Subsistence

td;dr - I like the game, it's fun, it has depth, it's challenging and for the most part there's no glaring bugs. (Yes, there are still a few.) And I like the survival ("mode") aspect of it. I'm proud of the stuff that I've built because I had to work hard to scrounge up all the resources to do it!
The Good:
- It's very open world - there's a lot you can do.
- There's lots of variety of weapons, building components and wildlife.
The Bad:
- It's a grind, then it's a grind, then, oh look, it's a grind again. You're always grinding for something - but to some extent you have to expect that or the game is too easy. I'm at "mid game" right now and I'm feeling like it's very hard to get ahead. You have to grind so hard to get so little - and add to that some items are seasonal, so if you don't find enough you have to wait a whole year.
- Some of the upgrades aren't really balanced. For example, it costs slightly less "resources" (collectively) to build 3 windmills than to completely upgrade 2 to get the same power output. And seeing as you can place them basically right "on top of each other", there's no incentive to upgrade them.
What I'd like to see:
- Music. There's some in the demo here on Steam - I'd love to have a soundtrack with the game.
- An in-game help system! Even a "sandbox" to try out everything. I had no clue how to throw a grenade the first time I got one out of a crate. I'd even love to practice shooting and changing weapons and shooting again (that darn moose...). Most of the knowledge I have about the game has been from rummaging around in it, and then if I couldn't figure it out, I'm on the Wiki or the Discord (both great places, don't get me wrong).
- Perhaps slightly less of a death penalty. Moose and cougar hunting is extremely dangerous before you have an "8 star" upgraded rifle, and the animal has killed you twice or more.
- Higher chance of receiving Weapon Parts in the big "Locked Crates" - otherwise you have to farm hunters just to get parts to upgrade your weapons, let alone build the ones from the workbench.
- Binoculars or a Spy Glass - use crystal, scrap metal, and cloth at a workbench. I'd love to be able to zoom in a lot more to see hunter bases and stuff farther away.
- Maybe have some sort of a skill based personal improvement system. I'd really love to be able to find cotton plants better, or track animals. I've been doing it for over 100 days now (4 in-game years), I've got to be getting better at it, right?
- Maybe (wishful thinking), bigger backpacks that the hunters drop when they die with a slightly wider variety of items in them. I mean, ooooo, two stacks of a single 9mm Bullet (one 9mm Round in two of the six backpack slots), or three stacks of 10ish pieces of fiber - really?! These guys were SHOOTING BACK AT ME! I'd rather just pick up the fiber off the ground, it's less likely to kill me. Especially when they have unlimited ammo, and I've had to scrounge up the 4 pieces of ammo I have in my kit... for... fiber.
In the end:
- I rant, but I also have fun. I have troubles, but so far none that's made me want to rage quit, or even just quit. I AM making progress, it's just really slow. I'm still dying way too often (3 times to bag a moose :P), but by now I'm more often than not getting what I had set out to get (that Roast Ribs and Vegetables is a great meal, even if I'm only getting 3 Sinew out of that hulking beast). I'm still learning things and progressing - though sometimes I wish I could re-load the game because I did something stupid.
Should you get it?
- Yes, it's fun. It's solo and/or multiplayer. You'll have fun with it for a long time. There's skins if you're in to that thing. The developer is good - he listens to his players and occasionally comes out with cool new things the player base wasn't expecting.

This game offers the real survival concept. It's hard and grindy (not for everyone) but hey if you really want a survival game that has great gameplay this is it. Building a base, farming, foraging, fishing, hunting, exploring underwater caves, and what I like most is raiding enemy base and looting a plane's cargo. No zombies or wierd creepy enemies. It's you vs. the wilderness. I wish the dev make a new content.

HUGE THANKS TO THE DEVELOPER!
We have so many games that are wrongly placed in the survival genre, but have nothing to do with survival and are ultimately always about PVP. In most games, you have everything you need within a few hours and it's not difficult to get there. With Substistence, you finally have a challenge, even on the easiest difficulty level. The winters are brutal and we love it! It takes a few hours to even understand the game and find out what is important to be able to survive at all. This game doesn't deserve negative criticism in 2024. There is still so much potential to be exploited and we are looking forward to everything that is still to come. Anyone who cries here that it is too difficult is only used to "survival games" in which you actually get most things "for free", don't have to fight for your survival and every game mechanic is the same as 100 other games. But it should be a matter of life and death, with every step and every action. And Subsistance fulfills that 1000 percent. So for those who want to play a child's birthday party, you've come to the wrong place. But for anyone who is really looking for a survival challenge that lasts more than just a few hours, buy the game! You won't regret it. 1000 percent recommendation!
Just never start in winter.. ;)
Have fun =)

Great game, lots of grind and repetitive action but it is true to its name and it holds subsistence and rng loot bags as its core gameplay loop. It is possible to thrive in this game, I swear it is... but it has taken me just over 300 hours to figure out how. I love this game. It feels like an extension of reality that might seem basic on the surface but requires real strategy, critical thinking, patience, and quick execution to succeed. It makes you feel the way you should feel in a true to life survival setting. Every bullet is like gold in the early game. Every morsel of meat is to be cherished should you live to see the sun rise again. You earn what you have and you work for what you need. You want for little if you aim to thrive. I could go on but I reccomend this for the person that dislikes Green Hell and similar games for the over complicated and ill explained inventory/crafting systems and yet also turns away from the minecraft, valheim, and even don't starve for their respective lack of depth in the very core element of subsistence (The very definition of subsistence, not the game.) This game is fair yet brutally difficult. It will punish any and every mis step. It is the dark souls of survival games. It may not seem like it at first, but the sheer prospect of a 100 day run with 0 deaths is genuinely unimagineable to me and I would be shocked if someone managed it on hardcore. Give it a go if you have patience and a love for the realistic approach. Again if you look past specific gameplay elements and instead focus on how the game makes you feel for a methodical and strategical approach to survival... you will realize why this game is a GOLDMINE among fields of coal D:. Happy Surviving.. erm.. Subsisting!!




PS. ColdGames please add large ore deposits for all the basic ores like: iron, copper, potassium, etc.. down in the caves. They should be hefty and take lots of durability to mine but reward large amounts of the ore in question. This would be a great way to round out the caves and make them worth the time and resources!! Cheers m8 great game 10/10.

A more true to survival game. The beginning is ROUGH!!! As you get used to things, it does get a lot better (getting the refrigerator is tremendous). Build your base with a woodburner, winter comes quickly. Very nice game. You can play solo if you'd like, with or without hunters. Can turn them on/off at any time. If you've played Rust, I think you'll like this one.

So, this game has been in "early access" for so long that it's kind of silly at this point. It's one dev, I get that, but could just launch and add new dlc content to continue to make money. As it is, I'm willing to support by buying skins. (Please more skins.)
I'd like to see more character models. If nothing else, make the NPC antagonists look different.
All the same, I've almost logged 1,200 hours. The children yearn for the mines. Want a game where you grind for resources and build your palatial estate? Look no further. Has a learning curve, but once you know, you know. Invite me to your server. Lol.

Great game. Regularly updated with new content. There may be bugs somewhere but I have not encountered any that impact play after 1300+ hours. Love the building capability. Love that I can turn hunters (more challenging opposition) on or off mid game, so I can fight them when I want but not worry about them when I just want to grind materials.