reviews

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reviews 〰️

I recently started playing this game called The Longing (available on most platforms as far as I am aware—personally I played it on iPad).

And boy.

Do I have things to say.

In The Longing, you are playing as The Shade, a little creature who has been tasked by its King to wait 400 days. The catch? The 400 days are counted in real time. During that time, the King will be in a deep slumber, The Shade must awake him on the 400th day.

But what will The Shade do during this long, long, long period of time?

That is up to you.

You live in a cave, and have never been outside. Your King forbad you to go outside.

The cave is big, so if you are the type who likes to explore, there will be plenty to do. No map, but you can make The Shade remember certain spots to travel back to them.

However you don’t get free access to the entire cave just like that. There are obstacles and puzzles.

All puzzles are built around patience. A door can take two hours to open. You might make friends with a spider, and wait for her web to give you access to a new passageway, you might wait for a stalactite to fall or for a pit to fill with water. Maybe you have to dig your way to a new area. Or maybe the luminescent mushroom you found could be a clue.

If you prefer the coziness of your own house, you can look for different coloured rocks and papers around the caves, so that The Shade can express its artistic soul and decorate the wall of its house. There are also books to find, which you can actually read. All books are from the public domain, but there is an extensive list to find, and a secret library hidden somewhere. When you are in your house, time can move faster if you made it cozy enough and have taken care of your mushroom garden.

But if like me, you refuse to obey the King and leave The Shade alone in a cave for 400 days, you can keep going up until finding a way out. Now getting out won’t be easy. There are multiple obstacles, some might force you to wait a week or two. Personally, I believe I have found the way out and just need to wait for the correct opportunity. But I am not going out yet, because there are still secrets I haven’t uncovered in the cave, and I refuse to leave without discovering everything.

The Longing has different endings. So you might be tempted to do different plays and have The Shade behave differently and have different goals. Mine is curious and that is what drives everyting that it does.

There is a stillnes in the game that I believe we all need at some point in our life.

The Shade can’t run. So there will inevitably be moments where it’s just you, The Shade, and your thoughts.

Your mind might focus on The Shade, on how it’s feeling. But you will find that more often than not, The Shade becomes a reflection of your own self and behaviours. Maybe I absolutely want to make The Shade escape the King because I myself escaped the environment I grew up in. Maybe I insist on exploring and bettering The Shade’s cave, and unlocking all the drawings and books because I believe in making the best of your situation while waiting for a way out.

You can’t speedrun The Longing. You will have to sit with it and let it do its magic. In a world where everything is built around doing things faster, a game like this is a gem. I couldn’t help but think about people stuck in hospital beds, about the benefit a game like this could have.

There is a moment in the game, when you are faced with the edge. Right before you reach it, The Shade will say something along the lines of “I can feel my end is near.” No need to be an intellectual to understand that if you keep walking in this direction, the game will end and The Shade will no longer be. I assume most players will turn away. No, I won’t be able to wake the King otherwise. No I haven’t found the way out yet. No I haven’t done all the drawings. No I haven’t finished decorating my house. All will turn away for different reasons, but each will be your own. And the silence of your walk back will let you sit with that reason, and reflect on whether or not you apply that mindset to your own self.

The Longing is a game of patience. The graphics are stunning. The music is enchanting. But I believe its strongest point is that it will make you sit with your thoughts.

Whether you want it or not.

You will have to face the Darkness if you want to get out.