And.
The studio is making all the right noises. No loot boxes, no pay to win, new map - it’s free, new character - it’s free… But like you say, the proof will be in the pudding.
They have said that there will be cosmetic items as paid ‘DLC’, but for a $30 game I can accept that.
Personally I hope this is mega successful and makes the big studios take note and throw away their cookie cutters because I really want diversity and ‘different’ to be the future.
just asking, because most of the games I play/ed were pay once and play … maybe not forever but long enough to be worth the initial investment.
but I am not regular gamer. I am pleased easily. all I need is few maps and few game mechanics and I am happy.
what EFT brought to the table is imo on another level of depth of content and replayability.
it would be great to have another similar title released. hope they kick it off just fine.
wondering how is doing the other title released with almost similar ideas of small gaming studio.
was it Operation Harsh Doorstep or something else !?
I really want to try escape from tarkov.
Downloading it now. I will post thoughts later in the day (my timezone).
Looking forward to hearing your views!
I heard that in this stage of early access netcode is a bit flimsy.
Wish you the best. Let me know!
First impressions with three conditions:
It re-defines ‘Grimdark’.
It is early access and it shows. It is a bit clunky - animations and control. Haven’t had it crash on me.
It is brutally hard. The tutorial wasn’t too bad, but I have yet to complete the first ‘mission’ and I am onto my 5th ‘old man’ character already. I think they need to tone down the enemy AI detection ability substantially?
Graphically, if you have the hardware it is glorious. The characters are somewhat cartoonish - not like TeamFortress2, but not as ‘photorealistic’ as the environment. It was jarring at first but it is growing on me.
3rd person, over the shoulder but ‘aim down sights’ puts it into a 1st person perspective. I like that because it gives better SA when walking (creeping) around and a typical FPS shooter feel in combat. What I don’t like is the inability to swap shoulders with your weapon to look around corners - this is essentially a stealth game but when you are in the poo, exposing yourself by aiming around a ‘right-hand’ obstacle is a death sentence.
Overall: I want to keep playing it. If Fun Dog put their ‘money where their mouth is’ with where this is going then it is worth the 30 bucks I just spent - Heck, I can’t get a decent eat-out meal + beverage for that price here.
It’s definitely in need of optimization, which they stated even before EA launch, and the AI could be toned down a bit.
The game is a masterclass in immersion and combat mechanics. Guns feel punchy, death comes quick, and you definitely feel like a scavenger, picking over the corpses of your greaters.
Netcode is in need of serious polish. I had 3 coop games, all were fun, and the connectivity felt great. However, in menu and connecting to begin with is a chore. It feels more like you need to perform some form of ritual to get a friend to connect.
Optimization goes without saying. HOWEVER, play it for about a half hour. UE5 can take a bit to optimize shaders so I saw better performance as I played.
Shoulder shift is needed, badly. I need to be able to shift my camera from one side to the other if I need to be sneaking around. If I have to cling to a wall that’s on my right side, I’m now blind, effectively.
A better tutorial is direly needed.
Toothy is the stuff of nightmares. You see him as a giant mech with funny bags hanging off his frame. He sees you as a living D-cell battery and he needs a fresh set.
looks good, but …
found this in the steam reviews
as I am causal player this game mechanic makes it no-go for me for now
Ooh, yeah got to agree with that. 
It seems to be a strong point of contention. Expect changes to that.
A QnA sesh from the 23rd.
Also from the hotfix notes:
Hey scavs, Anna here.
We just wanted to let you all know that we are BEYOND thankful for everyone that picked up the game. We have seen all of your feedback and are already working hard to incorporate fixes.
This is just the beginning for The Forever Winter and we will be posting constant updates on what improvements we are making to create a better user experience.
In parallel with addressing technical issues and bugs we are seeing and you are reporting, we are also watching critical feedback and engagement with the water system. Please stand by as we evolve this system. We are looking at more applications for water usage, and are also incorporating some of the ideas from the discord. Your voices are crucial to shaping the future of all things Forever Winter.
Please see the below for hot-fixes that are in progress or have been addressed.
** NETWORK:*
Multiple fixes to address network connection failures blocking use of “quick match” and preventing successfully joining a game via friend invite
** CRASHES AND SOFT-LOCK FIXES:*
Addressed a random crash when entering Elephant Mausoleum
Clicking on quests in the HUD / on the options screen should no longer crash the game
Addressed some locations in Scrapyard where the player could get stuck if they vaulted in some specific areas
** RELATED TO GAMMA OPTION NOT WORKING:*
Scalability settings properly use / apply hardware benchmark function calls
Gamma setting should now work
** AI TUNING / ADJUSTMENTS:*
Adjustment to how often AI can change targets based on timing or incoming damage / damage they receive
It sounds like they want the water system to be less exacting and, perhaps, more nuanced.
This sits well with me. I hope there’s a “Away for Vacation mode” that stops water level from depletion.
My hope is opposite of that, but the deletion of your kit is too much, I believe.
From my point of view, we’re talking about a society within which water is going to be valuable currency. By supplying your base with water, traders and folks will stick around. However, as you run out of water, your rapport with the scavenger faction might fall. So, since they view you as a freeloader, prices go up at vendors.
Keep your stuff, find some other punishment.
Either way, played for about 3 hours last night, it was a lot of fun when it worked.
Ha! I have yet to survive long enough to get back to ‘base’ and the amount of water remaining to be an issue 
At least every game is a new game 
Hey scavs, thank you for hanging in there. Fireteams of engineers are on the case! Hotfix 2.0 is now out, please see the below that details the changes made.
STABILITY AND CRASH FIXES
BUG FIXES
TUNING IMPROVEMENTS/ Quality of Life IMPROVEMENTS