izigame.me

TLDR: I bought this game more than 8 years ago. The core gameplay was already complete back then and the game has only gotten better. The overall experience is unique and well worth the asking price.

This review is honestly overdue. I bought this game aaaall the way back in 2016, when it was a ~$20 early access title, before the "survival/crafting" genre became the entrenched domain of shovelware.
So, first thing first: This game is NOT a survival/crafting game. You will not be building massive bases and crafting AK-47s. You will be walking, slowly, through the snow, with your exhaustion and temperature meters at zero, trying to calculate if you'll reach your shelter before your health ticks down to zero and praying you don't hear a wolf barking as you come around a tree. Now, I absolutely understand how that would not be appealing to everyone. But if you are looking for something genuinely different from the survival/crafting same-old-same-old, The Long Dark is definitely unique.
I also really want to highlight that TLD is unique in its development cycle. I've seen complaints about how the story mode is not complete after about 10 years. A few points about this.
First, the story mode is released in 'Episodes' and these aren't like scammy battle passes. Each episode is a complete section of the larger narrative and there are currently four (out of a planned five). The game itself is in a complete state and the story mode releases are simply additional content for the game platform. That is, we are still waiting to see how the STORY ends, but the gameplay itself is complete. It is definitely good to be wary of unfinished games in the current market, but TLD does not fall into that category.
Second, the story mode is currently offered separately for $20 at FULL PRICE. That is quite reasonable for the current state of story mode content. Additionally, you can get both the Wintermute story mode and the standalone survival mode bundled for $35. Which again, is easily worth the price as is. The only other major content offer is the Tales from the Far Territory DLC, which is also $20 full price and brings two additional regions and what I would describe as an additional, lite story mode. So a total of $55 for the complete game content at full price, which I believe is well worth it, and all three of these offerings are still receiving content updates. And if you are interested but not 100% sure, TLD is frequently on sale for 40-50% off. With the ongoing sale at time of writing, you can get Story mode + Survival Mode + DLC for a total of $32. And the current level of content is beyond worth that price point.
Which brings me to third, the content is already there. This is not a game that is languishing in the roadmap, with promises of a complete game that never comes. Take it from someone who was having a great time with the game even back when it genuinely was unfinished, before the story mode even started. The core, wilderness survival gameplay has been there from the beginning and hasn't changed. But Hinterland has still been providing regular (if infrequent) updates which focus on continuing a story and throwing in new and interesting challenges for survival. And that also makes this game unique. The game is old, and still being developed. But the updates are about getting more stuff to do with the existing and stable core mechanics. Which is EXACTLY how continuous game development should be. In a market where half-finished games are farted out with a promise of a finished game some time in the future, TLD was already a whole game even in early access which has just been updated into a BETTER whole game as time goes on.
There are definitely things that will feel awkward to folks who have gotten used to the standard of fast-paced, high-mobility, combat-focused survival games. You can't jump. You walk slow. Your inventory space is extremely limited. Guns and ammo are precious. Your gear requires a ton of time and resources to upkeep. These things feel very very weird in the current climate of popular games. But that's honestly one of the reasons I love this game. If you want a genuinely unique gaming experience from a studio who, by the best of my abilities to tell, absolutely deserves support, I cannot recommend TLD enough.