Early impressions from an Xbox One player.

[Magic Peanut]

I'm just going to talk about the start menu here.

The first thing that assaulted my senses was the whistling wind, evoking memories of extreme cold and many BBC programmes of icy landscapes. Funnily enough, the last time I watched a programme like that it was about Timber wolves. The audio seems to be linked to the shifting snows on the start screen, along with the smoke coming from the shack's chimney and the scarf wrapped around the fence post. There's also a rifle there, a backpack and a spade. I've used one extensively, another frantically and I've yet to find out how the third comes into the game.

The backpack (I don't see it as an inventory, which is a good thing imo) management is really easy and I have yet to come across an icon that doesn't make sense. I have found the simple menu system to be quite intuitive and I'm never more than a button press from the main screen. I love that, it really helps with the immersion. I spend so much time with it that it would break the game if it wasn't.

I'm sat here at that screen and I've noticed that the moon is waning.

Press A. Title, logo and menu.

Story: brief description but I found the question mark over the number of episodes grated on me. I'd prefer it if it just said Season One. Don't ask me why.

Sandbox: I've mainly played Voyageur because I saw it as Easy, Normal and Hard. I don't play games on Easy but I think I'm going to with TLD because I want to hone my survival skills against the elements before I add in any more dangers.

Load: clearly this is for loading a previous save, right?

Options: I can see Vertical Sync and FOV here. Not sure what VS is for? Syncing my Vertical I imagine. What does that do? FOV is Field of Vision? Does that give me a wider or narrower FOV? Why would I want that? Then there are controls that I haven't used or experienced like Drop Decoy. Am I missing something or do I find this in the game?

Choose Sandbox, Pilgrim: 2 photos, a bloke with a lantern and a lass with an axe. Do either of them give me an edge? Do they have different skills? I choose the bloke because he's got a lantern and if I can't see then nothing else happens.

Choose Your Region: aargh! I'm locked out of 2 of them. Yes, it's an Alpha but I just feel frustration because I can't experience them. I guess they're there to let me know that there's more to come.

I'll post about my in game experiences in a day or two.

P.S. I've been sat at the title screen for a while and now it's completely dark, there's a beautiful starry sky and the house is lit from within by an open fire. Love that.

[Bill Tarling]

Awesome feedback, glad you've joined the board

Yes, decoy food is something you may decided works for you playstyle (or you may decide not to use it) the more you play... When a wolf is tracking you, there's a chance you can distract it by dropping some of your main food as a decoy

You'll find so much to discover ahead...

[bethany]

Thanks for the feedback, Peanut!

To answer one or two of your questions: There is no difference between choosing the male or female character, so feel free to explore with whichever you like!

FOV does indeed widen or narrow your field of vision. It's more to account for the personal taste and comfort of each player. VSync helps prevent screen tearing.

Yes, you can load previous saves. I believe I may have seen you in another post about this, but just in case, the game auto saves when you rest, enter or exit a building, or when your condition changes -- Injury, freezing, and so forth.

One of my favourite "little things" about the game is the main menu, and how it cycles through the day/night and weather patterns. I love when people sit long enough to discover this...I think it's so beautiful.

Thanks again for the feedback and questions and welcome to the forums! We're glad to have you!

[Incariuz]

Choose Your Region: aargh! I'm locked out of 2 of them. Yes, it's an Alpha but I just feel frustration because I can't experience them. I guess they're there to let me know that there's more to come.

Can't say with 100% certainty since I play on PC, but I can only assume the Xbox One version has the same content as pc. With that being said, PC players have access to 3 maps, however only Mystery Lake can be played initially. Pleasant Valley and Coastal Highway can only be selected when starting a new game if you've reached them on a previous game first.

[Raphael van Lierop]

Choose Your Region: aargh! I'm locked out of 2 of them. Yes, it's an Alpha but I just feel frustration because I can't experience them. I guess they're there to let me know that there's more to come.

Can't say with 100% certainty since I play on PC, but I can only assume the Xbox One version has the same content as pc. With that being said, PC players have access to 3 maps, however only Mystery Lake can be played initially. Pleasant Valley and Coastal Highway can only be selected when starting a new game if you've reached them on a previous game first.

This is 100% correct!

Though, we think enough people seem confused by this "locked" state to warrant us revising this particular bit of the interface.

[Random Fires]

Perhaps a text line "Discover this area to unlock" when highlighted would clarify. Much like the little note box when attempting to access story mode.