the writing is just bad.

[BOXman]

I would have prefer reading notes and finding audio logs instead of cliche filled monologues by strangers. I wasn't expecting good writing by any means but this is like young adult novel bad.
"You are in my world and in my world i make the rules."
or you have just cliche old mysterious man saying cryptic things while doing nothing.

[Doppel G Anger]

No doubt, the story mode is not great but episode 1 gave a good introduction to Will and Astrid's back story, the recent history of Great Bear, and had enough of a cliff-hanger at the end to compel you to play episode 2. Episode 2 had my favorite character (Jeremiah) and episode 3 had the most intriguing character (Molly). The main appeal of episode 4 for me was that it coincided with the introduction of a new region.

Most of your time in the story episodes is spent completing "fetch quests" but they serve an important role... they serve as a good tutorial for game mechanics and map introduction. I have only played each story episode one time through, and I may never return to replay them, but I have over 5000 hours of survival gameplay and I will return to play until the servers go down.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by Doppel G Anger:

...and I will return to play until the servers go down.

LOL. There's no servers. If the game is installed on your PC, you can play completely offline- no Steam Client needed. Just launch from the local files, even if your internet service is out. No need to have Steam Client in offline mode. Just make sure you have the game set for local saves only- you won't have Cloud saves if you're playing offline like I often do.

Sounds like Survival Mode and the Challenge Modes might fit the OP's wants better- you can write your own story in your head as you wander the frozen land with nothing but the winds and a bunch of animals that want to eat your face off for company.

[BOXman]

Yeah it's almost like walking dead writing (which is boring as hell). The overall design of main quests and side quests are just horrendous, from backtracking to unfulfilling rewards to unskipable monologues (like the whole start of ep 3).

And i mostly came back to the game for the story. I will complete it but if i have to endure non ending fetch quests and teleportation wolves and bears again im out.

[2High2tell]

To be fan. This game was never about the story and is more an "extra" I do not speak for the devs this is just my opinion. It is more a fun tutorial then anything else. Story mode was added after and was just a fun add on.

The game never sold as a story mode game at all. So thats why it is short and kinda lame. Although I liked it myself. It was released in chapters over I think about a year and a half 2 years.

[DsnowMan]

Originally posted by vinyblaster:

I don't think that's how it happened. Story Mode was supposed to be the focus of the game, survival was an accident. Just something released to show what the game would look like and test mechanics. It was a total surprised how successful sandbox mode was and it probably kind of changed Hinterland's plans to a degree.

I bet if you ask Hinterland they will still tell you that story mode is a major focus.

This is right. Go all the way back to the kickstarter and it is clear the main sell was the story mode. Survival mode was an unexpected hit.

[2High2tell]

Okay, if you guys say this is how it was supposed to be, I wont argue that, I came in a tad late into EA. I am not one of those people that follow devs on twitter or facebook. (I do not even have accounts for these places)

And if this game was supposed to be a story mode game then blah. FAIL. That being said, I still love and stand by the game. Survival games are my fav. And one can not blame me for assuming the way I did. Compared to the sandbox open world aspect of the game, story mode does seem like an after thought.

And if you guys are correct and I am wrong, then I agree, Story mode sucks. Maybe it started to be a story mode then morphed into an open world survival through natural progression. I am not even close to the only one who thinks this is the best pure survival game out there. To defend myself I did mention that this is what i believed. just my opinion.

I may have been wrong maybe this game was meant to be a story based game, but that is not what it is now. And I am glad for it seeing how lack luster story mode is. I still think it is decent as a tutorial though and my opinion on the game has not changed. The only thing that has change is e thinking for my own reasons that this game was never meant to be a story mode game. My apologizes for being wrong on that.,

[BOXman]

well that is the faults of the dev's for not incorporating the gameplay aspects to the story.
Episode 4 as the dev note said was the pandemic episode. That's mainly the reason it feels rushed and unfinished.

As for the other episodes it feels disjointed and lost in direction. They don't TRY to explain anything about the phenomon of the lights they give a half baked talk about how it effects the environment and the animals but fail to actually give anything to the player to hold onto.

The problem with "save wherever you want" is a immersion breaking design choice that i am baffled they even allowed. You at any point can just save without any consequences.

The crafting machinists are almost non existent in the story also the player cannot learn to craft things because it locked behind missions.

Missions themselves are backtracking annoyances that are so basic it hurts the overall enjoyment of the game. "Bring me that" and after 5 min dialogue "Now i want you to go all the way back and bring more random stuff to activate the next monologue". Side mission are (go to marker and find random loot or see a rare animal that add nothing to gameplay BUT ITS COOL !!!) yay...

The funny thing is they dev's had such a big budget they brought so many famous VA into the game but fail to use them correctly !!!
They legit brought the voice actor of solid snake and he does nothing but stay in a cabin and tell you random information that doesn't really do anything.

They failed at making a narrative story mode. What we got instead is a semi open backtracking galore and monolouge filled half baked story.

