Leaving Lyndow

Introduction
Moving on doesn't always imply neglecting a troubled past, yet overcoming some obstacles will require more than bravery and optimism. In this relatively short adventure of self-discovery, Leaving Lyndow showcases the transition from childhood safety towards potential perils on the path of young adulthood.
A Steam debut for Eastshade Studios which is quite aptly serving as prequel to their magnum opus, the titular Eastshade released two years after the title I'm reviewing today. It's a vertical slice with its own unique story, so it's far from just a glorified demo or proof of concept.
Story
Clara has dreamt of sailing for as long as she can remember. Personal tragedy won't deter her, yet she's equally aware of the dangers such a profession may contain. Family members will gladly remind her as well.
Risking, leaving her home and safe zone while embarking on a journey into the unknown, is part of the necessary growing-up process. There are many metaphores hinting towards this central theme of maturity, without going for a loss of innocence.
Thus, it's a bildungsroman structure until a certain point. There's no combat or depicition of violence in Leaving Lyndow. Ambiguity leaves plenty of room for interpretation if you simply focus on this game without experiencing Eastshade as well.
It's a narrative choice, I presume. Players who have only just began acquainting themselves with this fantasy setting should take Leaving Lyndow at face value. I find the comparison with the Elder Scrolls series to be amusingly naive, if I can put it in mild terms.
Eastshade is its own self-contained world filled with originality. It needs no "similar" projects to prop itself up for scrutiny. Peaceful exploration without dungeon/dumpster diving. A place you can admire and coexist with the wildlife instead of constantly looking over your shoulder for the next critter that's eager to chew your face off.
Graphics
"None other than Unity, the most underrated game engine on the planet", as a Leaving Lyndow developer so eloquently mentions it. I concur. A stable experience, not a single technical issue in sight and like any self-respecting walking simulator, the HUD was wisely dispensed with for maximum immersion.
It's a gorgeous little game that's basically screaming to be turned into a screenshot feast. Few but memorable locations with plenty of eye candy in store.
Audio
The soundtrack didn't disappoint either. As relaxing as I expected it, incorporating the nature background noises as well. Voice acting was a bit stiff on account of resembling the "Sims gibberish" (simlish, if you're curious). Overall Leaving Lyndow stands on its own without becoming annoying or repetitive and forcing me to mute any in-game sound.
Gameplay
Far more than just "walking around", there are various puzzles to complete and objects to interact with. Each of them is filling in the blanks, shedding light on characters otherwise lacking a backstory. A simple and effective way to encourage exploration of the levels which aren't truly part of an open world.
Nonetheless, I found the gameplay as intriguing as the storyline and I rejoiced at the absence of a time limit or combat elements. Be aware of the level autosave sections, if you don't wish to finish the game in one sitting. Though I estimate a speedrun to last less than half of what I spent within Leaving Lyndow, since I took my sweet time about it just to find the right screenshot angles.
Rather straightforward Steam Achievements which can easily be obtained all the way to 100% completion. Just be patient with the mini-games as well as the general exploration of your surroundings. Talk to as many NPCs as you can and that might yield some pleasant surprises too.
Verdict
While there isn't any real replay value here, I find the game's asking price to be more than adequate at its conventional retail pricing outside Steam Sales. Novelty factor alone should entice new players regardless if they have previous experience with walking sims or not.
An adventure which can be enjoyed by gamers of all ages, might just serve as the perfect introduction for this subgenre along with paving the way towards Eastshade's grand campaign. It will not sate your hunger for more, that's a certainty. Set out for new horizons and perhaps you'll discover if leaving Lyndow was worth it. You can already guess my stance there.
Strong Points
+ Relaxing gameplay.
+ Gorgeous graphics and sounds.
+ Steam Trading Cards & Achievements.
Weak Points
- Short and with no actual replay value.
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Stunning visuals with a short story. I didn't immediately realize this was part of the Eastshade universe, now I'm looking forward to trying that title out as well.

Leaving Lyndow tells a simple story of a woman who is set to leave her current life to go on an expedition. You go through the motions of her last day packing your stuff; visiting friends and family; and finally setting off. It’s a walking sim that has just enough to do to keep it interesting. The people seem to be some weird race of humanoid creatures. There isn’t much voice acting but the bit there is is in some made up or foreign language. This gave Lyndow an interesting setting and I wanted to know more such as what planet this is on; the species; customs; etc. The game doesn’t cover any of that but to be fair it is supposed to be about a single character leaving for a voyage so I’m not criticizing it. If anything the fact the game made me want to know more is a plus. To be honest the real star of the game was Lyndow itself. The town felt really comfy and the people seemed to live a nice life. The graphics in the game were overall well done. The vistas and lighting were superb. The clothing and object detail was decent. It was only the facial detail on characters I found a little lower quality. The music was well done as well. My only real complaint was that there is a puzzle where in order to progress in the game you have to play a chime from hearing the notes. Now to the game’s credit it gives some decent hints for it but the fact it is forced and that I don’t like these puzzles in general I will mention it.
I played Leaving Lyndow on Linux. The store page doesn’t mention it as it isn’t officially supported but there is a Linux version that downloads and installs. It never crashed and I encountered no bugs. There is one graphics setting; an FOV slider that goes from 50-90;two AA settings; and a v-sync toggle. Performance was great overall with the lowest my frame rate hit was a second or two at 66 FPS and the rest of the time was higher. You can manually save at any time but there is only one save slot. The game auto saves at certain points.
Graphics Engine: Unity 5
Disk Space Used: 349 MB
Graphics Settings: Highest; TAA; 90 FOV; v-sync on; 1920x1080
GPU Usage: 36-99 %
VRAM Usage: 1218-1414 MB
CPU Usage: 11-35 %
RAM Usage: 3.2-3.5 GB
Frame Rate: 66-123 FPS
Overall if you’re a walking sim fan I recommend Leaving Lyndow. It doesn’t have the run time to properly explore the game worlds lore but what is there is a peaceful experience that makes you want more. I finished the game in forty two minutes. I paid $0.89 CAD for it and would say even the current price of $4.49 CAD is a steal for the game’s quality.
My Score: 8/10
Intel i7-6700 | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | XFX RX 590 8GB Fat Boy | Mesa 22.2.3 | Samsung 870 QVO 1TB | Garuda | Mate 1.26.0 | Kernel 6.0.10-zen1-zen | AOC G2460P 1920*1080 @ 144hz

This game is a very good introduction to Lyndow and the sequel title of Eastshade which I highly recommend to play as there is simply no other game genre like that.
The story of this title is very short but gives one a very nice glimpse into atmosphere of Nava and Lyndow, presented in a form of thoughts and dialogues of Clara, young student leaving for her maiden voyage overseas and sending regards to family and close relatives.
This game, be it short but worth every minute, features highly peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. It surely serves as a unique nectar for one's soul to simply relax, unwind and dive into one's own inner thoughts.
Highly recommended.

I left Lyndow.

If you are going to be playing Eastshade (which you really should) then this is worth a play first, it gives a little back story and introduces you to the world. Different games in play style, and duration but still a worthy partner to Eastshade.

Fun little walking sim game. Very interested and cannot wait for the next installment of Clara's story.