Seven: The Days Long Gone

Seven: Enhanced Edition is a 3D isometric RPG that departs from many of its peers by favouring stealth over direct confrontation, abandoning character progression through experience points, and traversing terrain vertically. As a result, S:EE doesn’t play like traditional stats-heavy RPGs like Neverwinter Nights, but more like stealth action games like Assassin’s Creed.
When these game mechanics work, they really work well and make playing S:EE fun. Removing the need for grinding for XPs means you can avoid engaging enemies. Being a fan of stealth action games, I really enjoyed sneaking past annoying and powerful guards by hiding in smoke and foliage, behind objects, and under stairs. You can also don various disguises as you infiltrate restricted areas.
The game offers flexibility in boosting your character’s stats. Character progression isn’t done by spending XPs on any particular skillsets, but by inserting/swapping out Ability Chips, as well as getting and upgrading your armours and weapons. As a result, you can change up your character’s skills as needed. For example, I’ve found myself swapping out the Thief chip for the Scavenger chip, so that I could carry more stuff, but at the expense of a bit of my lockpicking abilities.
The biggest way that S:EE varies from its peers is its focus on navigating through the landscape by climbing and ziplining over great distances. The verticality of this game literally adds a new dimension to RPG adventuring. I found it thrilling to zipline over enemy territories and treacherous terrains to a safe spot, especially when I had enemies in pursuit.
This mix of features can be a lot of fun. Yet, they feel unbalanced and not optimally implemented. That’s in part due to the game presenting itself as an RPG, but really wanting to be a serious stealth action game, too. It just so happens that a big contributing factor to the game’s overall lack of polish is it being an isometric RPG.
Remarkable stealth action games (e.g. Assassin’s Creed, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Hitman, and Splinter Cell) work in part because they give you informative feedback on whether your enemies can detect you or not. These games are so good at it that you feel like you have great intuition about your enemies’ behaviour and awareness of your surroundings. The fact that you can move the camera freely allows you to have clear sense of the situation around you, including your enemies’ lines of sight.
Yet, the camera angle in S:EE is restricted to being at 45(-ish) degrees. The isometric view is great for strategizing, but it doesn’t make you feel like you’re in tune with your surroundings. You can try simulating an over the shoulder camera angle by zooming in on your character, but you’ll end up losing a lot of visual information about what’s happening around you. As a result, I never felt like I had adequate stealth intuition and awareness in S:EE, even after putting in over 20 hours into the game.
The isometric view is also a hindrance to vertical movements. You can’t always clearly see where you’re climbing or dropping to at that camera angle. I fell to my death many times because I misjudged the height of a fall or my character’s post-fall roll distance. Annoyingly, you can’t even look up to see where the higher point of a zipline is connected. In one zone, there're many multi-storey structures that my view was often obfuscated by outlines and shadows of people, objects and other buildings. Thus, the isometric perspective characteristic of many RPGs conflicts with the stealth mechanics in multiple ways.
Great modern stealth action games also give you an ability or technology to help you track your enemies’ behaviour. Whether it be called Eagle Vision, Radar, Dark Vision, Instinct, or sonar goggles, they give you an advantage over your enemies as you move. There’s a similar power in S:EE called Sense Mode, but it semi-pauses the game, interrupting the flow of the stealth action. Again, the game’s RPG backbone doesn’t fully complement the mechanics that make stealth games work.
For some reason -- whether by choice or due to programming error -- disguises aren’t always effective in S:EE. If you happen to walk by a similarly dressed enemy, they’ll spot you and soon give chase. Thus, disguises merely buy you a bit of extra time and don’t really help with stealth as in Hitman games. This is very frustrating because there’re instances, such as infiltrating heavily guarded Overseer stations, in which disguises are highly recommended, if not necessary.
The conflicts between the game’s RPG and stealth mechanics are also frustrating because your thief character (i.e. you can’t choose character class) is not built for skirmishes with strong enemies. Since you’ll need to fight enemies at some point and there isn’t an XP-based character progression system, you’ll rely on crafting armour and weapon upgrades, as well as finding hidden Ability Chips to enhance your character’s skills. Although the game provides in-game “hands-on” experience to practice key skills like pickpocketing early on, there aren’t any for crafting, upgrading weapons, and swapping out and modifying Ability Chips.
S:EE can be frustrating in other ways, too. Here is an anecdote of what happened to me in the last couple of hours before I called it quits. It was around this time that I learned not to ignore or discard junk items because they’re needed for crafting armour and weapon upgrades. Throughout the game, my character was hauling an extra weapon, an additional set of disguise, and large amounts of consumables already. He ended up moving slowly across the wide terrain because he wasn’t built for carrying a heavy load by default. So when he started keeping crafting materials as well, he was no longer quick and agile.
I eventually learned that I could stash extra items at Fast Travel points, which are unlocked after successfully hacking a computer in those difficult-to-infiltrate-without-being detected Overseer stations. Yet, these Fast Travel points are often found along the perimeters of a zone. This meant that at some point, I still needed to haul a bunch of junk with me to a local crafting station. When I arrived at those crafting stations, I learned that they weren't at high enough level to craft the upgrades I wanted, despite my having the needed materials and schematics already. All that work for nothing!
Oh, did I mention that (at least) one Fast Travel spot was located at the top of a heavily guarded Overseer station? And the moment I stepped off it, with my heavy load of items, I was attacked immediately? Yup, that happened!
It’s therefore ironic that I eventually stopped playing S:EE not because of the technical flaws, but because of the mundane and confusing main story, my lack of investment in my pre-determined base character, and overwhelming number of side quests. Yet surprisingly, I still find myself wanting to recommend the game, though certainly not with great enthusiasm. That’s because when all these features work well together, however seldom it may be, they truly work to the game’s advantage. S:EE is at the very least an interesting experiment in incorporating stealth into an isometric RPG, and it could have perhaps been great with some tweaking. If you’re a fan of RPGs, I think it’s worth spending several hours trying this game out.

