Once again, I have made the mistake of creating a video and this one is truly a mess. But nothing haunts me more than the thought of me having to say words into a microphone and then have it all go to waste, so here it is. Let me try to wrap up what I was trying to say in a neat little ribbon, while also including some words about The Long Dark. Think of this as a sort of companion piece.

Story Mode

So first of all, The Long Dark has a story mode. It's been the primary focus of the game's development for the past few years and it breaks my heart to see. The Long Dark does not need a story mode. There is no story that the game can tell that is better than the story that you can tell from just playing the game. A story perhaps about how you're caught in a storm and how you can't see five feet in front of you, but you spot a small cave in the distance and reach it just in time. Or how you're trying to make it to the next town while being stalked by a pack of wolves. While there is a lot of flavour dotted about the world thanks to backer contributions (like the note you saw in the video) I wish there was more that fleshed out the world that has left you behind, rather than the world you currently inhabit.

The Long Dark and Loneliness

I said this in the video, but The Long Dark wouldn't be able to conjure these feelings of loneliness if there wasn't something there to begin with while playing with wolves. A lot of downtime when you're not getting hunted are times of quiet contemplation - but it's bought in to focus when the wolves aren't there. There's something very… earthy about it (don't section me under the mental health act just yet). I'm sure we've all thought about just leaving everything that modern life has to offer behind and living in the woods, going out to fish and chop firewood every day like a really crappy Ron Swanson. The Long Dark without wolves is the closest thing to provide that experience that doesn't have "Among Trees" in its name. The little story I told was mainly to convey these feelings, so I hope it worked.

Accessibility

We're seeing a really cool trend lately where games are including a lot more accessibility options. A generation or two ago, you couldn't get subtitles in Assassin's Creed. Now we have a whole host of features to make Assassin's Creed: Valhalla easier to play for those that need it. We're even seeing games such as Satisfactory and Grounded include an arachnophobia mode where those who are unable to deal with spiders can join in on the fun. And the difficulty certainly is part of that as well. Making the game more accessible to as many people as possible may crimp on what "the designers intended", but I personally think video games are for everyone. The intended difficulty options are still there.

I hope that we see this trend continue and that developers hand a little bit of control over to the player to allow them to play the game however they want. God bless.