The Longing - A community diary

[PointnClicker01]

Hello everyone,

I came across a game on steam called The Longing. It belongs to the genre of Point & Click adventures, which is why of course it caught my attention. I found out that it is not an ordinary PnC (in the reviews it is described as a mixture of adventure and idle game)... it is primarily about having patience. A lot of patience. Because the main task in the game is to wait... for a very long time... exactly 400 days.

What is the story behind this?
Deep underground there is a kingdom with a king. This king has a shadow as a loyal servant (that's us). Now, the king is very exhausted and needs to sleep to regenerate his power. He gives us orders to wait in the caves underground for exactly 400 days and then wake him up on time. However, he forbids us to leave the caves. Then, he falls asleep and we are on our own.

Why am I making a thread about this?
The game makes a great impression and there seems to be a lot of heart behind it. From the reviews I also see that there are many different ways to spend the 400 days, and there are also different endings depending on whether you wait the full time, how long you wait and what you do in the waiting time.
Because I'm very curious by nature (but I also because I don't want to invest more than 400 days for this game) I wanted to invite those who also want to play this game to share their stories and experiences. I don't mean that complete walkthroughs have to be posted here, but maybe it could become a kind of community diary? Like "Today my shadow found white paint and built a cosy bed" or something similar.
I'm not far into this game yet.... I've just got through the third waiting hour and I've hardly explored anything yet either, so I don't know what to expect here.

What do you think about this idea? Is somebody with me?

PS. Those 400 days also run down when not playing the game. Just fyi.

 

[Brian Boru]

Looks more like a slow walking simulator to me, requiring multiple pairs of shoes. Maybe @Colif and/or @ZedClampet might be interested—former likes games which don't end, latter likes boring games.

Anyone who likes unique or experimental indie innovative design should also be interested.

Those 400 days also run down when not playing the game

So if I launch the game today and do any intro required … and then next launch it in over 13 months, my time would be up?

 

[PointnClicker01]

So if I launch the game today and do any intro required … and then next launch it in over 13 months, my time would be up?

I'd say yes, when I started the game I turned it off for about an hour. When I came back it was also an hour less on the counter. Also, I don't think they want us to sit the full 400 days with our nose glued to the screen. It invites to create strategies and plans to pass the time without being bored.

For example: Right now, I let my shadow read Moby Dick while I am working on the paper and checking the forum

 

[ZedClampet]

What do you think about this idea? Is somebody with me?

PS. Those 400 days also run down when not playing the game. Just fyi.

@Brian Boru was writing this the same time you were writing your response. Don't know if this will notify you or not.

I won't put any spoilers here, but I played this for a few days and forgot about it until I saw your post. I knew it had been more than 400 days, so I reinstalled the game and went in and did the final stuff.

I don't know if there is more than one ending, but the ending I got was what I was expecting.

I actually really enjoyed playing this game. Not sure what happened that made me quit and forget about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you can play it again without performing surgery on the files and maybe the registry, so I guess I'm done with it. Would have liked to have explored some more.

Actually, you only have to wait 10 minutes and then you can start over

 

[ZedClampet]

—former likes games which don't end, latter likes boring games.

See my spoiler free post above about the ending. If you want to know what the ending is, send me a PM.

By the way, the game does end and I don't like boring games. I like games that would be boring to you, but they aren't boring to me.

 

[PointnClicker01]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you can play it again without performing surgery on the files and maybe the registry, so I guess I'm done with it. Would have liked to have explored some more.

That's a real pity :/ I don't want to know the ending but would you recommend to wait the full 400 days?
If not, I was thinking to wait just a few days before the end and then decide whether to wake him up or not.

 

[ZedClampet]

That's a real pity :/ I don't want to know the ending but would you recommend to wait the full 400 days?
If not, I was thinking to wait just a few days before the end and then decide whether to wake him up or not.

