Info about Endling - Extinction is Forever:

Official game description:
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About the Game
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Will a mother fox manage to keep its little cubs alive?
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**Experience** a world ravaged by mankind through the eyes of the last fox on Earth in this eco-conscious adventure.  
**Discover** the destructive force of the human race, like it, day after day corrupts, pollutes, and exploits the most precious and valuable resources of the natural environment.  
**Explore** various 3D side-scrolling areas and defend your tiny furballs, feed them, watch them grow up, notice their unique personalities and fears, and most importantly, help them to survive.  
Use the cover of night to stealthily guide your litter towards a safer place. Spend the day resting in an improvised shelter and plan your next movement carefully since it could be the last for you and your pups.  
Features:
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*   Explore devastated environments based on real current issues.  
*   Hunt other animals to feed your cubs and avoid becoming the prey.  
*   Put your survival instinct to the test and get involved in emotionally taxing decisions.  
*   Find new shelters to be safe from natural and unnatural threats  
*   Care for your kits, feed them, and teach them new skills to make them less vulnerable.  
*   Survive.

Release date: 19 Jul, 2022

Categories: Survival, Animal Simulation, Resource Management, Exploration, Environmental Storytelling, Stealth Gameplay, Character Progression, Multiple Endings


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Emotional story about environmental destruction (weight 0.95): 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.
- Beautiful and distinctive art style (weight 0.46): 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.
- Playing as a mother fox (weight 0.15): 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.
- Excellent and atmospheric soundtrack (weight 0.1): 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.
- Encourages exploration and replayability (weight 0.08): 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.
- Generally good story (weight 0.07): This cluster expresses general positive sentiments about the game's story, with reviewers calling it lovely, impactful, and amazing. While enthusiastic, these points lack specific details and constructive feedback, reducing their overall importance.
- Immersive and atmospheric experience (weight 0.04): The game creates an immersive atmosphere of hopelessness, enhanced by a soundtrack that perfectly complements the tone. Reviewers experienced a range of emotions and found the story development, environmental changes, and interactions with different characters to be thought-provoking. The post-apocalyptic world is described as beautifully depressing, drawing players into the game's emotional journey.
- Moderate and well-managed difficulty (weight 0.03): The game offers a moderate level of difficulty that gradually increases as players progress, requiring them to find food and avoid dangerous situations. The difficulty changes with every decision, and the more players progress, the more they understand the message. The game starts small and ends big, with challenging objectives that provide a good level of difficulty.
- Personal connection to the game (weight 0.03): This cluster contains personal anecdotes and subjective opinions about the game, such as the reviewer's fondness for foxes and their experience raising a cat. While these points express enjoyment, they lack specific details and constructive feedback, reducing their overall importance.

Common complaints:
- Repetitive and monotonous gameplay (weight 0.47): 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.
- Overly sad and depressing story (weight 0.43): 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.
- Overpriced for short playtime (weight 0.39): 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.
- Frustrating and confusing navigation (weight 0.13): 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.
- Distressing cub death/kidnapping (weight 0.11): 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.
- Occasional bugs and crashes (weight 0.06): Some reviewers encountered minor to severe bugs, including crashes, which sometimes made the game unplayable. Other bugs include cubs getting stuck, food disappearing, and the fox getting stuck.
- Unresponsive and annoying controls (weight 0.02): Some reviewers found the controls annoying and unresponsive. They also noted that the game has too many tooltips and floating icons, which clutter the screen. Some pup mechanics are either non-functional or difficult to use, significantly increasing the game's difficulty.
- Short day/night cycle (weight 0.02): The day/night cycle is too short, limiting exploration of the entire map. The game lacks a save feature, requiring a new game start if a specific achievement is missed.

Gameplay feedback:
- Survival, care, and resource management (weight 0.34): 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.
- Scent tracking and cub needs (weight 0.34): 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.
- Exploration in a semi-open world (weight 0.08): 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.
- Cubs learn skills to survive (weight 0.04): 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.
- Stealth as a survival tool (weight 0.03): 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.
- Map areas and multiple endings (weight 0.02): The game's map is divided into areas, with fast travel unlocked later. The game features multiple endings determined by player choices.

