Topic: Don't Starve: Giant Edition (Wii U) Review

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Klei Entertainment's roguelike title is one of the most unique experiences on the Wii U eShop

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/40394/dont-starve-giant-edition-wii-u-review

Imagine being stranded in the wild, left to your own devices, being cursed with a fate that ultimately leads to your own demise. That’s what Don’t Starve: Giant Edition for the Wii U does - it throws you into this scenario without telling you how to survive, yet your goal is to survive as long as possible. It’s a daunting experience, not only for the main character, Wilson, but for the player as well. The lack of narrative and increasing difficulty can be a challenge for those who want to see the game through to its eventual conclusion. But if you can put your fear aside and venture through the dark, in-depth worlds that Don’t Starve randomly generates, the game can become a deeply immersive experience.

You start off as Wilson, a guy whose sole ability is being able to grow a pretty cool beard after a few days in the wild. A mysterious person named Maxwell grabs him and throws him in a forest area where he’s left to starve. It’s up to you, the player, to find ways to keep him alive. The longer you keep Wilson from dying, the more experience points you rack up. Every time Wilson dies (and trust me, he will), the experience goes toward unlocking new characters, such as a pyromaniac and a strongman, among others. You can choose between these characters whenever you start a new game. They have abilities that Wilson doesn’t, but they have their own drawbacks as well, such as lighting things on fire and being afraid of the dark.

It’s the world itself that makes Don’t Starve intriguing. Each time you start a new game, it’s an entirely new, randomly generated map. Every time I started a game, I ran into new enemies, ranging from normal fare such as spiders and bees to weirder, more abstract enemies like human-shaped pigs and walking eyeballs. As you become more immersed within the world, you’ll learn how to deal with these enemies and use whatever items they drop to your advantage. This is very much a roguelike game where you gather items and use them to craft other items that will help you live a little longer, such as tents, chests, armor, weapons, etc. On top of the hunger and health meters to keep an eye on, there’s also sanity, and sometimes other things such as water intake. All of these are vital to your survival. Becoming too waterlogged or just plain losing your mind has consequences, leading to your inevitable death.

And like I said earlier, dying in this game is pretty easy. One wrong move dealing with a spider or shadow person will lead you to an early grave. And while you can save your game, you can only save it as long as you don’t die. That is, the minute you die, the game ends and your save file is deleted. This can be a demoralizing experience, especially if you aim to beat the game (there is, in fact, an ending). But even with its unforgiving difficulty, I had fun. Through every death, I learned more of what’s needed for survival. My only other complaint is one specific to the Wii U. The game does provide Off Screen play, which is a nice plus. The problem, however, lies in the in game’s text -- it’s way too small, and unless you look closely you’ll have a hard time reading it, which is a turn off if you want to play the game on the Gamepad. It’s disappointing, but hopefully it’s something developer Klei Entertainment is already looking into.

The world of Don’t Starve is an intriguing one. The haunting graphics and music create a grim, Burton-esque atmosphere that wraps around the whole package rather nicely. The gameplay is fun and kept me interested for days. Don’t Starve doesn’t hold your hand, and it can be difficult, but if you can look past that, this game is one of the most unique experiences on the Wii U. Just be sure to light a fire at night. They come rather quickly in the dark…