Serenity

All that stuff happened decades ago. It had nothing to with the earthquakes or the aurora. See the date here: https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/A_Page_From_A_Journal The earthquakes were already an issue while the built the machine: https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Foreman's_Site_Report_Day_45 That happens all the time naturally during coronal mass ejections

The only long term clothing items that are flat out upgrades are the Aviator Cap and the Technical Balaclava, and they're only marginally better than a toque or Rabbit Skin Hat. The Tactical Gloves are nice, but they are roughly on par with the Rabbit Skin Mittens, but like the Aviator Cap they need leather to maintain. So it's a tradeoff at best. The Improvised Insulation and the Down Bedroll are nice for the extra temperature, but it's not a huge change and they need some maintenance. Ptarmigans are also not available in coastal regions. That's a good balance. The Spelunker's Lantern is really great, needing only half the fuel. Other stuff is sometimes nice to have or situationally useful. Sometimes useless. It's good to have the variety, but the items don't change the way I play the game. New regions bring new resources, yeah. But that's the same for any free new map. That was true even early in game development when Coastal Highway was released and survival was suddenly extended a great deal. Forsaken Airfield and Sundered Pass are also pretty difficult maps and you have to work a bit for your loot. On paper it's easier maybe. But in practice the difference isn't that great.

There are also lots of places where you encounter deer in narrow locations and can't really avoid each other. So I'm against anything serious happening. But I'd like something cosmetic like the deer just pushing you aside instead of running through you.

The tutorial is Wintermute. Conceptually it's easier than Survival mode and eases you into things. It also has literal tutorials about several things. Those used to be mandatory, which was a huge complaint before they made them them optional.

It's not called the TikTok generation without reason. TikTok prefers these very short, low content videos and other platforms like YT have felt that pressure too. And somehow it messes with people's brains and causes them to prefer short, instant things in completely different mediums too. That said, TLD probably isn't even for everyone who does like survival games. Even in titles that are a few years old you can usually walk significantly faster or even run everywhere. The genre also tends to focus a lot more on crafting and base building than TLD.

I don't want to see it in the world to hunt it. I want it to be immersive. It would be completely fine if it were only be visible in the distance. Maybe run away and despawn out of sight. Though that's difficult to implement to work properly in all locations. The problem with the HUD elements is also about immersion. Instead it would be better to have cougar paw prints, kills or sounds in the world. To be in line with the other animals and the general way the game works. The rest of the game requires you pay attention, so why is the cougar suddenly different in that regard? The moose is a great example of different animal mechanics that blend seamlessly into the existing game. The cougar however feels tacked on.

There is plenty of time for a cursory trip through PV and ML. Or just dipping into one those regions. Might just need to visit one location and go back right away.

Having maximum temperature decay right away would be an interesting option for custom mode. Really changes the game when a few items of clothing aren't enough to make houses warm.

The caves are amazing. Uneven floors and walls to make it more realistic and not look like a mine. Frozen underground rivers. The dripping, frozen water falls look and sound great (also available outside of caves). In the transition cave to Forsaken Airfield / ZoC there is that "outside" area with a chasm on rope climb.

The cougar fight mechanic is tricky. It should be special, difficult, and not be able to be toyed with / abused the same way wolves and bears can. But I understand that people don't like it teleporting to your location either. For me, the bigger issue is how its presence is communicated. I feel like the teasers oversold it, but implying that you'd notice it in the world. Not necessarily seeing it directly, but finding hints that it was there. And I think many other people probably also expected more than what was intended from that.

That sounds a bit strange, but there are multiple packs up there. Three or four. And large ones of up to six of them. That's why the morale meter is so large.

I like the overall gameplay of the tales. Except the going back to Forsaken Airfield (possibly twice if you do the tales strictly in order). Gives me something to do and some of the loot is very nice. The story is meh though. There are some interesting things here and there, but we never learn what the purpose of the machine was. There is just too much mystery and no payoff in the story.

It doesn't need to be on the main HUD at all. That's just useless clutter. Having on the character status page is enough.

Yeah, the overall story is a bit disappointing. I enjoy doing the tales for the gameplay and giving me something to do. And some aspects of the final tale like the foreman chasing Rüdiger around are nice, but nothing in the background story is explained. I really wanted an answer about what they were doing exactly, but all we got was more crazy manifestos.