Long Gone Days
Long Gone Days logo
Developer(s)BURA
Designer(s)Pablo Videla
Programmer(s)Camilo Sáez, Jesús Morillo
Artist(s)Camila Gormaz
Writer(s)Pablo Videla, Camila Gormaz
Composer(s)Sebastian Marín
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: October 10, 2023
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Long Gone Days is a role-playing video game for Windows, OSX and Linux developed by BURA. The original demo was written, developed, and illustrated by Camila Gormaz. It features the first hour of the dystopian story and was released for Windows and OSX on May 13, 2016.[2] The game was released in early access in March 2018, and the full version came out in October 2023.

In Long Gone Days, the player controls Rourke, a soldier from an underground, unrecognized country named "The Core", after he is deployed to a mission in Kaliningrad, Russia. After discovering the truth about the operation he was part of, he deserts to find a way to prevent the upcoming war his homeland wants to provoke.

Plot

In an unrecognized country named The Core, whose exact location is unknown, every individual is trained from birth for their job to become experts by adulthood. Rourke, a military sniper who has never visited the surface, is chosen as a last-minute replacement for an operation to aid the Polish forces in Kaliningrad, without much time to review the briefing.

After the mission of eliminating the targets they were assigned to, Rourke discovers all of them were civilians; and the squad's combat medic Adair reveals that it was actually a false flag operation. Rourke is appalled by their actions and by the fact nobody in his squad seems to mind the war crimes they are committing, so he decides to desert. Intrigued by his choice, Adair makes up his mind to follow Rourke along.

Taking advantage of his specialty, Adair reports a false illness that requires transferring Rourke to the nearest field hospital. They escape to the opposite direction of their two bases in Kaliningrad, but are quickly discovered after being spotted by drones and fellow soldiers from a nearby base they were unaware of; thus realizing the operation is much bigger than they were informed of.

The demo ends with Rourke and Adair being chased by their own allies, as they have become deserters and enemies of The Core, while they try to process what are they going to do with their lives from now on.

Gameplay

Long Gone Days is a role-playing game with visual novel elements that uses a top-down perspective. It features a traditional turn-based RPG combat, which allows the player to select which body-part of the enemy to aim. Since the story doesn't have fantasy or supernatural elements, instead of magic, the characters rely on morale. This stat can be raised or lowered by the choices the player may choose during dialogues in and outside battles, and it affects how each party member will perform in battle.[3] If their Morale reaches zero, the character loses their will to fight.

Besides the turn-based combats, the game features a first-person sniper mode, which consists of seek and find mechanics.

Since the story is set in the real world, the non-player characters will speak in their native language depending on the country the characters are in. The player can recruit interpreters in order to buy at shops and complete quests.[4]

Development

Long Gone Days was originally conceived in 2003[5] by Gormaz as an RPG Maker 2000 project, but it was not until 2015 that the development of the demo began. The game was announced for the first time on the RPG Maker forums and TIG Source on January 17, 2016.[6][7] On May 13,[8] the Windows version of the demo was released, and an OSX port was released on July 14.[9]

On July 11, 2016, Gormaz launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website Indiegogo. The campaign reached its goal on August 11, 2016, ending with US$21,300 raised by 567 people.[10] According to the developer, the game will be around 4 to 5 hours long, and it will have two different endings.[10] Serenity Forge published Long Gone Days for Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S and One, and Switch on October 10, 2023.[11]

Reception

On Metacritic, Long Gone Days received mixed reviews for Windows and positive reviews for the Switch.[12] Although they praised the morale mechanic, Hardcore Gamer criticized what they felt were an "inconsistent tone and unconvincing meshing of visual styles".[13] RPGamer praised the combat, visuals, and music, but they felt the pacing was too fast to cover the subject matter.[14] RPGFan made it an editor's choice and called it "a gorgeously poignant game".[15] RPG Site enjoyed the story and said the combat was "decently balanced". They recommended it to fans of narrative role-playing games set in the modern world.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Chamberlain, Paige (2023-10-09). "Long Gone Days Interview: Literary Inspirations and International Barriers". RPGSite.net. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  2. ↑ "Long Gone Days by Camila Gormaz". itch.io. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  3. ↑ Couture, Joel (30 August 2016). "Long Gone Days : RPG explores war's emotional impact on soldiers". Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  4. ↑ "Long Gone Days imagines the world of war that's coming for us - Kill Screen". 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  5. ↑ "Long Gone Days, An RPG With A Story 12 Years In The Making". Siliconera. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  6. ↑ "Long Gone Days (DEMO) [NOW on Indiegogo]". RPG Maker Forums. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  7. ↑ "Long Gone Days - Modern-Day Character-Driven RPG (INDIEGOGO/Demo)". forums.tigsource.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  8. ↑ Days, Long Gone. "Long Gone Days | Devlog". Long Gone Days | Devlog. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  9. ↑ Days, Long Gone. "Long Gone Days | Devlog". Long Gone Days | Devlog. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  10. 1 2 "Long Gone Days - A 2D Modern-Day Military RPG". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  11. ↑ Romano, Sal (2023-08-31). "Narrative wartime RPG Long Gone Days launches October 10 for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  12. ↑ "Long Gone Days". Metacritic. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  13. ↑ Helm, Jordan (2023-10-10). "Review: Long Gone Days". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  14. ↑ Costa, Ryan (2023-10-10). "Long Gone Days Review". RPGamer. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  15. ↑ Bowling, Audra (2023-10-10). "Long Gone Days". RPGFan. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  16. ↑ Chamberlain, Paige (2023-10-11). "Long Gone Days Review". RPGSite.net. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.