Draugen Review: Reduced from "Survival Horror" to "Walking Simulator" - What Happened, Red Thread?

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If you're a fan (as we are) of Red Thread Games and their previous title, Dreamfall Chapters, you're probably interested in their new game, Draugen. Unfortunately, Draugen may not be the game you're expecting. Originally announced as a survival horror game, the final release is a rather short walking simulator that bears little resemblance to the game described in announcement press coverage. In this review, Ash goes into detail about the positive and negative features of this game and investigates how drastically it's changed over the years.
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6 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 42

@kaspartambur 3 года назад

Sincere - I too remember a much darker Scandinavian Silent Hill vibe from announcements/development. Although - alllllllmost the final idea was awesome also - basically a story about a person with schizophrenia going to an recently abandoned village, where you think he'd start hallucinating every person the more he reads of them, but the old hallucinations kind of say "there isn't enough room any more for ghosts - just us ghosts & also let's get rid of this specific one too".

@sealofapproval5598 5 лет назад

If you recall within this story that there was some underlining mention about some evil creature or curse. Even in Ruth's drawings you can see the Draugen but perhaps that whole arc was cut from the game entirely? Perhaps Ruth was meant to be the little girl that is heard *quote* "singing broken lullabies" at night and there is no doubt that the theme of water being dangerous is in the game already because of certain events that we come to learn have transpired in Edward's life... but, again, maybe chunks of that was changed or just straight up cut? I am with you though: I really don't think a plot hole ridden story, inconclusive ending and 3 hours worth of gameplay suffices for 5 years of game development.

@skeletonking4119 5 лет назад

Seal of Approval it should’ve been! However! There no files of such a creature. Only the corpse that you saw in ground ..

@sealofapproval5598 5 лет назад

Well there is a lot left unsaid or a lot to be desired with this story... for instance, the supernatural aspect: like how the crows guide Edward to clues or who is that shady silhouetted figure we see outside the window and consequently chase into the fog? Who rang the church bell when Edward was at the house? What was in the mine? What happened to all the villagers? And most importantly: who the hell is "The Entity"? I'm all for storytelling to have mystery and for it to leave audiences in suspense or leave breadcrumbs to a tantalising reveal but to just abruptly end without any conclusion or not even attempt to tie up any loose ends is just unsatisfying. I was so enthralled in this story, it's world, it's main characters... but then we get this shitty ending of "oh well, we'll just never know what really went on... time to move on now and go and drink some tea or whatever" It also seems like they have sequels plans for this game because apparently "Edward and Lissie will be back..." but I could care less if it's just going to be more of this bullshit plot hole ridden inconclusive shite.

@mikkelmadsen8305 5 лет назад

I mean draugen is litteraly Norwegian folklore of a creature that lives in the water and lures people in, eventually drowning them. And finding out that what the literal title of the game was inspired by got cut is kind of dissapointing

@aletta4497 5 лет назад

@@sealofapproval5598 The Entity is likely Edwards guardian angel.

@keiyangoshin3650 4 года назад

Thank you for this review. I played Draugen just yesterday (20th of May 2020) and I must say I agree that the story feels unfinished. It was an interesting game. Beautiful to look at and the music was amazing. But it was at times predictable and yes, walking simulator sounds about right. Original but short. One of the most pleasant surprises I had was hearing Nicholas Boulton (Hawke in Dragon Age 2) voicing Edward. It's worth playing for 3 hours of him talking lol. All in all, I have no regrets. Take care. ♥

@ottor-007 5 лет назад

I think I've set my expectations very high in the beginning. There is up and downs to the game, feels short kinda sad about it and not satisfied. :(

@finnthefannibal 5 лет назад

Draugen reminds me a lot of Edith Finch, Everybody Goes to Rapture, or Firewatch, and these are options the game could have taken. Edith Finch gave us 2 opposing theories to contemplate by the end of the game. Everybody goes to Rapture had a solid ending but it's like a mystery you have to peice together as you observe the clear character arcs. Firewatch was divisive, but its theme of how things don't always work out in life is sprinkled throughout the game and was also tied to the MC's character arc, and even before we get that unresolved ending the game had been telling us that it wouldn't be a classic straightforward ending. If Draugen was trying to be any of these options it failed. And if it wasn't, then it wasn't telling us clearly what it was trying to say.

