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Review: Don’t Starve

At first I was well and truly enamored with Don’t Starve on my PS4.

The papercraft style graphics, Tim Burton influenced artwork, interesting game world and premise had me hooked. Getting dumped into a new and randomly generated world each time I started was a novelty and each time I played it felt fresh.

At first.

I started and died a silly death because I was still learning the rules of the game. This happened a further five times. Then I struck upon a good system and managed to survive a whole week in-game. I’d figured out much of the crafting system, built machines and felt like I’d truly progressed. Then I opened a chest filled with fire and was instantly roasted. I lost everything and was forced to start again. Which I did immediately. This time I survived 14 days before succumbing to a horde of spiders I inadvertently aggro’d while looking for gold. This loss was even harder than the first. I’d managed to triple my previous progress in those 14 days and was really enjoying exploring, crafting and hunting.

With a groan and a sigh I started again. This is the game I’m still currently playing and I’ve barely progressed at all. Why? Because I honestly do not enjoy games that feature permadeath. Especially when death means an exercise in monotonous tedium upon restarting. Don’t Starve will certainly have its fans, but I’m not one of them.

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I get the thrill of knowing that any moment may be your last and I understand that the roguelike genre has a large and devoted following, but I found myself annoyed rather than challenged and determined when playing Don’t Starve. The first few days in-game are largely the same. Gather enough resources to survive the nights and begin to craft the items needed to progress. The problem is that these first few days are simply tedious. Especially when having to do it over and over upon dying. There’s no way to have your gentleman scientist retain knowledge of the machines and items you’ve learned to craft, so when you start again he starts as a blank slate. Until you’ve taught him to craft the science machine and other items, the game is claustrophobically restrictive. It’s frustrating and even a little painful to replay the opening moments again and again and eventually I just gave up.

I’ve progressed some ways, but have become paralysed by fear. Not fear of the monsters out there waiting to eat me, but fear of having to start again, again. I’ve built up my little home base, fortified the area as best as I can and now I simply potter around with busy work. I tend my gardens, plant trees, eat food and make sure my character doesn’t expire again, lest I have to restart with nothing.

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Although I’m purposely engaged in busy work to make sure I don’t die, busy work is a core issue I have with Don’t Starve. When on a roll the game flows wonderfully for a short time before you have to retreat to your base for multiple days on end healing, gathering resources and preparing to head out and explore. It’s a stop/start affair that punishes more than it rewards. Though it does hold some merit.

The crafting system (despite having to be relearned every time) is simple yet intuitive and clever. There’s a natural progression to the items you create with each new one allowing you to explore a little further or assisting you in creating the next object you require. Resources are plentiful for the most part and the most fun I had was trying to track down a rare item. When you do eventually locate it and can at long last craft the next thing you need it’s a feeling like no other.

Don’t Starve works perfectly on the PS4 and the DualShock 4 controls are precise and responsive. Navigating the crafting and inventory menus is also thankfully easy. It’s clear that the developers wanted to provide as streamlined a UI as possible for console players and it shows.

Don’t Starve: Console Edition is free for PlayStation Plus members for the month of January and while it didn’t exactly set my senses ablaze there is some fun to be had. If you’re a sadist who enjoys this type of game you’ll surely love it and even if you’re not interested, it’s free. Can’t hurt to give it a shot.

 

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DeltaPhoenix08