Draugen

You know how in every school project there is the person who does everything and the rest just patch it up to make it appear as a whole? That's how it felt playing this game.
The level designers and artists made a beautiful scenery. It is breathtaking. I would love to take a walk here in VR. The character models are beautiful. Both...
The other members of the project however... Well...
The story is interesting mid-way through the game but the end is a big disappointment. It felt like nothing of interest happened.
The game is really short, and slow. I wish it was at least twice this big, as the current area that can be explored is really small. However, at least it feels a bit larger than it actually is thanks to the layout of the map and the slow-ish walking speed.
I still recommend this game for its breathtaking scenery. However, I'm not satisfied with the amount of content I got for my money.
P.S.: Please note that this is my personal opinion that might not match yours. In case you disagree with me and would like to voice your opinion I ask you to do so in a civilized manner.

This game is *slow*. If you cannot handle a slow game, do not buy it.
This game is *short*. My first play through, in which I explored and took my time enjoying the whole thing, took only 3 hours. If you think a 3 hour game isn't worth the money, don't buy it.
That said, this game in incredible. The atmosphere, the characters, the location... It's all beautiful. I would even go so far as to say it is less of a game, and more of an interactive work of art.

I always wanted to visit Norway. Well, maybe not always, but for a long time, and Draugen finally allowed me to do just that. Kinda.
NOTE: I deliberately avoided ALL imaginable *SPOILERS* about the story, characters and title origins - so enjoy your bulletproof ride through this hand-crafted insanity.
Yes, the Norwegian setting, and 'Fjord Noir mystery' fancy description quickly picked up and sparked my curiosity and I closely followed this game to launch and played it shortly after the release date. Over a year later I've revisited it and played one more time - to complete my achievements' hunt and to add my 2 cents to the review score.
In short: Draugen properly and most likely comfortably sits somewhere in between a genius narrative tale and crazy-odd plot, which some people, without a doubt, would find boring and dull. And while story quality is always a subjective matter of opinion, visually this title looks stunning, charming, gorgeous even (make sure you have a decent GPU for that) - and while I've never been to Scandinavia myself, I *felt* the spirit of this land, and the undeniable passion and desire (from a creator point of view) to bring that level of immersion to our gaming senses. Red Thread, the developing studio, are Norwegians so all of that makes sense and adds some bonus points to the final score.
Detailed feedback: Draugen is all-around simple, raw, intuitive, narrative-bound walking simulator. Let's get it out of the way: don't be confused by all the definitive tags as 'mystery adventure first-person puzzle' game. Those are empty fancy words and if you're looking for anything but walking around and craving some *real* action - this game may not be for you. Also, there are no puzzles - not even sure why it's among the tags.
For me, personally, this type of games became the interactive movies (although no quick-time events like Heavy Rain or Detroit: Become Human) where you simply navigate your journey at your preferable pace. Length-wise, playing through Draugen will depend on your style and whether you would wish to explore every nook and corner of the environment or just rush through the dialogue system, jamming the 'run' button 24/7. My first playthrough lasted about 8 hours (I took my time) and the second was about 3.5 hours: I didn't do any 'side missions' (which in this case are drawing spots - to enjoy some additional animated scenes) and wasn't in the mood of exhausting all possible dialogue options. So you can tell the approximate time. The story is linear, however, there's a subtle opportunity to change its meaning, by navigating through dynamic narration choices, including the use of your imagination. Translation: visually the last scenes, the ending and the consequences are always the same, but using different dialogue choices/answers you can apply a different meaning to the story and it will vary from 'noir mystery' to psychological thriller, to almost a horror story (not *that* scary), or to a silly superstitious tale about rural village in the middle on nowhere. And the game openly invites you to think what actually happened, leaving you a big room for any available interpretations. But pay your mind to details and be *very* attentive during the first part of the game. Despite the slow pace (controllable) you can easily lose tracks of the script, while drifting around pretty landscapes, just to find yourself later on, at the end of the game, thinking: what in the world you just played? Take your time, read notes, listen carefully and play a little detective. You will be rewarded for that.
To give you more specific insight: there's a similar system of 'choices' in Firewatch. It isn't transparent and very obvious, and doesn't affect the gameplay, but the perception of your character's actions here and there affects your view of the story. If you played and ENJOYED Firewatch - you might understand what I'm talking about. If not - feel free to ask me in the comment section and I'll explain.
Despite everything written above I was tempted to give Draugen a negative review and here's why:
-- there's a Prequel Comic Book, addition to the main story, which was in the making for ~ 2 years. It was delayed (and still is) because of some 'technical difficulties' from the beginning, and all is good, I can understand that - however, after soon to-be 2 years there is a dead silence from the developers about it. No explanation, zero comments, and complete indifference regarding any questions from the gaming community. And hey, it isn't the end of the world, and I would let it go, but there's one more thing.
-- Promised "The Fjord Edition" during one year anniversary (May 2020), and there's a big post about it - 'new edition of the game with a bunch of wonderful extras' which was never released. Again, super fine, stuff happens, developers are humans and can mess up - and we aren't entitled to it, but.. just as with the comic book case: *white noise*. Not a single response despite many people asking about it on Steam forums. Full disregard and lack of communication. Purposeful ignoring of all the people who bought the game. Why? You better tell me. And it looks like developers are well and alive: they are working on a new title now (not related to this one), partnered with Quantic Dream (Detroit: Become Human, Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain), and posting updates on social media (and again, ignoring questions about Draugen). Not cool.
But giving a game thumb down just because of that would be a jerk move. After all, it's a very well made, picturesque-looking, excellently written scenario (yeah, I am among those thinking it's a genius plot. Well, close to.) and generally a really quality title. So here's a solid thumb UP from me. And after getting back to the characters and experiencing the story again I've found some closure, or maybe a little peace with myself. It's nothing related to the game, but this little adventure to Norway made me think deep and ponder about the meaning of life. And hey, the story ends in cliffhanger and there's a promise that the main characters will return, so I am excited! I want to know more. I want the next chapter. I have faith.
Fun facts:
-- there's a black&white mode in-game to experience Draugen as a 1920-s movie
-- Gravvik (it pronounced as Graavik in game though), place where the story unfolds, is the actual real village in Trøndelag county, Norway
-- The game was made with a support by Norwegian Film Institute (which is pretty cool)
-- Draugen was made by creators of The Dreamfall Chapters and written by Ragnar Tørnquist, author of The Longest Journey, Dreamfall, Dreamfall Chapters games
-- I bought a new video card (GPU) specifically to play this game. No jokes.
PS: If you are in doubt, but still curious and attracted to the visual style, wait for a good sale. The story is relatively short and most likely you will play through the big part of the game or even the entire title (if you're a Sonic-style player) when you will hit the refund point and will have an idea whether you want to keep it or not.
PPS: If you've made it this far - I LOVE you! ~ Thank you for reading, enjoy your life, be healthy and stay hard!

