Last Year

62%
Game Brain Score Based on 5,042 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • optimization
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"Last Year" is a horror strategy game that offers both single-player and multiplayer modes, allowing 2-6 players to cooperate or compete as Classmates or Fiends. The game features splendid visuals and delightful gameplay inspired by classic horror stories, but is missing some optimization and has several bugs. Players must work together to survive against Fiends in a nightmarish copy of their hometown and unlock powerful abilities through Arcane Secrets.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

62%
Audience ScoreBased on 5,042 reviews
gameplay159 positive mentions
optimization37 negative mentions
  • gameplay457 mentions

    The gameplay of this game has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its unique mechanics and engaging atmosphere, likening it to a blend of "Dead by Daylight" and "Left 4 Dead." While the core gameplay is described as fun and rewarding, especially when played with friends, there are significant concerns regarding balance issues, bugs, and a steep learning curve for newcomers. Overall, players find the gameplay enjoyable but feel it requires further optimization and content updates to reach its full potential.

    • “The game's atmosphere and mechanics make it a standout in the genre, and it's definitely worth checking out if you enjoy this type of gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay is exciting, and the graphics are fantastic.”
    • “The gameplay itself is outstanding and very enjoyable even when solo queuing for a match.”
    • “The overall mechanics of the game feel slow and unresponsive, making it one of the worst movement games I've ever played.”
    • “There is literally no counterplay to certain mechanics in the game whatsoever.”
    • “The gameplay is boring and feels very unfinished.”
  • graphics195 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their high quality, with many reviewers noting the impressive art style, character designs, and atmospheric effects that enhance the gameplay experience. However, some players report performance issues, including lag and frame drops, particularly on lower-end systems, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. Despite these technical challenges, the visuals are often highlighted as a standout feature, contributing to the game's potential in the horror genre.

    • “The graphics are phenomenal, some of the best in the market for a horror game.”
    • “The graphics look amazing, the sound design is terrifying (in a good way), and the actual gameplay feels extremely smooth and balanced.”
    • “I love the effort involved in getting the game back and overall the idea, graphics, maps, and voice acting are insanely good!”
    • “The graphics in my short playtime were depressing.”
    • “Also, the game is poorly optimized; even on the lowest graphics settings on an RTX 4090, I experience minor frame drops and stutter.”
    • “The graphics are a joke; all settings on high still result in blurry, almost unrecognizable textures, and putting the game to ultra causes stuttering.”
  • optimization129 mentions

    The game's optimization has received widespread criticism, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including frame drops, lag spikes, and crashes, even on high-end systems. While some updates have shown progress in addressing these concerns, the overall consensus is that the game remains poorly optimized and requires substantial improvements to enhance the gameplay experience. Despite occasional smooth performance, the persistent optimization problems detract from the game's potential enjoyment.

    • “Runs smoothly even on the worst modern systems.”
    • “I will also quickly say that the performance is quite good with only minor frame drops at times.”
    • “The devs do seem to be working to improve it and are listening to the community; just a few hours ago an update was dropped which introduced penalties for disconnecting mid-game, added 2 new weapons, one of which has multiple variations, as well as another pass at optimization.”
    • “This game needs some serious optimizations.”
    • “The game's optimization is absolutely abysmal with GPU and CPU usage exploding just from being in the lobby alone.”
    • “The game is so poorly optimized it is impossible to play without it looking like you are playing a game from 1970.”
  • stability113 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous players reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and performance issues that can disrupt gameplay. While some users acknowledge that the game is enjoyable and fun to play with friends, the overall consensus is that it requires significant improvements in stability and optimization to enhance the gaming experience. Many hope that ongoing updates will address these issues, but as it stands, the game is considered quite buggy and unpolished.

    • “Game runs great at a solid 200 fps.”
    • “Runs great and I have so much fun with my friends!”
    • “They do weekly dev streams and constantly put out updates and patches to ensure the game is fun and bug-free for everyone.”
    • “It's incredibly buggy and most maps cause huge lag.”
    • “This game is buggy and a mess, keep your money in your pocket.”
    • “A buggy, messy excuse of a game; I would not play it even if it became free to play.”
  • humor60 mentions

    The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting its ability to generate laughter through chaotic gameplay and funny interactions, especially when playing with friends. Many reviews mention hilarious moments, such as unexpected deaths and amusing character dialogues, which contribute to a lighthearted atmosphere despite the game's darker themes. Overall, the comedic elements are seen as a significant draw, making the experience enjoyable and entertaining.

    • “It is an amazing fun game that always has me and my friends laughing.”
    • “The level designs are great, the killers are fun, and being able to gang up with your friend on the killer when he is bad and just beat him to death can be funny as hell.”
    • “The game puts a funny spin on scary situations.”
    • “This game is the biggest joke since Dead by Daylight; though jokes are supposed to be funny, I'm so lost... I thought that was pretty hard to beat.”
  • atmosphere40 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is a significant highlight, with many players praising its engaging and spooky design, enhanced by impressive graphics and sound effects. While some maps and elements may feel uninspired or lacking in content, the overall ambiance successfully creates tension and excitement, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of horror and cooperative gameplay. However, there are mixed opinions, with a few players feeling that certain aspects detract from the intended atmosphere.

    • “The game has amazing graphics and sound effects that create a terrifying atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere and mood of the game is excellent.”
    • “The maps are highly detailed and portray the dark atmosphere well.”
    • “It's kinda boring, to be honest; there's not really any atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere just needs more content.”
    • “Every map looks worse and the atmosphere has been ruined.”
  • story36 mentions

    The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and engagement, with many players noting that it feels non-existent or poorly developed. While some express a desire for a more substantial narrative and lore, others highlight that the gameplay mechanics overshadow any potential story elements. Overall, the consensus is that the game would benefit from a more cohesive and compelling storyline to enhance the player experience.

