Released last year on PC, and tested in our columns, The Longing offered a port on Switch at the beginning of the month. The opportunity to return to this atypical work, which adapts extremely well to Nintendo's portable console.
The story of The Longing begins with the sleep of a weakened king who will try to regain his strength. To do this, the latter will sleep for 400 days, and will entrust his underground kingdom to his most faithful servant, a shadow named Shadow (yes, it's rather original, I agree). The latter has only one instruction to follow: not to leave the underground galleries before the king wakes up. A simple rule, that any player will try to defy, before letting go, as Shadow shows resilience. We therefore find ourselves strolling through these huge caves, in order to find objects or things to do, to pass the time.
A detail that is important is that all of this happens in real time, one second in play is equivalent to one second of our time. So yes, on paper, it takes a little over 13 months to overcome The Longing. In practice, we see that, on the one hand, time passes even when the console is off, and on the other hand, that time passes more quickly when the shadow is in its room (1 second in real time = 15 seconds into the game). This is explained by the fact that in his room, Shadow has something to pass the time, he can draw, or even read... real literary works! Be careful though, although the game is localized in French, the books are in the language of Shakespeare... Probably a legal story?
To kill time, you can read Moby Dick and other classics... in English though.
Like a metroidvania (but much slower, and without enemies), we will explore the network of huge galleries in order to map the whole. Don't be in a hurry though. Since our protagonist knows he has time, he walks nonchalantly, sometimes chatting alone (or with the player, depending on your interpretation). Opening a door, for example, can take up to 1 minute because "it's heavy and unused for centuries", and, even if the character can slip through after a few seconds, when you want to force the passage, you will be entitled to a scathing reply indicating that we have plenty of time! Will play The Longing is therefore a game where one will have to be patient. Very patient. And it is, curiously, very relaxing!
Frequently, the shadow will make a few comments inviting you to take the time...
For the more curious among you, you will have the opportunity to discover other endings. For my part, I opted for a rather tragic end, but there are others, more or less joyful. It's up to you whether or not you want to remain faithful to the king.
Regarding the Switch port, nothing special to report. The game is as beautiful as on PC, some tables are very pretty and the artistic direction hits the mark. In terms of fluidity, everything is good too, whether in TV or Portable mode. A very recommendable version.
Shadow sleeps where we leave him... Not always very comfortable.
If you are looking for an atypical game, it is difficult to offer better than The Longing. You'll get your time and your money's worth, and you'll love to hate Shadow! Available on PC and Nintendo Switch for €14,99.