If you're into narrative and contemplative game, this one's for you.
Even though the story is linear, it's enchanting but only last 3 hours or so.
The game suffer from few slow downs. Linux works out of box, just press ESC on the beginning.
I give it a decent 7 out of 10.

Enjoyable Journey, if you like Lissie
As a mystery, Draugen is hardly groundbreaking. It is a beautiful village, and the pretty, calm setting did for some reason create feeling of wanting to spend a vacation in one of my neighboring Scandinavian countries for some reason, but really the main thing that carried this game was the voice acting and charm of the main character’s companion, Lissie. I believe it is pretty easy to know if you will like this game by the intro alone, if you find her energetic quips and quirks charming it will be a fun enough ride, otherwise the game will probably be very slow, as I found it feeling… borderline dull if she wasn’t around, but more adorable and charming when she was by his side to banter even with the backdrop of the mystery.
Mysteries of the… Oh I know that twist!
Okay, let’s confront the elephant in the room, viewers/readers/players have gotten incredibly genre-savvy when it comes to mysteries. Which leaves three overall ways of creating twists and turns:
The dreaded turns that the audience can’t predict – (Don’t worry, they don’t do that here.)
A straightforward mystery with clues and hints throughout the story, BUT the audience will most likely know the mayor twists before final acts to any mystery that was introduced in the first.
Or a story that tries to deliver multiple twists throughout the story to throw the person of the scent of the conclusion they already have guessed.
While staying in more surface-spoiler details: This story is placed somewhere between 2 and 3, yes the mayor plot points are predictable, based on what the characters say/do/touch/don’t touch very early on, but they also do make it a bit fresh by having one of the obvious twists pop before the final act, while I expected them to reveal it simultaneously through the end.
Quality over Quantity:
The length is certainly not what will win you over, but I feel it is a good quality experience. Especially when Lissie is around… and I’d take a solid game that respects my time over a stretched out game that is just trying to stretch it’s length. I’m more than sick of other genres doing that. That of course doesn’t mean the game is fast paced, it is a nice and calm experience, but it has about the ideal length to tell the story that they want to tell.
Come for the , stay for the atmosphere and Lissie
I feel the need to repeat my earlier point. You know how some trailers are very misleading? That doesn’t apply to Draugen, you’ll know if you like the game based on the trailer that starts with them rowing into the village. If you find Lissie’s voice and attitude gravitating, and the atmosphere alluring, then the experience of playing the game is something for you. And while I am not hugely into first person games, I tend to find them more disorienting and counter-productive to immersion when I can’t see my character, her presence made it much more fun to explore and interact with everything to hear her lines. And she is the main reason why I would be up for playing a sequel.

Looks amazing, have a great sountrack and good story :)

Not much mystery truthfully. I realized within the first chapter that several things weren't as they seemed. Still pretty fun though I guess and the soundtrack was excellent. I wouldn't recommend spending more than $10. Depending on how much time you spend looking around you'll get 3-5 hours out of this.