Undying

All in all, I quite like UNDYING. Sure, it's got some issues, and the localisation is a mixed bag at the best of times. The critical gameplay instructions have been anglicised well for the most part - it can sometimes be a little obscure what your next objective is, but it's rare. The script fares less well, with the original Chinese names being mentioned a few times in the same sentence as the English ones and voice acting not always following the script. Minor in the grand scheme, as it genuinely looks and sounds good, going for a comic book style, almost like The Strolling Deceased.

Undying is a game for a niche audience—people who aren’t afraid to devote a hundred hours to it and keep getting better. If you’re into the realistic consequences of the apocalypse, give it a try. The stylized graphics hide a dark and unsettling theme. The game is brutally difficult, and some mechanics—such as stealth—work only to a limited extent. You’ll constantly be pressed for time and short on everything. If you think your own life is easy, go for it.

A case where it starts with a great core idea, and some elements that work, but has just enough shortcomings to fall flat

Undying is a title that combines three components that usually go together very well: management, survival and roguelike. However, none of them are fully developed. In addition, none of them is the main protagonist of the story, leaving everything halfway. This means that the title will not satisfy lovers of any of the three styles. Of all this, the best implemented is undoubtedly the management, but it is not enjoyable given the urgency and haste that the game pushes you to.

Do you have what it takes to teach your son how to survive in this new reality?

I thoroughly enjoyed Undying although it feels like it is missing an extra layer of something unique to make it innovative. There are so many different gameplay mechanics that it feels more like busy work than actually playing the game to have fun, especially since the story and the combat are uninspired.

The core ideas of Undying are what keep me coming back and what makes me want to see it through again and again. Sure, there are some translation errors, but the beating heart of it all – to make a future for your child against the screaming of the blade of time – is what makes itself most well known. It’s bleak, it’s sad, but it’s a microcosm of what we do in the every day now. Carry it on your Nintendo Switch, play it on your PC, encounter it however you’d like. It’s not perfect, but it’s damn fine and has good intent.

The narrative in Undying is touching and I really wanted to see it through to the end but the main issue here is a tonal mismatch between the emotional narrative and the traditional grind of a survival/crafting game. If you prepare yourself for slow incremental progress then there is a solid survival sim here, just not quite what I was hoping for given the fascinating setup.

Undying offers one of the most authentic survival games I've played, with fantastic gameplay and a story that sticks with you for a long time.

The game surprises with simple graphics, which are even drawn in a cartoon style, which is very pleasing to the eye. The music that we can listen to in the background, either during the title screen of the game or during the gameplay itself, is also very good.