The Long Journey Home

The Long Journey Home is a game that expects you to meet it more than halfway. The concept is great, and the core gameplay mechanics are so close to being good. Unfortunately, pretty much every single mechanic or event lands on the wrong side of “fun challenge” vs. “frustrating.” Like, imagine a promising game, but all the playtesters got super good at it, and because of their feedback, the devs made the game impenetrable to new players. My initial impression was strongly negative, and similar to a lot of the other negative reviews—I was ready to ragequit the first time my lander got randomly thrown into a planet’s surface like a bowling ball. After playing it some more, my view is more mixed: [i]if[/i] you engage with the game in [i]the exact right way[/i] the developers want you to, you can enjoy some real moments of fun among the frustration. Basically, [b]don’t explore for the hell of it[/b] (the game doesn’t reward it) and [b]be very risk-averse[/b]. Although you’d think a space game would encourage you to see as much of the universe as possible, The Long Journey Home really punishes taking unnecessary risks, and so much of the exploration in the game [i]is[/i] risky. Also, …

I decided just to stop where I was. Home was overrated anyways. The store presentation presents promise of real adventure, but sadly it boils down to a 2D Gravity Well game flying around / to Planets within a system. Coping with your crew, issues / research upon your ship in the RNG randomness and a don't hit the ground, planetary lander mini game, where you attempt to gather much needed fuel, resources etc before your lander takes too much damage, runs out of fuel, RNG'd to death or just gets destroyed / crew suffer some mishap. Sometimes you end up with a heavily damaged lander, but not enough resources / correct resources to repair or refuel for the next mission. So, not my thing, but I did like the promo videos on the Steam Store page. Cannot say I'd recommend this to my friends, each to their own on that though.

A single small change would've made this game good: add an optional autopilot for navigating between planets and landing on them. It's way too annoying to do it manually. Also unrealistic, because even the 1960s tech could do it in real life. If not possible, please reduce the fuel consumption by x10.

I do not have this game but I would love to play this game and stream it. Not sure why its asking my feedback as I have not purchased it yet. Very odd...

If I had to describe this as accurately as I could... it's a slow-burn sci-fi roguelike. Gathering resources is dangerous and has costs, Jumping between systems has costs, and you are in the eternal battle of slowly 'bleeding out' while trying to make it back home. It's intense in its moments of what you are willing to commit to or if you need to abandon the most ideal or efficient way to make the next move. Sometimes selling more precious items and treasures you'd like to keep for the sake of having basic resources or purchasing medical supplies. The game has teeth and pulls no punches if you aren't attentive, or make the wrong commitment. There are storylines upon storylines and a universe of backstory to see on your way back to earth and i think this game is well worth the struggle it provides.

Playing with M&K, the cursor would frequently get moved and stuck to the top left, making it literally impossible to play. I doubt my setup is unusual, so I have no clue why an issue like this made it to ship.