The Longing Review — Russell Troxel

Mar 14

Mar 14 The Longing Review

As some of you may know, the next Animal Crossing game comes out in less than a week, at least at the time I’m writing this article. I have trouble explaining why I’m such a fan of the series, but I do know that I’m extremely eager to play Animal Crossing New Horizons. However, every attempt I’ve ever made to time travel has been a massive failure, so I’m forced to wait like everyone else and find other ways to fill my time. Somehow, I think the developers at Studio Seufz somehow knew I would need a way to wait and created a game based on that idea. They were even kind enough to name it after the burning desire in me for Animal Crossing New Horizons, which is to say, The Longing.

In The Longing, players take control of a Shade. Fashioned from coal by an ancient stone king, the Shade is told that the king must sleep for 400 days to consolidate his power, after which he will end all of the longing in the world. Before falling asleep, the king gives the Shade only two instructions: wake the king after the 400 days have passed, and never leave the underground kingdom. From then on, the Shade is alone and must find a way to pass the time. At this point, the clock at the top of the screen informs players that these 400 days aren’t just 400 days in the video game, but in fact 400 real-world days the player must wait.

If you haven’t stopped reading at this point, I applaud your tenacity and open-mindedness, because that premise is definitely capable of violently disengaging some people’s interest. The king’s subterranean domain offers the Shade several ways to pass the time, including reading classic literature like Moby Dick and The Cask of Amontillado, collecting or creating decorations to adorn the Shade’s private apartment, and exploring the kingdom. However, all of these options are all slow-going, as The Longing is all about excessive lengths of time, and don’t require any complex controls, usually just a simple click. The player can also pass time by turning off The Longing, as time passes in the game at the same speed regardless of whether it’s actually running or not. The developers even point out that the player can start the game and then not play again for 400 days, but I decided against that option since it would make for a very bad review and also make me feel guilty for abandoning the Shade.

I think the thing The Longing does best is establish a fantastic atmosphere. The best example of this is the sound design. As the Shade wanders the empty kingdom, the only thing to hear is the Shade’s footsteps, the distant snoring of the sleeping king, and the normally ignored background noises of nature. The slow grinding and cracking of the stone, a weak but persistent wind, and the distant dripping of water would all normally be ignored but in the absence of anything else these become uncomfortable reminders how alone the Shade is. On top of that, specific areas will have unique musical tracks to convey the Shade’s feelings of those areas, such as an overpowering organ song when in the presence of the king, or an uneasy string melody whenever the Shade approaches the doors to the outside world. It all does a fantastic job of constantly reminding the Shade, and the player, how alone they are. On a similar subject, as the Shade has no one to talk to, when there is any conversation it can only be between the Shade and itself, which becomes creepy when the Shade, and the player, starts learning new information from these conversations. It hints at a fascinating hidden world and also reminds players of how troubling isolation is.

Thankfully, in a game all about spending time, The Longing does a great job of using time as a game mechanic. Everything the Shade does is slow, as there’s 400 days to make use of so there’s no rush. The Shade walks slowly, taking the better part of a minute to cross larger rooms, but the Shade also draws slowly, pushes rocks slowly, picks things up slowly, and mines slowly, once players can track down tools. But it didn’t feel frustrating to me, as I knew I would be waiting the same amount of time either way so I may as well get something done with it. However, the real clever implementation of time comes from a hint in the marketing material that I first brushed off as meaningless. As everyone knows, time flies when you’re having fun, and it turns out that as the Shade finds more decorations for the private apartment, time actually moves faster inside said apartment. Whether drawing new pictures to hang on the walls, lighting a fire and relaxing in an arm chair, or excavating new areas of the apartment, time speeds up so that anywhere from three to seven seconds are passing in the game for every second in the real world, and that sort of multiplication helps the 400 day wait seem much more manageable. On the opposite end is my personal favorite usage of time, The Halls of Eternity. Hidden within the kingdom is a hall of pillars that go on forever and time stands still. Spending time in a timeless area in a game all about letting time pass may seem preposterous, but The Halls of Eternity are also filled with new decorations, books, and drawing paper that can be used to make the apartment more comfortable and thus increase the multiplied time passage, so players have to balance how long they want to explore the static Halls of Eternity to get new items with the desire to move time faster at home.

As a person who opens all of an advent calendar as soon as I get it to eat all the chocolates inside, it’s weird that I like The Longing as much as I do, but I can’t help myself. There is something captivating about all of the secrets of the kingdom being hidden behind something as unconquerable as time and I found myself getting antsy at work or out running errands knowing that back in the mountain king’s realm, a stalactite had just fallen and formed a bridge to a new area. As only 15 days have passed by the time I finish this review, I will be updating this review for every 50 days that pass, so make sure to check back in as new discoveries may change my rating and might ensnare those who are reluctant to give it a try. As for now, I fully recommend picking up The Longing for the full $15 price.

