Long Gone Days
Long Gone Days is an RPG that imagines the world of war that's coming for us, told from the perspective of civilians and deserters, with a focus on language barriers and their emotional struggles. After being deployed to his first mission, Rourke leaves The Core's base for the very first time, only to discover the dark truth about the operation he's part of and the consequences of deserting an inescapable war. A 2D modern-day character-driven RPG that imagines the world of war that's coming for us, told from the perspective of civilians and deserters, with a focus on language barriers and their emotional struggles. The developers describe the content like this: This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: General Mature Content
Game Discussion
Steam User 9
Let's get bad out of the way:
Combat.
And not even combat itself, but rather combat animation speed. It's slow, it's painfully slow.
If you or enemy use buff, prepare to stare at the screen for next 5-10 seconds waiting for notifications to go through one by one for each affected person.
It's especially annoying in later game, where there are mostly 3 enemies each fight, so get comfy waiting for each of them to throw buff and waste 30 seconds for some reason.
Onto good things:
Story is predictable but good. Really good.
Characters are great, it was a joy talking to them and seeing their story develop.
I really liked simple animation style, it never went too deep into colors (to make it hard to look at), it was cute at times, sad at times, and considering how "simplistic" it is, great job there.
Granted, no idea what prompts which ending you get.
I went through game normally, did all side quests (except very early one to gather some herbs), and got "bad" ending.
Overall, definitely recommended, but there should really be x2 or x3 speed available for combat, or at the very least "show all notifications at once".
Word to the wise: Avoid "Buff STR/DEF/AGI" skill. Or if you do use it, get ready for 12 different notifications to get displayed one by one with each staying on screen for few seconds. Guess that's what makes it balanced :P
Steam User 10
Long Gone Days caught my attention a few years ago because of its excellent visual style, but I only managed to play it now. I'm glad I waited for the full release as it would have been painful to stop in the middle without following the plot till the end. Political fiction genre with a modern world setting is pretty unusual for a jRPG-style game, so it warms my heart we actually got an interesting story with lots of varied characters to befriend along the way. It took me about 12 hours to beat it and I had fun pretty consistently with only a few hiccups along the way (combat can drag a bit sometimes, morale system feels half-baked).
The thing I appreciated most, although it's a pretty minor detail overall, is that in every country you visit (no spoilers) the locals speak their own language, so as a foreigner you have no idea what's going on until someone translates for you. It added to the immersion and made my inner language nerd happy.
Long Gone Days is a hidden gem and I'm posting this review to make it a tiny bit less hidden. Go and play it.
Steam User 11
Still rather early in the game, but so far it's quite good. The combat system isn't too cumbersome. The characters interesting and the art style simply great. I highly recommend for fans of story driven rpg.
After finishing it, I say this was a pretty darn good rpg despite being one on rails. The story was nice, but I wish you would have had the chance to interact and chat more with the NPCs who are part of the cast, maybe have a chance to have sgt, Faye officially join the team during the last act and have a chance to turn Branna to your side (poor brainwashed child soldier that she is). All in all, a very good indy game.
Steam User 3
I fell in love with this game a couple years ago thanks to the beautiful art style, and waited for it to be out of early access to buy it. First of all, I would not recommend buying it at full price, unless you are like me and absolutely stricken by the character design. It is a short game! That being said, I had an absolute blast while playing it.
Some pros and cons:
+Beautiful pixel graphics and illustrated art
+Fun and unique character interactions
+A lovely story
-Confusing morale system
-I wish combat was more in-depth, or a bit more difficult
Steam User 2
Very solid storytelling game, that while linear and at times a tad tedious, still captures my attention, my thoughts and enjoyment. The art is amazing, and the vibes of the game are on point. There are many mechanics that are implemented that I wish were developed further upon, but it's a game I recommend purely on the narrative and storytelling it weaves.
I don't know how much replay-ability is in store for me personally, as the roster of available party members never gets too far, and several quests are not quite intuitive to finish or start. That being said, if you can get this game on sale, just need a story to play through and enjoy, hate shadowy fascistic authoritarian psuedo-governments that ruin people's lives, spread misinformation, disrupt people's livelihoods and you want to take them down with the little guys, it's the right game for you.
Steam User 2
Honestly a very good game with a compelling story. There are multiple endings to be aware of. It isn't very long, so I'm not sure that it is worth it at full price, but on a good sale definitely worth picking up. The game is really easy. Near the end some combat sections can seem annoying as you will wait for each text block if you buff your whole party, especially with Ivan who gives each person 3 buffs. No complaints other than that! Considering playing through again!
Steam User 3
Such an underrated gem of a game, I loved how it tackled a difficult topic in an RPG theme. The art is stunning, and the colors and the vibe really help put you in the shoes of the characters.