Absolutely amazing! The developers are still releasing fixes and working on this game up to this date so CHECK THE DATE OF ANY REVIEW YOU READ as the developers respond to many of them and they actually go and fix what needs to be fixed. I'm surprised this game didn't get more attention as it combines the disguise, stealth and assassination traits from games like Hitman or the well known Assassin's Creed with some great RPG elements.
The Good
One of the most interesting mechanics is the chip system, with which you can make a variety of builds and just switch between them anytime you want by going into the menu and equipping a different chip. You upgrade your chips by collecting skill mods/upgrades which are scattered all around the land of Peh. With some thinking and dedication you can make an assassin build which will allow you to kill enemies from invisibility instantly and make their bodies disappear or make a fighter build which will allow you to shoot the brains out of the opponent with a gun while the world around you is slowed down by your abilities. The best part is that the game doesn't force you to approach most of the situations in a specific way. You can actually solve any problem the way you decide to. You aren't limited by any leveling system and there is no grind so the game didn't feel like a chore for even a second.
In TDLG you are the one who makes decisions and there are several moments where your decision might affect how your story ends (this is similar to The Witcher 3 in a way and it works really well).
In terms of length you should expect your first playthrough to be around the 30-40h mark so it's safe to say that there is enough content to make one occupied for a while.
The story is absolutely awesome. I loved it because it actually made me think about the real world as the events that happen and the behaviour of the people is ''related'' to the ones in real life. There is also a free DLC which might make one shed a tear.
Also the fact that there is only 35 achievements which can be completed without much trouble is great for any completionist.
The Bad
A few bugs can be expected as the world is really big and its understandably harder for a smaller studio to fix everything, but as I mentioned in the beginning: They are still supporting the game and bringing in new bug fixes every now and then.
For me there were a few bugs which broke my immersion but were at least funny, like guards walking into a tent to take a nap but suddenly appearing on the roof of the tent laying there like it's normal, or guards who appear in the room above the canteen - sitting (or rather levitating) above the ground having a snack.
The visibility and camera might be a problem sometimes as you can only move it horizontally and zoom in. Sometimes you might fall to your death because you thought you could make a jump which you didn't see was too long to do, or you might not notice that there is a floor above you which you couldn't see but had to get to.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the game is great and I think anyone could fall in love with it if it's their cup of tea. For someone the price might be a problem, but I personally think it's money well spent. If you don't mind a few very minor bugs I think you'll love it!