Day 50 Check-In: Though only two weeks have passed in our world, a full 50 days have passed in The Longing thanks to the homey decorations I secured for Shade’s small apartment. In that time, a bit of the shine has worn off The Longing. The main reason for this is that I’ve run out of the short-term goals I used to soften the 400 day-wait. At the opening of the game, players will discover three events that will eventually happen: a stalactite will fall in a week, a cushion of moss will grow in two weeks, and in three weeks a small pool will fill with water. These have now all passed and I’ve tripled the number of books on my bookshelf and gotten several new decorations for the apartment, but at this point I can’t find anything new to do within the mountain king’s realm. I could stay home and read The Iliad, but it feels like the game is pushing me to explore outside, so that will be my next objective. No rating adjustment at this time but I can’t say it’s looking good.

Day 100 Check-In: After nearly two months of real-world time, I have successfully cleared the first 100 days in The Longing and it’s a bit troubling how much my own life has begun to resemble that of Shade’s. When I first wrote this review, COVID-19 had already made it to America but no major steps had yet been taken by my state. Now, I’m starting to grow equally tired of the isolation present in both my life and The Longing. A big surprise was that very little has actually changed in The Longing. During my last update I had been able to explore the Mountain King’s library, acquiring about 20 new books, but this time the only discovery was that the mushroom I planted to serve as a step stool to reach a new area had been planted too far away from my objective. This meant that I had to remove it and plant a new one closer, and now must wait for it to grow. On the up side, I did discover that eating the mushrooms grown in Shade’s apartment grant visions of the surface world, apparently giving different visions depending on where they’re eaten, so I have an activity to look forward to. Depending on how the next 100 days go, I may give up on exploration and instead harness the accelerated time properties of Shade’s apartment to get through the days faster, but, if I’m honest, that would make me pretty unhappy. No rating adjustment this time, mostly thanks to magic mushrooms.

Day 200 Check-In: At the end of the last check in with The Longing, I was feeling pretty down, not only because of the grim state of America but also because the game had struggled to keep my interest. America hasn’t gotten any better after 100 days, but I’m happy to say that The Longing has improved. Now that 200 days have passed, both my knowledge of the game as well as the game itself opened up new pathways for me to explore. The first thing that caught my attention was a brand new door that only sometimes exists. Unlike the other, door-less archways in the Mountain King’s realm, this is a massive wooden door and is revealed to be locked and requiring a key to open when the Shade interacts with it. Having a key to hunt for is a fun new goal in the otherwise aimless subterranean world. The second thing that got me reinvested into The Longing was hints that the Shade wasn’t alone. I’m not going to be specific so everyone can experience it on their own, but when I discovered the possibility of another existence beyond the Shade and the Mountain King, I felt genuine fear because I had spent so long alone. The moment was well crafted by the developers and reignited the passion I had at the beginning of my time with this game. I’ll be back in another 100 days and I’m a lot more hopeful this time around.

Day 300 Check-In: The previous installment of my continuing review of The Longing was marked by additions in the form of a transient door and a mysterious co-inhabitant of the Mountain King’s chthonic domain. Over the past 100 days I’ve had a different experience as my wait continues. The first thing I noticed was a death had occurred. Don’t worry, neither the Shade nor the Mountain King was the one to pass, but it was a jarring loss nonetheless. Like every cloud, this death had a silver lining as it allowed me to rearrange some resources, allowing me to access a new part of the cave, which was a nice change. This, in turn, introduced another welcome development, finally finding enough materials to build the Shade a bed, which can be used to cause time to pass at a prodigious rate. These two additions were extremely welcome because I was confronted with several new mysteries and even a prophecy of doom. I haven’t seen the mystery door again, I recovered a strange book that says it will write itself, there have been hints about potentially reversing time, and it was implied I might be able to break into the Mountain King’s treasury. Maybe I’m advancing at a relatively slow pace, but I’m impressed that The Longing can still ensnare me with new possibilities after 300 days. I’m both looking forward to and dreading the end of this journey, which should happen some time in early March if my calculations are correct, so I hope you’ll join me in 100 days for the final update.

Day 400 Check-In: After 358 days, the vigil of The Shade has come to an end. When I set out to review The Longing, I decided that I would see what happened after the full 400 days and not pursue any action that endanger that end. As I played through the game, I got hints about other avenues and the ending I was heading towards, which was a fun experience. One thing I did not expect was the game telling me that The Longing is not a game that should be played multiple times and putting significant barriers between me and a new playthrough. I don’t imagine many people want to play a 400 day game more than once, but it was still surprising to see the game actively discouraging me from doing so. I feel that this tone fits with the game but I do want to warn potential players to really pay attention to what is said about the old and the young, because failing to do so can result in a somewhat frustrating end to the 400 day wait. All tolled, I think The Longing is a fascinating and enjoyable experience for a very affordable price.