    • “Maps that significantly vary in style coupled with the different story-driven objectives for each and the in-game crafting system for items make for a very fun, replayable experience!”
    • “This game has a really cool story, born as a Discord exclusive, this game is now here on Steam.”
    • “My only faults with the game that aren't balance-related come from a lack of lore in the game. I'm a big sucker for lore, especially around supernatural games, and I think a nice injection of story would be nice. Who are these kids?”
    • “✅ no story”
    • “The 'story arc' of each match, if you will, doesn't feel satisfying.”
    • “My only faults with the game that aren't balanced based come from a lack of lore in the game; I'm a big sucker for lore, especially around supernatural games, and I think a nice injection of story would be nice. Who are these kids?”
  • monetization36 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players labeling it a cash grab due to the introduction of microtransactions, particularly for cosmetics, despite the game being free-to-play. Critics express concern over the developers' focus on monetization over content and balance, leading to a lack of updates and a dwindling player base. While some players appreciate the absence of microtransactions at launch, the overall sentiment suggests that the monetization strategy is detrimental to the game's longevity and enjoyment.

    • “Since it's free and the only microtransactions are cosmetics, at the time of writing this review, there's no reason to not try it out.”
    • “Unless they mess it up with horrible monetization somehow, it's an incredibly fun game to play for the price of free.”
    • “There seems to be no microtransactions, no in-game currency that costs real money; everything in the game must be earned through actually playing it, which is absolutely amazing and rare to see in video games nowadays.”
    • “The lack of updates, passionate community, and bad monetization system let the game enter a downward spiral.”
    • “The devs would rather make a working microtransactions store and release an unfinished map over focusing on bringing in players to make their money and keep the game alive.”
    • “Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game because I believe it is a cash grab.”
  • replayability18 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it highly enjoyable with varied maps, story objectives, and a progression system that enhances replay value, others criticize it for lacking sufficient content and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay. The presence of different characters and item combinations can create unique experiences, but many feel that without more engaging content, the replayability is limited.

    • “Maps that significantly vary in style coupled with the different story-driven objectives for each and the in-game crafting system for items make for a very fun replayable experience!”
    • “A fun game with a lot of replayability, with an assortment of students and fiends to choose from (more coming in the future), I'd say it's definitely worth its price.”
    • “Pros: tons of replayability with each round feeling different than the last since every fiend and survivor play differently, and with the different spell and item combos, games can go fast or slow depending on what happens, which adds excitement.”
    • “There is barely any replay value here if at all despite being L4D2 versus.”
    • “The game was quite enjoyable at the beginning as it's kind of like Dead by Daylight meets Left 4 Dead; however, the lack of content made replayability limited as the objectives are always the same, it all falls down on how good the slasher is.”
    • “With lack of content and any sort of progression system, it left little replayability.”
  • music17 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the catchy and well-executed soundtrack that enhances the overall experience, while others find it to be inconsistent or overshadowed by distracting sound effects. Despite some complaints about the music being overly loud or nerve-wracking, many agree that it contributes positively to the game's atmosphere. Overall, while the music shows potential, it is often overshadowed by other gameplay issues.

    • “The sound effects and music also add to the overall experience of the game.”
    • “The soundtrack is beautiful.”
    • “Music is instantly catchy without being annoying and sound overall is high level.”
    • “So while you wait for a match to start, you may hear constant typing noises, music playing in other players' homes, and even conversations they're having with someone else without knowing the whole lobby can hear them.”
    • “🔲 just filling noises/no music”
    • “But I woke up and I could hear its music really loud blasting through my headset.”
  • grinding16 mentions

    The grinding in the game is widely criticized as tedious and unfun, requiring excessive time investment (8-12 hours) to unlock essential perks, which can make certain classes unplayable. Players express frustration over the lack of meaningful progression and variety, with many feeling that the grind is designed to push microtransactions rather than enhance gameplay. Overall, the grinding experience is described as unsatisfying and a significant detractor from the game's enjoyment.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Obnoxious and unfun grind, tedious tasks where you need to spend upwards of 8-12 hours just to unlock a specific perk you want for your build, some of which are literally required or your class is unplayable (medic needing healing hands, for example).”
    • “There's very little progression and it's extremely grindy.”
    • “All it wants is your USD via microtransactions because you will never get anything by grinding with the nonexistent player base.”
  • character development8 mentions

    The reviews highlight strong character design and visuals, noting that the game's graphics and character aesthetics are impressive. Additionally, the promise of a perk tree offers diverse possibilities for character development based on class choices, suggesting a dynamic and engaging progression system. However, there is a call for ongoing content updates to maintain player interest in character development.

    • “Awesome visuals and great character development.”
    • “The graphics are great and the character designs look perfect as well!”
    • “Also, the promise or perk tree promises to be interesting, it gives many possibilities for character development depending on the class we choose.”
  • emotional5 mentions

    The emotional response to the game is mixed, with some players expressing heartbreak over its decline and disappointment in its execution, while others convey frustration and annoyance, suggesting a lack of engagement and enjoyment. Overall, the sentiment reflects a sense of loss for what could have been, contrasted with strong negative feelings towards the current state of the game.

    • “This game had such creative minds behind the scenes, and it is so heartbreaking to see the fall of this game.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

70% average critic score

Buy Last Year

Play time

6hMedian play time
36hAverage play time
3-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 23 analyzed playthroughs

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