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Seven is an open-world stealth action RPG. Its dystopian sci-fi setting offers an exciting world that could be explored by the player. However, exploring the world of Seven is not always joyful. The game holds serious challenges and some gameplay elements are extremely annoying.
If you expect a wall of text review then I suggest you look it for elsewhere. Instead, I'll give you a clear opinion about the game content I liked or disliked.
Liked
Story and atmosphere
The story of the game is well written and exceptional. You will never get bored with it. Seven not tries to hook you only with decent graphics or visuals. They built up a whole world, backstories, side quests, and references. The atmosphere of the game is captivating, and it completely pulls in the player.
Visuals and environment
The environment is very detailed. The screenshots describe it very well how the game tries to offer a unique, art world instead of a realistic graphic. I quite liked this.
Disliked
Map complexity and camera
I liked the complexity of maps but the fact that you can't change the angle of the camera makes it very hard to navigate through areas. Lack of visibility. Impossible to see where you need to go, how to get there. Some areas have an extreme amount of floors. Impossible to decide that you need to go upstairs or downstairs. Even if it would be easy to decide, which direction you need to go to, sometimes you need a huge detour just to reach that floor.
Difficulty
This also not a real "disliked" content. I loved that it was hard but sometimes it felt very annoying. I died in this game more than in all other games together I played in the last 1 year. The real reason why the difficulty felt annoying is the same why the map complexity felt annoying. That is the limited visibility.
Music
I loved the music and voice acting of the game. Why is it still on the disliked part? The reason is simple. It felt so, that many parts of the soundtracks I heard already. Which is not a problem. Unless I heard them while playing another ARPG. Perhaps it is just my imagination, as I played those games ages ago, but soundtracks reminded me of the soundtracks of Torchlight 2, and Diablo 2.
Conclusion
If visibility and difficulty not annoying you, then this is a decent ARPG stealth game, and you should consider playing it.
Story: 9/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Gameplay mechanics: 6/10
Music: 8/10
Voice acting/Narration: 7/10
Game difficulty: 7/10
Hey, I am an achievement hunter!
Perfection time: 35-50h.
The achievements themselves not hard. You can get them easily while playing the game. The game itself, however, is quite challenging.
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1) While some of the negative things other people say are true, the game also has the one of a kind charm. Quests are actually pretty well written, and I find myself more and more attracted to the world and the fate of it's inhabitants the longer I am in the story. What games could boast the same nowadays?
2) There were SEVERAL mouth-agaping moments in a quick succession later in the game. I wonder if more of these spread throughout the game would make it more plausible to a broader public.
3) Even though this is not a strict RPG, there is a character advancement, learning of the different skills, getting stronger, finding the better equipment etc. I personally favor teleporting behind an enemy in fight, and doing a backstab (possible only from behind...). Sometimes I am quick enough, sometimes enemies turn around in time and parry.
4) Combat tends to be easy 1v1; often you can fight mash-the-attack-button style. But not with every enemy. Some can fight back, cancel your movements. More enemies at once make your fight interesting. Dodging or using slides or overhead throws make the combat more fun, I recomend using these. Boss fights are actually pretty alright and sometimes pretty tough.
5) I don't know if it's the EE version, but to the contradiction what ppl said, I find the parkour very smooth and seemly. Also the general idea of the game "get inside by many different ways" is everpresent.
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For a casual player I wouldn't recommend. For a RPG fan or ppl who want some atmosphere, I say give it a go. It's got original charms.

It's horrific how little attention this game received. It's rather glorious, and I am hoping very much the developers plan to keep working in this world.
Things I liked the most:
- The voice work. The voice acting in this game is an experience. I'm typically picky about this one and don't say voice work is exceptional lightly. This is top quality.
- The music. This game has music by Miracle of Sound and i found myself stopping and listening to some of the tracks. Particularly when there was a certain shadow around that I shall not spoil.
- The visuals. This game is a unique visual experience, the lighting and effects are top notch, do not use reshade on this one, it knows what it's about.
- Most importantly, the story/world you are set in. I don't do post apocalyptic much. This one got my attention.
Now I did receive this game in a humble bundle, but a discount shouldn't stop anyone from checking it out!
it took about 60 hours to finish getting MOST of the quests done and occasionally getting lost. This is including the free dlc they added.

Fun game. Decent flow, some back-tracing in spots, but as progression happens, more fast-travel points open up to ease that. Good story for the most part, multiple endings, and a nice diversion in the middle with the free DLC they added.
+ Good overall progression and story. Decent RPG.
+ Ran fluid at 144 fps on my 144hz monitor.
+ Great sound (3d positional too).
+ Responsive action and lots to do.
+ Achievements are attainable by mere mortals.
- Mostly died due to terrain falling from goofy missed jump mechanics.
- Ranged weapons were basically a complete waste of time (stick to sword).
- Sometimes the 'reveal' of higher areas was annoying/obscured, but manageable.

huge world, lot of sidequests, way to much loot :D
parcour needs a bit time, you may die a few times but its worth it
+free expansion