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I think as soon as you bring the grain, the village needs to start growing within a year, to indicate that you've done something correctly. With the trees and the water, they grow and change quickly enough that I know that I'm doing something right. But with the village, it takes much longer. I'm too afraid to burn that many years on what might be the wrong solution, so after seeing no change for a couple years, I'll wander around some more and look for something I might have missed, checking each season one by one. After about 15 minutes of checking the entire explorable area in each season, I'll notice that something seems kind of different about the village, and only then realize that I'd solved the puzzle all along.
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There are many narrative qualities to this game, but the one that stands out the most to me was how the statue face-planted every time it jumped down a cliff.
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First of all, great game and original concept. It is not very often you find a game that presents original gameplay, mixed with interesting ideas and questions.
I know alot of people are asking for the ability to walk faster, (and I would usually agree,) but I actually enjoyed the slow pace of the stone monolith because it lent itself to the idea of this Easter isle - type demigod intervening on humanity's behalf. As a result, I found myself asking alot of questions about the meaning behind it; plus, the visual image of this behemoth standing there, waiting, while 100 years sped past was sublime. Especially, contrasted against the hurry and panic of a human lifetime.
All in all, it is a beautiful presentation of supernatural / supra-natural forces working behind the scenes to assist and intervene on our behalf, in ways the we just don't notice for many reasons.
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on 400 Years. I think you've captured exactly what I tried to show with this game. I love your interpretation !
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You know what they say.. a chestnut on the ground is worth two in the hand, because in the hand for some reason they can't survive a season, but on the ground they can. They say some oddly specific things sometimes.
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I sat in a small pond for 8 years waiting for the land beside it to erode before realizing I was supposed to wait for winter to freeze the pond over. Whoops.
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The world flees at my passing, yet, I hold no contempt for them, for all they see is an act of God, my only regret, is that they shall never know what my task was, and they shall never know my sacrifice.
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Do not worry friends! I will feed you! *walks slowly towards island, grabs wheat, realises the tree their supposed to climb hasn't grown enough* I-I'll just....I'll just stand here friends! Do not worry though! In the next 10 or 20 years I will be back with food!
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Achievement unlocked: "Scare the village idiot out of his wits for 10 years straight, then just stand outside his house for another 20 and wait, until he has gone insane."
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I climbed up a fishing net and into a boat that was in the middle of the water. By the next season, I had been thrown overboard.
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Absolutely beautiful. Slow-paced but at the same time one of the most moving games I've ever played. This is what makes me believe that there is still hope for humanity. When people build games and stories like this, it makes me happy.
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Blocking the lava increased the volcano's internal pressure artificially leading to the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.
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A very nice game I love the music and slow soothing feel of the game. You have an eternity so you are not in any hurry. I liked how when you start the game you are all like careful don't waste any years then about a 1/3 of the way in its like go years go. It was also nice you have plenty of years in case you do something stupid like try and climb the mountain with a tree that wont grow high enough. I also loved watching the humans progress around you. And now I plan to let everyone die. keep up the great work.
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I waited three-hundred years expecting the ground at the first obstacle to erode before i realized i just had to wait for winter.
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I love this game. Felt very lonely seeing all those people run away from me, while I was only trying to save them. The only companions but I wasn't able to get to them and befriend.. When the bridge was built, I just had to go back and see how they were, what else they accomplished, the grandsons of the people I saved. I felt a god, and it was horrible. Please make more games!
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The statue noticed that the people were hungry. And when he went to get the wheat, but due to some minor mishaps the tree that he needed to climb up had died, they were still hungry (but not yet dead) twenty years later. And lo, it was a miracle!
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ATTENTION: There is a little easter egg at the egg at the end, if you take a chestnut with you when you go to the volcano, and go past it, you can scale a cliff, which will take you to the easter egg. Please + this post so others can see.
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Despite all the frenzied, intense action and the constant unfair demand for fast reflexes, I managed to make it through this game. Phew!
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haha....now all i can think of is this village going "oh no! we have no food!" then a statue just comes STOMPING his way in,screaming "EAT YOUR WHEAT!!!" then freezes in town square. he woke up every 50 years to scream "WHY ARENT YOU EATING THE FRICKEN WHEAT!?" they made a holiday for his anniversery and everything.
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Hint: The villagers aren't freaking out because they are hungry, they are freaking out because there is a giant stone dude walking around their village. They will not say, "Hey, thanks for the food."
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for anyone thinking that they cant do anything after the give the grain to the villagers just wait and the villagers will eventually build bridges. please vote up this comment so people dont quite the game cause they think nothing is happening.