@CoolColorPurple 4 года назад

What really frustrates me about Draugen is all the wasted potential. They have this great set up to a mystery of what happened in this town. There is the legend of the Draugen, questioning what is real and what is fake. For me, I see the story going two ways either the Draugen is real or it was a big cover-up. But in the end we get this tacked-on story about mental health in a very distasteful way, that not only does not make sense but that no one cares about.

@magicmorris1692 4 года назад

I agree with you 100%. I just finished the game and I thought that there was sooo much potential in this game! The 1920s Norwegian setting and the concept of a story behind the "Draugr" or "Draugen" was so promising.

@thirtyacres7504 4 года назад

Great analysis and exceptional review. We need more video game reviewers like you. Thank you!

@xdoriandanger 3 года назад

I know this is an older vid but I just finished the game. I too am a huge fan of The Longest Journey and Dreamfall games. In fact, they are my favorite games of all time because the story and characters are just.... wow. So with Draugen I was soooo excited about Lissie, her character has so much personality and style and she was reviving the kinds of cool characters we got to have in TLJ/Dreamfall. I wanted more from her and am very sad about how things turned out :( absolutely heartbroken. Enjoyed the game but I'm being a brat and want more story.

@thjalfi4606 5 лет назад

Having kept track of it, I never saw anything about survival horror.

@TripleSLeague 5 лет назад

Fair enough. The articles I looked at were pretty old.

@thjalfi4606 5 лет назад

@@TripleSLeague to clarify, I was expecting horror. It's a great game, but scary isn't a word I'd use to describe it

@neonsvampen1 5 лет назад

I bought the game cuz i Thought it would be like they Said When it was announced in 2013.. I was kinda dissapointed, but still, i love red thread games. I just wish it was a horror thriller game

@skeletonking4119 5 лет назад

I thought I was the only one who thought the same thing! Thank you for your honest information and opinions! And thank you for your time of making this video! I thought it’s gonna survivor game But in the end of the day I finally got multiple questions and endlessly theory’s . To the point of asking myself? Is this guy Edward suffering form Schizophrenic ?? Like everything and everyone he see. The SHES Fellow him , and angel (that’s like Doctor who horrifying angels ) I thought she’s was the enemy But in the end it was his own mind making tricks to keep him sane . But honesty that girl is horribly annoying!

@Sakash52 4 года назад

I really wanted this to be a good murder mystery type game, instead it's about mental illness. Because of course it is. I knew what the end was going to be 20 minutes into it, since I played firewatch and Edith finch, and this game was following that same pattern.

@uros.u.novakovic Год назад

Randomly decided to see a review about Draugen after all these years. Cause it kinda started to fade away from my memory and I was feeling a bit nostalgic. So first I went to their website and saw "Svalbard" and was like oh this might look interesting, I guess it's new. And then I found out that that game is also mentioned in this video at 3:47 with the same description it has today and nothing else. No images, no videos that I can find. 4 years later and no info? Doesn't bode well.

@IvanoForgione 4 года назад

I am a huge fan of everything Ragnar and his pals have created in the past, I only recently played Draugen because I have a new PC and the old one couldn't handle it. I really like it, but I was a little bit disappointed as well. You're right, I too didn't expect it to be a "walking simulator" and this short ... I'll play it once more in black and white (the "1923" visual setting) mainly to unlock the four achievements I missed, and because I really dig the music and the visuals... Still, it has left a sour taste in my mouth.

@mhuh 2 года назад

The unique thing about Draugen is that it has a companion system. Won't lie I enjoyed it but the game did not turn out the way as intended.

@wingel71 5 лет назад

Sounds like the usual "recent" Ragnar Tørnquist crap: a vague story with lots of plot holes and no satisfying conclusion. Yeah, I'm still bitter about what The Longest Journey turned into. TLJ wasn't perfect, but in my opinion it was really good game and I was really looking forward to the sequel. I bought Dreamfall, and spent most of the game wondering when the story was going to get started, and just when it felt like things were heating up the game ended and I was left staring the screen in disbelief thinking "what, that's it?". It felt like what I had just played was an extended intro that set up a lot of story lines. There was no conclusion and none of the loose ends were tied up. And I had naively expected a proper game, with, well, real gameplay and an end. If Dreamfall had been continued in a sequel a year or two later I might have forgiven that, but well, that didn't happen. When the first of Dreamfall Chapters was published eight years later I did take a quick look, but it felt like more of the "I'm not being vague, I'm being deep" tripe and I just lost interest. Years later I did take another look, "maybe the later chapters got better", but nah... Based on what he managed to do with TLJ, Ragnar Tørnquist is obviously able of producing good stuff, maybe that's why I've been so disappointed with what he's done since then.