I corrected my post. You actually can play it again. You just have to wait for ten minutes and then the screen will change and ask you if you want to play again. Because of something it said during the ending and because it wasn't letting me do anything, I assumed it wouldn't let me play again.

 

[PointnClicker01]

What a first day for my shadow Tristis!
He already made himself quite comfortable in his little room with a warm fire, curious crystals and some artwork.

Whenever he comes home from a fatiguing trip through the endless tunnels in and outside the kingdom, he loves to start a fire and after playing some tunes on his selfmade instrument he would sit in his comfy armchair to read Moby Dick - his favourite book so far.
Time truly flies inside his room, but there's still more than enough time to go on adventures... He managed to find AND loose a pickaxe on the same day... And he even found a little friend with eight legs on his way

How are your first experiences (or re-experiences) with the game?

 

[Brian Boru]

you only have to wait 10 minutes and then you can start over

I assume you can just set the PC time to various future dates to get the various endings?

Tristis

Glad to hear he's having a whale of a time watching Spiderman

He managed to find AND loose a pickaxe on the same day

Nice, I did that in reverse IRL—boss wasn't happy

Bonus: How to confuse an Irish laborer?
Show him a shovel and spade, and ask him to take his pick.

 

[ZedClampet]

I assume you can just set the PC time to various future dates to get the various endings?

You could. Just be sure to change it back before you play any games that keep your save files by date.

But if you don't play the game, you aren't going to get a very good ending.

 

[Colif]

Journey has a trophy for not playing the game for a year and then returning. That would be hard to do if you couldn't just play console with no internet connection and change date 1 year ahead.

I can just as easily watch the endings on YouTube and save me time playing a game that actively doesn't want you to play it

 

[Alm]

Reminds me also of The Stanley Parable. That had an achievement for playing it a year later.

Though potential spoilers:

Spoiler

I never really played that game the way it was intended. I "completed" it on my second attempt and just left it. I think it's still in my Steam library though.

 

[PointnClicker01]

Update from Tristis #2:
What a busy week! Tristis made a lot of progress in the past few days... As I don't want to spoil any hidden or secret content of the game, I will try to keep it vague.
Tristis has now inspected all the tunnels - including the library, the halls of eternity and even the darkness! He also discovered some secret/hidden places that I won't spoil here (those who played the game will probably know which places I mean from looking at the screenshot below).
He managed to find another mattock (even three to be exact) and started to renovate his home. Now, he even has his own little bath at home. 🥰
Also, with some additional furniture, crystals (yes, also two singing ones ) and pictures, he made himself quite cozy at home. There's not much left to do for little Tristis - except waiting and reading Monte Cristo - at least until his birthday comes. This may take a while, so my next update will probably take a bit more time to come.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I was just thinking about this. Are you still playing?

 

[PointnClicker01]

I was just thinking about this. Are you still playing?

Sorry for my late reply. I'm currently completely absorbed by study and work... That's why I don't find a lot of time to check in here or to play video games at all.

HOWEVER, I finished this game here already at the end of October and I completely forgot to post about my final impression. I won't describe a lot because there is actually not a lot to describe which wouldn't be spoilery.

Tristis spent the rest of his waiting time in his comfortable little home, sitting in his big armchair by the fire and reading one book after another. He had so much fun, those 340 days almost felt like roughly 2 weeks! Every now and then he stood up for a little walk, stretching his legs and wondering, whether he should really wake up the king at the end of his waiting time. He wasn't sure about what to do until the timer finally counted down to 0. Reaching the end of his long waiting, he suddenly realized that he will wake up the king. After all, he finally wanted to reach the end of his longing. And so he did.

I experienced The Longing as a refreshing new experience and I overall liked the game a lot. I would have never thought that waiting can be so entertaining and that 400 days would pass so much faster than expected. Reaching the (I think) traditional end of the game made me curious enough to have a look at the other endings in the game. After knowing every ending, I think I would have chosen a different path for my little Tristis. Maybe I will start the Longing again, some time in a far future from now. For now, I had enough waiting.