Performance notes:
- Inconsistent performance and optimization (weight 0.08): 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.
- Adjustable graphics settings available (weight 0.05): 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.
- Average sound design (weight 0.05): Sound design is average, with few musical compositions.
- Progression-blocking bugs reported (weight 0.02): 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.
- Non-reproducible issues reported (weight 0.01): 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.
- Good 2.5D perspective (weight 0.01): The 2.5D perspective works well.

Recommendations:
- Strongly recommended; exceptional experience (weight 0.68): 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.
- Emotionally impactful; prepare tissues (weight 0.66): 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.
- Purchase on sale recommended (weight 0.59): 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.
- Mixed numerical scores provided (weight 0.48): 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.
- Gameplay lacks depth (weight 0.48): 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.
- Animated film might suit better (weight 0.48): Some reviewers suggest that the game's narrative and themes might be better suited to a different medium, such as an animated short film. This suggestion implies that the gameplay mechanics may not fully complement the story's emotional impact.
- Alternatives offer better experience (weight 0.48): One reviewer suggests that "Before Your Eyes" is a better choice for players interested in emotional narrative experiences. Another reviewer suggests playing "The First Tree" instead, which is more emotionally impactful and cheaper. This indicates that there are alternative games that may offer a similar or superior experience.
- Recommended for animal lovers (weight 0.11): The game is recommended for players who enjoy experiences centered around animals, particularly foxes, and their survival in a harsh environment. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke empathy for animals and raise awareness about environmental issues.
- Highlights environmental destruction consequences (weight 0.05): The game effectively conveys a message about environmental destruction and the importance of conservation. It serves as a commentary on the consequences of human actions on nature and the potential for extinction. The game aims to raise awareness about these critical issues.
- Deserves more recognition (weight 0.03): The reviewer hopes the authors will create a second part or a similar game. The game deserves more recognition.
- Complete achievements before finishing (weight 0.01): Players should complete achievement hunting before finishing the game due to the lack of a continue feature.
- Observe with perspective of reality (weight 0.01): The game is highly recommended if observed with a perspective of reality, recognizing that the good and bad things depicted occur in the present.
- Personification of the myth (weight 0.01): The game is the personification of the myth about Sisyphus.
- Feel lost in a world (weight 0.01): Recommended for anyone that wants to feel lost in a world.
- Technical issues (weight 0.01): Due to technical issues, the reviewer will have to watch a playthrough instead of playing the game.
- Don't get discouraged at start (weight 0.01): The reviewer recommends not getting discouraged at the start when food is hard to find.
- Hollow and preach-y (weight 0.01): Overall, I can't recommend it, as it felt quite hollow and preach-y and just not my cup of tea.
- Surviving is not a challenge (weight 0.01): Surviving is not a real challenge.
- Must-play for everyone (weight 0.01): The game is a must-play for everyone, from Dark Souls fans to Animal Crossing lovers.
- Life-changing story (weight 0.01): Recommended for people who need a life-changing story.
- Electronic impotence (weight 0.01): The game is worth trying if you have 'electronic impotence'.
- No other game like this (weight 0.01): There is no other game like this one.

Other player notes:
- Protecting vulnerable fox cubs (weight 0.03): 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.
- Short playtime, limited replayability (weight 0.02): 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.
- Includes Steam achievements (weight 0.02): 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'.
- Play without guides for immersion (weight 0.01): 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.
- Supports tree planting initiative (weight 0.01): 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.
- Plot clarity is inconsistent (weight 0.01): Some reviewers found the plot predictable or unremarkable, while others felt it became understandable by paying attention to details. There is a mixed reception to the plot's clarity and originality.
- Released same day as Stray (weight 0.01): The game's release coincided with the release of Stray, potentially impacting its visibility and marketing success. The lack of a strong PR campaign may have further contributed to it being overshadowed.
- Picture book art style (weight 0.01): The game features a picture book-like art style with endearing animal designs. While one reviewer found the art style good but not exceptional, others appreciated its unique aesthetic.
- Easy to learn, hard to master (weight 0.01): The game is easy to learn but difficult to master. This suggests that the core gameplay mechanics are accessible to new players, but achieving proficiency and completing all challenges may require more skill and dedication.

Emotions:
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