izigame.me

My first dozen attempts at this game were confusing and infuriating to say the least, it takes a while to learn what actions are valuable and which are thumb-twiddling invitations to death.
I got somewhere like halfway through the second chapter of Wintermute before having my WTF moment with the survival mode (taking breaks from story mode and cluelessly dropping into freezing hell DOZENS of times before finally catching a break) and never went back.
There really is nothing like trudging against the wind in a blizzard with only the snowbank beside you to indicate where you might be, your body and vision swaying madly due to being at the end of your life, only a tiny etch left on your health bar, all your stims, food, water, and heat items used up, and you think "this is normally where I would just quit and try again" but somehow you made it to the porch of the PV homestead, you're inside, there's a fireplace and enough to get you back on your toes in a day or so - heck - you even managed to keep all those toes (and fingers, too).
The next evening you're caught outside around dusk, looking around for twigs and hopefully a sewing kit to fix everything damaged by yesterday's icy winds and you're stopped dead by the stunning sunset as it plays across the sky, the mountain, and off the snow in the valley. Then an ominous string section and the growl of a wolf nearby startles you and you rush off back towards the house, knowing that a wolf is not going to help the state of your clothing (at least not today, not with your current tools) and that fresh toilet water is calling your name.
Staying humble and cautious will eventually lead to a dull tedium but any time you decide to push outside of sensible pragmatism there's a hard lesson waiting for you, and sometimes that hard lesson really is your only move.
There were many times I wished for jumping or at least vaulting mechanics to be introduced, but I don't think the effect on gameplay would be worth the Dev's resources and effort.
There were times when the hit boxes for gathering and shooting seemed really janky, like you'd expect with network lag, but those times were the exception, and you really can't expect every homemade arrow or bullet to fly the same as the last, plus you're lucky your shivering, low-calorie, unwashed ass can even tie a string as it is, so chalk it up to video game reification.
There are still times I wish you could get some sort of strength or health or endurance perk for, y'know, 500 days of walking with a full kit, but hey I suppose I should be thankful only the frostbite has a permanent effect on your health and performance and leave it at that.
The current perks are half-decent, though over half seem like throw-aways to players who aren't willing to commit much time to the game, so basically useless to those playing on stalker and interloper.
The game play loop is rewarding, I could easily lose an entire day to this game, then switch to one of the challenges and feel like it's an entirely new thing.
I will always come back to this one - it's like a breeze wafting in shade of a tall tree when the sun is scorching overhead. The core gameplay loop, sound design and visual aesthetic just get under the skin and call you back over and over. I don't know the current state of the modding community but this game is prime fodder for great mod fun, though I suppose you could always play DayZ Winter Chernarus if you can live without the Group of Seven aesthetic and want the ability to jump over things.
There are a LOT of complaints about how the devs are slow in the story chapters, or some rambling on and on and on, whingeing about how they didn't get what they paid for, etc etc etc - just ignore them - their chirping has nothing to do with whether the game is worthwhile or not and both the Wintermute and the Survival mode are worth full price standalone (but I would get both as they do compliment eachother, treat story mode as a tutorial of sorts), even at ~40 maplebucks. If you get this on sale man it's a steal. Whiners, I just don't get you - it's not your game, move on! Internet archives have a record of the Dev's roadmap and he was pretty clear there were no promises right from the start, so either go file a civil suit for fraud or go outside for air, your input has no bearing on the quality of the game or it's value to others.
PS: I hate wolves now