[2High2tell]

Originally posted by Vzzdak:

Mskitty didn't say story was an afterthought. The point expressed was that survival became the main feature (over the years), such that story gameplay has become more like an expediency, something that needs to be completed due to a contractural obligation. (They initially sold the game as being a story, and are obliged to present five episodes, regardless of story-telling quality.)

It's an odd tension:

1- I'd like them to invest the development time to have a fully fleshed-out story. For example, the mystical aspects of episodes 1-2 are missing from 3-4. And Episode 4 feels like a half-episode in terms of the amount of stuff you accomplish.

2- But at the same time, you have people criticizing the time being required to complete the required software development time.

3- And then you have the reality that a significant portion of the player base paid for survival; they were not paying for story.

I guess that I fall into the intermediate crowd, where I paid Early Access for the promise of an immersive, thoughtful story with survival elements. (Compare that with maybe 2-3 Early Access paid titles that failed, before I curtailed my purchases to stuff I knew I'd play.)

Despite not having a story, I participated in playing survival, both reporting technical issues, and providing gameplay advice. When story was first released, I thought it clever for it to be a tutorial, but as each episode seems designed to be a standalone adventure, my opinion is that the gameplay has been undermined by inserting abundant resources that detract from the sense of desperate survival.

Case in point, I watch newbies play on Twitch, and they are able to bumble along completing objectives without a sense of where they are, or the overall story. They just plow towards where the map says they need to go, and quickly reload should they die. Invariably, they lament how bored and unsatisfied their story experience is.

I guess this comes down to preference, I do not really care for the storyline and I would like them to go harder into the survival aspect. I mean the storyline is just so small and not that great. I dont think its "BAD" and I guess that is why I assumed it was not meant to be that way.

I just dont take it seriously. I mean how far can it go, you survuve a plain crash, you find some notes a few dead doods. You do not really leave yourself a lot of room to make a great story. As I said I cam a tad late into EA and I think there was only the one,, maybe 2 chapters of the story. Its a great tutorial but not really a game.

but again preference, I have over 5000 hours in dayz and that has no story at all. And event hen I play obscure servers that are all hardcore survival. Less food and drink, tougher zombies. less loot. I just like survival games and do not really need a story for a game to be good.

Im curious to know what others here would think where the story could or should go? With no real NPCS, what else can they give us?

[Lt. Heinz Becker]

I've always had the impression the devs had a clear vision for the game with the first two episodes, but after that, it seems like they are piecing the story together as they go along. Some things just don't make sense according to the game lore. Spoilers below.

If the first flare shorted out all electronics, then why do all following aurora events power electronics? The game logic flipped on itself.

How does Molly know when Astrid is near a phone to call? Does Molly just sit around on the phone all day hoping someone will pick up? Same thing with Jace and Will in episode 4. It's just cheesy.

Astrid "miraculously" floats to the dock of Perserverance Mills. The odds of this happening are almost impossible. She also would have been a human popsickle from the ocean spray.

[Rhapsody]

This sort of thing tends to happen when development is drawn out over a whole decade. It is what it is. I'm not particularly unhappy with the results, except the remaining episode(s) being delayed further and further.

[2High2tell]

You guys no the devs are Canadian right? We do many things good. We have solid actors, and singers. good athletes. We are generally smart and good matured.

Have you ever watched Canadian TV. Its LAME as hell. Some of the worst wringing out there. At least the brits can say they are writing a charming in their writing. We are just Boring and dull. So yeah the story sucks and the game is great. Sounds Canadian to me.

[Deviro]

I hope all the criticism in this thread doesn't break the morale at Hinterland HQ. You guys just have to tie the narrative threads, plug the plot holes and conclude this messy story.

I think the season pass content will remedy the drought we've had in the past few years. They are trying to course correct after releasing two episodes, essentially remaking them with Redux and working as fast as they can to deliver on more episodes.

It is what it is and TLD is still the best SP survival game and will remain as a classic for many decades potentially.

[BOXman]

Doubt it.... Because we all want the game to succeed, every criticism is harsh but it's for the sole reason we want the game improved and done justice for the story.

If it does break their morale then something is very wrong with this team.

[BOXman]

Originally posted by mskitty:

Some people view criticism as hate speech instead of a tool to uncover the truth.

Ep. 4 could really use some polish, it's kind of a hot mess.

No one who has an actual brain sees criticism as hate speech.
The definition of hate speech is not even remotely close to criticism.

[deelee58]

Originally posted by Jack left town:

This game has a story?

Yep, it is called Wintermute in the menu. So far there are 4 episodes to play the fifth one is coming out soon (hopefully) and is supposed to be the final episode. If you decide to play Wintermute story mode just realize the the first episode is not the best but they do get better. Personally I prefer playing Survival, the sandbox version. Survival was the only way TLD could be played in the beginning. Story mode took a while to be introduced despite it being the reason for the creation of this game. I love this game!