The Long Journey Home (video game)
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| The Long Journey Home | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Daedalic Entertainment |
| Publisher | Daedalic Entertainment |
| Writer | Richard Cobbett[1] |
| Platforms | |
| Release | Windows May 30, 2017 macOS June 28, 2018 PlayStation 4, Xbox One November 14, 2018 Nintendo Switch September 4, 2019 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
The Long Journey Home is a 2017 space exploration video game by Daedalic Entertainment for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
The player controls the crew of Earth's first jump-capable starship. The game begins after a jump to Alpha Centauri goes wrong, leaving the misfit crew stranded on the far end of the galaxy.[2] As the crew journeys back home, they meet aliens who offer them various quests.[1]
Features
The goal of the game is to return home after being lost in space.[2] The player navigates a procedurally generated universe,[3] which is randomized to make the experience of exploring more open-ended and diverse.[4]
The physics of ship movement are realistic, as the player has to use gravitational slingshot to navigate.[1] There is a steep learning curve to be proficient to travel.[1][5]
The player will encounter aliens who offer them quests. The player can choose to help, ignore, attack, or even betray the quest-giver.[2] For example, when an alien asks a player to transport a box, the player can decide to open the box and steal what's inside of it.[3] Each alien has their own culture, which creates challenges around cultural misunderstanding.[5]
Development
Daedalic was a game studio known for point-and-click adventure games with a narrative focus.[4] The team has described the game as a roguelike space role-playing game, drawing its main inspiration from Star Control II and Starflight.[2] Where Star Control II described many aspects of the alien cultures through dialog, writer Richard Cobbett pushed to improve on this by making this culture more visible and interactive.[2]
The team strived to maximize player choice, allowing them to break or ignore quests, or attack even friendly encounters.[2] Quests were designed to encourage forward momentum, and also illustrate the different alien cultures and personalities.[3] This led to what Cobbett described as "a lot of writing", which was organized in spreadsheets using proprietary tools.[3] A goal for the game's writing was to create feelings of loneliness, vulnerability, and desperation.[2]
Initially, the game featured a trade system, but this was simplified in favor of credits.[2] A month after the game's release, The Long Journey Home was updated with an easier story mode.[6]
