Gamer here for 30 years... I've played many games in my hands. I have to say that I'm not a fan of roguelike games - meaning you lose and start from the beginning. I hated Demon's Souls and Bloodborne.
The difficulty that I read about in the reviews is what prevented me from delaying the purchase of the game. I also have to say that the official prices (79.99) are excessive and also a deterrent factor - I bought it for 65.
As I mentioned before, I play daily, I have finished many games and thriller genres in general are among my favorites (resident evil, silent hill, last of us 1/2, alien isolation, etc) - I like fear. Here I didn't have any expectations but I have to say that it captivated me. It is the first game I played that conveyed the fear of abandonment in space, how relative time is - the flawless voice acting and soundtrack play a big role in this. It also reminds me of my all-time favorite movie, Interstellar. I don't want to spoil anything but it was magical, it moved me while playing. I saw it in my dreams - the first time something like this has happened to me.
Yes, the game is extremely difficult... in the completion statistics I saw... 60 deaths... which could be in the first quarter or the first two hours. The game is so good that it became an obsession for me. I consider myself a good gamer, but not a speed-runner type of good. Generally, I play games on easy/medium to enjoy the story, but this is something else.
However, there is some sort of progression, it's not 'completely' from the beginning. In the 6 biomes, there are items that you need to acquire in order to open, for example, a door, you have to get a key that you have to spit blood to get... but once you open it, you don't need to go through the entire biome again, the door remains open in the next playthroughs.
Graphics, sound, controls, feedback are AMAZING. The story is fantastic, with randomly/procedurally created biomes each time. After 20 restarts, you might see a completely different philosophy of the level.
Finally, let me say this, there is a reason why there is no save in the game - the 'traditional' save. You have to lose to see the story, which is based on a loop that traps you on the unknown planet. If there was a save, the story wouldn't make sense, the procedural levels wouldn't make sense, the randomly scattered items wouldn't make sense.
Masterpiece. Definitely in my Top 10 favorite games of all time!
Review after 2 months of gameplay (and about 180 hours):
The first game I got platinum! Nevertheless, I still play it until I get everything 100% (weapons, artifacts, etc) - which 'fill up' as you use them and depending on their rarity in the game. Since the disc went into the drive, I haven't taken it out and like many others, it has ruined my mood for other games, which now seem underwhelming.
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