Multi-player games are an important staple in every gamer's library. Especially growing up with 3 older siblings, playing games together was a huge part of my childhood. We were a Nintendo household, so I'm mostly referring to Mario Kart, Mario Party, Super Smash Brothers and the like. I've played these games a ton, however there is one that I may have dedicated more of my time to. This game, of course, being Don't Starve Together.
For clarity, I'll be talking Don't Starve Together specifically, as opposed to the single player game - Don't Starve. I've yet to play the single player one, so I'm unaware of what kind of differences there will be.
Don't Starve Together is a survival multi-player game developed by Klei. You choose from a wide variety of characters ( each with their own widely different play styles ) and enter a randomly generated world. Your goal is to simply survive for as long as possible while avoiding numerous hazards.
Since it's an endless survival game, some of the obstacles you'll face are pretty obvious. You have three meters you must keep track of - Your Hunger, Health, and Sanity.
Hunger is an obvious one - you must either hunt the strange beasts that inhabit this world ( you are absolutely not in Kansas anymore ) or gather / farm produce and fruit. Don't eat often enough and you'll start to starve, and your health meter will drop.
Your Sanity is a bit more complicated. Each character starts with a set amount of sanity ( not all have the same sanity ) and various things will either lower or raise it. Eat something that was rotting? Your sanity will go down. Get soaking wet from the rain? Same thing. On the flip side, if you eat a healthy meal or stay dry by a fire then you'll improve your mental health. Be warned - if your sanity drops too low, beasts of the shadows will begin relentlessly attacking you.
Shadows beasts are one of numerous monsters that inhabit this realm. Some are friendly / not initially harmful - such as the Beefalo ( beefy buffalos) or Pig Men. Others as very much predators and will actively try to kill you. There are the hounds, tall birds and more.
Of these predators, there are four seasonal beasts. These big boys are much larger and deadlier than the other mobs you'll face. They serve the role of bosses. If you start the game in Fall - the default starting season - then the first you'll face is the Deerclops.
The Deerclops is a giant, bipedal deer with a single eye. He is the Winter Giant, and as such will have a few attacks that control ice. He will wander the map aimlessly and will murder everything he happens upon.
The Moose Goose is a giant... Moose... Goose hybrid. She will mostly keep to her nest and guard the babies she spawns. The major problem is that multiple Moose Goose... Meese Geese... can spawn, making certain areas very dangerous territories. They have a ramming attack they use if you get close to them or their babies. Their babies will eat all food around them and will become hostile and very deadly if you murder their mother.
The Dragonfly behaves much differently from it's counterparts. For starters, he spawns and stays spawned from the start of the game. The other Giants will only spawn during their season and will despawn afterwards. The Dragonfly will spawn in the wasteland biome - an area filled with lava pits and hound pits. Not many resources can be found, though a few rocks can be. In the approximate center is the Dragonfly, a dragon.... fly.... hybrid. He is asleep until you approach him, in which he'll become immediately aggressive. The biggest danger is that he is much faster than you, even when running on roads that grant a speed boost. If you can outrun him, he'll eventually fly back to his resting place and sleep.
And the final giant is the Bearger. Thankfully, he will not spawn the very first Autumn of the game, so you can establish your camp. The Bearger is a bear... ... badger... ... hybrid that spends his time during Fall eating as much food he can find before hibernating. He'll attack you if approach him but is also pretty easy to avoid.
So that's the basic gameplay of Don't Starve. Gather food, hunt, farm and keep as many hazards away as possible as you upgrade your camp and your gear. As I stated before,, there is a fun cast of characters- each unique in design, pros and cons. Some characters start with a special item or negate certain status ailments. Others have specific requirements like eating a specific kind of food. Each one has a unique play style, giving the game a ton of replay value.
If you're anything like me, resource gathering and survival games are extremely addictive. I love hoarding mass amounts of materials and upgrading my tools.
With gameplay out of the way, I'd love to give praise to the unique art style. The game is very Gothic in style, using a plethora of dark and atmospheric colors. It also has a story book / sketch book style as well. Everything has a hand drawn style and has notable pencil scratches. It adds so much to the macabre feeling.
The music is another unique feature i love. Typically, there is no background music unless you're performing specific actions. Instead you simple hear the sounds of the wilderness - birds cawing and flapping their wings, grass crunching beneath your feet - further adding to the survivalist setting. When you perform actions, such as chopping down a tree, a brief song will loop for as long as you perform the action. To keep things fresh, each season has a unique song. There is also fighting and danger music that will occur when the appropriate action is happening.
I also have to mention that instead of voice acting, each character speaks in a wind instrument. When speaking, a short turn will play - matching the length of the character's sentence. Each one has a unique instrument - ranging from a flute to a trombone to a kazoo. It helps give the characters an extra layer of personality.
So with all my praise, what gripes do I have with the game?
For starters, as with any resource gathering survival game, there is going to be a lot of repetitive actions. Gather food, wood, stones, minerals- and unfortunately not much more. Sure the game will mix things up, with each season relying on certain conditions for survival or the occasional ( or often if you play for 365 days ) hound attack, but that becomes repetitive as well. That being said - my lady love and I would usually play for three or five hours before calling it quits.
The biggest pain is the combat. I find it to be extremely difficult to fight most creatures - which makes sense to a point. It makes you feel helpless and fearful of the monsters, but also makes it incredibly frustrating when you attempt to fight. Granted, there are a few different approaches to combat and the gear you use - both defensively and offensively. However, most combat becomes either a stun locking mess or a hit and run affair. As far as I've witnessed, the characters can not take many hits, making each fight life or death. Again, a double edge sword - each fight is intense but can be frustrating.
So what do I think overall? The game is definitely great and worth your time. I highly recommend it and would encourage anyone reading to give it a shot. One of the best things is that the developers are still actively updating the game. Most recent was changing how the water looks and giving you the ability to traverse it - so support isn't ending any time soon. Overall- I give Don't Starve Together an
8/10.
A very good game with a few shortcomings.
What do you think? Have you played Don't Starve Together? Did you enjoy the game like I did? Let me know in the comments and feel free to subscribe to the blog to get email updates. Thanks for reading, and as always, Good Night and Joy be with you all.
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