The Long Gate
- September 21, 2020
- David Shaw
Get on SteamThe Long Gate is a single-player, first-person puzzle game with three classes of puzzles based on real-world technologies. Explore ancient caverns and learn to solve digital, analog, and quantum puzzles to repair ancient circuits and uncover the mystery of the creators. The game contains accurate quantum circuit depictions, verified by scientists at D-Wave Systems.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game features a unique and challenging set of puzzles that provide a strong sense of accomplishment upon solving them.
- The atmosphere and graphics design are praised for their beauty and immersive quality, reminiscent of other successful puzzle games.
- Players appreciate the brain workout the puzzles provide, especially those with a background in computer science or electronics.
- The game suffers from significant technical issues, including poor performance, lag, and unresponsive controls that detract from the overall experience.
- Many players find the puzzle design to be overly complex and lacking in proper tutorials, leading to frustration and confusion.
- There is a considerable amount of walking and waiting involved, which can disrupt the flow of gameplay and make the experience feel tedious.
- graphics14 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics are generally praised for their appealing design and art style, reminiscent of Portal 2, contributing to a visually striking cyber-industrial aesthetic. However, performance issues are noted, with instances of juddering at high frame rates and crashes when adjusting settings, indicating that the game's performance does not fully match its visual potential.
“The graphics design is very nice, reminds me faintly of Portal 2.”
“It is also very pretty at times and has cool graphics.”
“The art style: I absolutely love it!”
“Sometimes the graphics were at 120fps, but half the things on screen were juddering as if it were sub-30fps.”
“For a game with a rather simple aesthetic, its performance is quite lacking.”
“Changing the graphics settings around, I was able to crash the game.”
- gameplay14 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by intricate puzzle mechanics that can be challenging to grasp, requiring significant time investment to master. While the cyber-industrial aesthetic is enhanced by mechanical sound effects, the game could benefit from improved communication of its mechanics, as the hints provided are often deemed unhelpful. Overall, players find the experience enjoyable but suggest that clearer guidance and a more symbolic approach to puzzle communication would enhance accessibility.
“Bach, when I was first starting undergraduate, I took a 300-level course on digital logic and immediately thought, 'Wow, there's a lot of neat puzzle mechanics here.'”
“Gameplay and accessibility: generally fun.”
“The hints are somewhat useless, and a bit more thought could be given to guiding the player through necessary gameplay mechanics, such as setting the binary value on the device.”
“I also think it would've been possible to communicate the concepts and mechanics of the puzzles without so much use of straight-up English captions in what is supposed to be an alien facility, if a little bit more effort was put into making the game purely symbolic in how it communicated.”
“It took me many hours to figure out the mechanics, but it was all worth it!”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating blend of mystery and the juxtaposition of technology and nature, enhanced by a low-key soundtrack. Players appreciate the visual appeal and the presence of easter eggs, although some note that the game is relatively short. Overall, the atmosphere significantly contributes to the immersive experience, making it a standout feature.
“With that said, it's still a good looking game with a clear atmosphere that is well supported by a low-key soundtrack.”
“The atmosphere created in the game is wonderful, a delightful mix of mystery and the contrast between technology and nature.”
“No bugs, hard puzzles, great atmosphere, nice easter eggs, enough gameplay, and cool soundtracks.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be monotonous and tedious, as the puzzle-solving process often involves repetitive tasks that lack variety and engagement. The puzzles are criticized for their design, which feels overly simplistic and hardcoded, leading to frustration, especially in more complex levels. While there is potential for more interesting challenges, the current execution leaves players feeling drained rather than stimulated.
“All you need to do is generate the input through a long and tedious process which is entirely identical across multiple puzzles.”
“But it's squandered on tedious puzzle design where all the interesting stuff is already hardcoded.”
“This was especially annoying in the quantum level, where the slider would show 0, but the output of the 4-qubit system would indicate a value other than zero, making some of those puzzles very tedious to solve.”
- story10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game lacks a traditional overt narrative, yet it offers intriguing hints and elements that stimulate players' imaginations, leading to extensive note-taking and personal storytelling interpretations. While the environments are evocative and the puzzles engaging, those seeking a strong story-driven experience may find it lacking. Overall, the story aspect is subtle and open to interpretation, appealing to players who enjoy piecing together narrative elements themselves.
“The puzzles show a good clear learning curve and novel applications of concepts, the environments are distinct and evocative and have a great sense of scale, and there's some interesting hints at a story.”
“Story: while there's no overt story, I've got a whole page of notes on things I picked up on that have my storytelling brain in overdrive right now!”
“Story: while there's no overt story, I've got a whole page of notes on things I picked up on that have my storytelling brain in overdrive right now!”
“I would probably not recommend this if you are looking for easy puzzles, or are looking for a story game.”
“I would probably not recommend this if you are looking for easy puzzles, or are looking for a story game.”
- music6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its immersive quality, effectively enhancing the atmosphere and complementing the beautiful visuals. Reviewers highlight the low-key soundtrack as a strong support for the gameplay experience, contributing to the overall ambiance while navigating challenging puzzles.
“Beautiful areas, immersive soundtrack, and super challenging puzzles!”
“No bugs, hard puzzles, great atmosphere, nice easter eggs, enough gameplay, and cool soundtracks.”
“With that said, it's still a good looking game with a clear atmosphere that is well supported by a low-key soundtrack.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for poor performance, with even high-end hardware like the 3090 Ti struggling to maintain 50 fps in certain areas, particularly when shadows are set to high. Given its relatively simple aesthetic, many users find this level of performance disappointing.
“The performance is bad; in some areas, even a 3090 Ti will fall below 50 FPS when shadows are set to high.”
“For a game with a rather simple aesthetic, its performance is quite lacking.”
