Long Gone Days
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Long Gone Days Trailers
Long Gone Days - Launch Trailer
Long Gone Days - Announcement Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games
Long Gone Days Announcement Trailer
Critic Reviews for Long Gone Days
Briefly enticing the mechanics governing Morale might be in and out of combat, Long Gone Days' inconsistent tone and unconvincing meshing of visual styles doesn't pull through for a narrative deserving of a more refined focus.
Long Gone Days is a game that is clearly more interested in telling a story rather than lighting the turn-based genre on fire. A mechanically solid RPG frames the story of Rourke and his allies. In that regard, the story that is delivered is a phenomenal exploration of the genuine costs of war on those who are forced to survive. It's a deeply resonant story that will likely connect with a great many people. Pixel-art and character portraits help to avoid the typical drab and dreariness that almost defines this genre of story. Extreme effort has gone into making sure the main party and those around them are characterised in a very human way, despite the art-style being rooted in a clear anime influence. There are some moments that may break the illusion of this weighty narrative and these moments did take me out of some of the action. In spite of this, I still enjoyed my time with the game, with a story that will sit with me for a long time.
Long Gone Days is an RPG with a very smart story. It's a bit of a shame, then, that the gameplay elements are elementary. If you allow yourself to get attached to this somber world and its young cast of sympathetic characters, however, the experience will be well worth your time.
Long Gone Days is a project that's been in the works for many years. With grating hand holding, but a decent story and grounded characters, Long Gone Days is a good choice for those interested in a narrative-focused RPG.
Long Gone Days makes an incredibly easy recommendation for those wanting a narrative-forward and cerebral RPG that will make you feel emotions along story beats. It excels in storytelling and creating feelings of fear out of a war-torn alternate reality where geopolitical tensions are as equally sensitive as they are now. But, if you want an RPG that encourages thoughtful party management and turn-based combat, you should look elsewhere.
Long Gone Days has a lot of heart to it, but it is sorely lacking in its mechanics. This is not much of an RPG but is more akin to a visual novel with some tense sequences that are expressed in the style of retro RPG battles. The simplistic sniping sequences make more sense and are executed much more effectively at conveying the themes of the story and fit the gameplay better.
It also should be mentioned that for some bizarre reason the game can only be controlled with the D-pad, which I found caused a lot more hand cramps than usual especially when playing in handheld mode. [UPDATE: We have been informed that this was the result of a bug, a patch has been submitted addressing this issue]. A lot of what's here is good, but more than anything I think it just makes me more interested in what the dev team comes out with next with the lessons learned from this project's completion.
