NobleGamer This War of Mine Review

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who likes survival games and recommend giving it a try for any non-casual gamers who are intrigued by the more emotional/human approach to a game in a war setting. Out of the couple survival games that I have played this is my favorite because it makes survival meaningful through striking a very effective although not perfect balance between scavenging, various moral choices (steal, attack, give, withhold, etc), and crafting. After two playthroughs of 10-15 hours each with pre-set scenarios, one I survived 40 days and another time my characters survived the war, I think I'll only ever play it again if there's mods I find that intrigue me that don't just make the game much harder or easier. I don't know what the "whole new ending" is from the anniversary edition, even after reading the wiki - Different character-specific outcomes? A different way to "survive the war"? YOU SHOULD KNOW: +The game is difficult, but in mostly realistic ways that add to the challenge and strategy of the game - Resources, trading, emotional states, combat, etc. This is why I cannot recommend the game to casual gamers. ~Characters' individual stories are all text based reflection and revealed over time. It makes them more personal, but for me not much more than their reactions to various choices made. ~Locations available and their items, tradeable or not, can significantly impact how easy or tough your intro and mid-game goes. If you don't adapt your strategy, you're gonna have a bad time. +You will have moral choices that will likely affect your character's moods, most notably who to steal from. The actions of one can affect one or many characters. The moods of your characters when the war ends seems to effect each of their epilogues. ~The game's story line, separate from character stories, seems pretty linear. The war starts, you try to survive through whatever season(s) happen, you have the choice to visit many places, you get to interact with who visits your shelter, you make choices on how you interact with people, and eventually the war ends. Now let me break down the other good (+), neutral (~), and bad (-) things about the game. +Fairly realistic combat and healing: Getting shot without a helmet or vest can expect at least a serious wound, and a knife backstab or more than 2 shots can guarantee death. Wounds only have a very slight chance to heal with sleep over time, but have a somewhat better chance with bandages. Same thing with sickness and medicines. +Good emotion system: Sadness or depression can't be "fixed" by building a morale booster like a radio or obtaining a bunch of books - It takes time, and depression often requires talking. +Options for building: Unless you master the game, don't expect to build everything, but there was just enough for choices to not be extravagant or too little. Pick a strategy for your playstyle, for example - Not focusing on advanced metal crafting (weapons, tools, etc), but improving general crafting to catch my own food & brew my own alcohol. ~Stealing from trader's stashes: I'm conflicted about this, because I've only ever been able to pull this off with only one location, but it made survival much easier than perhaps it should have for me to steal from one particular trader's stash most days without any concern of detection. This has not been the case with all other traders I've encountered though. I think traders build up stuff over time to a point, and the incremental build up near the end wasn't absurd, but in the mid-game it was a bit much. ~Certain unrealistic elements: Snow aside, there's some other smaller unrealistic things that are minor detractions from reality, but may serve a gameplay purpose. For instance, if you get caught trespassing, stealing, attacking people, or destroying restricted or private property to the point of chasing or attacking you, if you come back with ANY member of your party, they will be poised to attack if you return. Also, if you trade something to a trader that you JUST stole from their home, they are none the wiser. -Snow: You can only melt it into water during winter, and after that, it stays in your inventory and can't be used. It also was ambiguous how to melt it until taking a much closer look at my improved stove's options. ~Trading balance: Usually it is good and makes sense, but there's certain types of craftable goods that aren't worth anything more than their individual "parts" ~Music and lack of voice work: The music is so-so in terms of variety, but is great at providing ambiance. The lack of character voices is disappointing, but that rarely wows me, so perhaps it is for the better they didn't try. -Certain animations: I've seen characters glitch through other home objects or characters of mine once in a great while for specific situations. Not enough to impact gameplay, but it is a lack of polish to the game's well styled look.