaged world. Players must manage resources, teach their cubs new skills, and protect them from dangers to ensure their survival over a set number of days.
- The game incorporates unique mechanics such as scent tracking to locate food and follow the trail of a kidnapped cub. The cubs also have needs that must be met, such as petting them when they are scared. These mechanics add depth to the gameplay and enhance the player's connection with the fox family.
- The game features a semi-open world with diverse explorable areas and a 2.5D perspective. Players can explore the environment to find food, trigger story events, and unlock new paths as they progress through the game.
- As the game progresses, fox cubs can learn new skills such as hunting, digging, and climbing. These skills aid in exploration and food gathering, making it easier to survive in the harsh environment.
- The game incorporates stealth elements, requiring players to avoid enemies and use caution to survive. Stealth is the main tool for survival, especially in later stages where enemies with guns are introduced.
Performance:
- The game's performance and optimization are inconsistent. Some players report smooth gameplay with no issues, even on older systems, while others experience significant performance problems, including overheating and poor performance on the Steam Deck. This suggests that the game's PC requirements are decent, but optimization may vary depending on hardware.
- The game offers adjustable graphics settings such as anti-aliasing, resolution options, VSync toggle, and FPS limit. However, some reviewers note that adjusting these settings doesn't significantly impact the graphics quality or performance. The game also supports ultra-wide resolutions.
- Sound design is average, with few musical compositions.
- Several players have encountered bugs that impede progress, such as getting stuck in the terrain or story missions failing to load. These issues often require restarting the game or a previous save, disrupting the player experience.
- Some reviewers mention issues that are not bugs, such as user error or hardware limitations. These points do not provide actionable feedback for the developers.
Recommendations:
- The game receives overwhelmingly positive recommendations, with many reviewers considering it a must-play or even a masterpiece. Reviewers highlight the game's artistic beauty, emotional impact, and thought-provoking nature. Some suggest it's among the best games they've ever played.
- The game is noted for its strong emotional impact, often described as heart-wrenching or tear-jerking. Reviewers suggest preparing for a sad and potentially depressing experience, advising players to have tissues ready. Some reviewers even state they won't replay the game due to the emotional toll.
- Many reviewers advise purchasing the game only during a sale or at a significant discount. This recommendation stems from concerns about the game's short length relative to its full price. Some reviewers provide specific price points they deem acceptable.
- Some reviewers provide numerical scores, with the game receiving ratings ranging from 5/10 to 10/10. These scores offer a general indication of the reviewer's overall impression of the game, but should be considered alongside the qualitative feedback provided in their reviews.
- Some reviewers criticize the gameplay, describing it as shallow or lacking depth. They suggest that the game relies too heavily on its serious topic and doesn't offer enough engaging player interaction. This indicates that the gameplay mechanics may not be as compelling as the narrative.
Miscellaneous:
- The player controls a mother fox caring for her cubs in a bleak and dangerous world. The narrative often involves the threat of losing the cubs to human actions or natural disasters, highlighting the vulnerability of wildlife. One specific instance involves a cub being captured by a hunter, prompting the mother fox to search for it.
- The game's length is relatively short, with playthroughs ranging from 3 to 6 hours. Some reviewers felt that this contributed to limited replay value, while others enjoyed replaying the game to experience different events or complete achievements.
- The game includes Steam achievements, some of which are time-sensitive and may require multiple playthroughs to unlock. One humorous example is a Rick Roll hidden within the achievements, while another achievement earned upon completing the game is called 'Permanent Extinction'.
- Reviewers suggest playing the game without guides initially to enhance immersion and avoid spoilers. The story is best experienced firsthand without prior knowledge of key plot points or events.
- The "Save Our Planet" edition of the game contributes to environmental conservation by planting a tree through OneTreePlanted for each purchase. This provides players with an opportunity to support a real-world environmental initiative.