@LivingZombieJew 5 лет назад

Great video. I agree with you. There is trailer for this game on youtube that shows it was supposed to be something very different. Also album from complete edition tells about monsters while there isn't any in game. The main problem is they didn't put anything instead of what they cut off and that's why this game is unsatysfying.

@lokiasgard3692 5 лет назад

since 2014 this game was something like lovecraft themes or something more survial horror. Even in the first trailer was announced as a horror game, i were expecting something like monster of the sea... i don´t have any words...

@satines6045 3 года назад

Such a beautiful game, the Norwegian theme sold it for me. I love all sorts type of games so I enjoyed this one a lot.

@criwall 4 года назад

I quite liked the game, one of the better walking simulators I played even if i called the resolution and first major twist before they happens. But I had no idea about the original pitch. If I had I would probably be disappointed. So I'm quite happy I picked it up at a whim and didn't dig that deep into the development of the game.

@triggahappyyt5420 4 года назад

I understand why everyone says this game is a disappointment, I just finished the game and felt wtf? Too many unanswered questions and everything was all over the place.

@EriesAston 5 лет назад

If this was a survival horror game then I wouldn´t touch it. Edit: I just finished it, what a disappointment.

@snyggmikael 5 лет назад

Feels like watching a short movie.. or no a long episode rather of a tv series. The things that in contained was really nice though. They could have ever ealy drawn out the game with puzzles and even more spooky stuff, but that would not necessarily had made the game better so

@julichio6241 2 года назад

On point! Luckily I didn't buy it but just downloaded it 😝 I experienced it exactly in the same way. As a huge fan of the longest journey and all Dreamfall, I really did not expect this, what a pity. Also because it could have been a really great game!

@MGinna 5 лет назад

TLY brought me here. Played everything that has Ragnar's signature. He is without a doubt the best storyteller in the gaming world. I admit I find Draugen totally different and not what i have anticipated, also not a walking simulator fan. Still, the game is beautifull, the scenery, music... The story and the feels much like in The Park. Will support Red Thread further. Hope the cyber punk game turns closer to TLY way. Still hadn't find anything like it.

@MurrOtter 5 лет назад

Would you say I'd like Dreamfall Chapters if I DID like Draugen? I hadn't heard of it nor Red Thread until this one came out, but you speak highly of it, so I'm definitely intrigued.

@MurrOtter 5 лет назад

@Noctis Gaming ah, I absolutely do. Moreso than the setting of this game probably, so I'll definitely have to give that a go then. Thanks much for the reply!

@TripleSLeague 5 лет назад

You'll probably really like Dreamfall Chapters if you like games that are heavily based on narrative and exploration rather than action. Unlike Draugen, DC has choices that affect the narrative, tons of well-written characters, good humor, and a variety of settings (including both fantasy and futuristic, as the previous commenter noted). Also, it's 3rd-person. Note that it's the conclusion of a saga that began in two previous games, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Not everybody is happy with how they wrapped the story up, but that's to be expected. (If you don't want to play the previous games, they give you a "story so far" video in the game's menu.)

@triggahappyyt5420 4 года назад

This game sux, too many plot holes. I like walking sims that are narrative driven and this one just fails miserably and probably the worst one i have played. It starts of good then bang, everything turns upside down and very unsatisfying.

@gamingstuff8651 4 года назад

On Xbox, this game has some crazy distracting head-bob.... and there is not option to turn it off.

@markwhitaker574 4 года назад

Also the companion character is annoying and bland looking

@Franku40keks 5 лет назад

Have you seen the trailer? Good, now you have seen all the locations the game has to offer. I'm a sucker for Ragnar Tornquist's work, but this game doesn't worth 20€ Also it runs like shit.