izigame.me

This is likely my all time favourite survival game.
I've followed and played this game since the year it hit early access and watched as it's changed since. There's a lot I could say, all of it quite opinionated, but I don't know if it'd help a review. That was 7 years ago, if memory serves.
I almost exclusively play sandbox mode, which is where I believe the game really shines. I wish you could add a sort of goal for sandbox, but I suppose you can for yourself. There's always the challenges for that sort of thing too.
The story has not hooked me, and when it initially launched, I was gobsmacked with how disappointed I was. I wasn't alone, and they even reworked the intro due to public dismay. Before launch there was nothing but shadowy hints at what it would be and it was almost more fun speculating than what actually arrived. I think I've made my point I don't play this game for the story, and given that they're going to adopt a "pay-per-chapter/content" model, I feel like I'll gladly bow out and enjoy that I definitely got my money's worth.
What IS worth paying and playing for is some of the best ambiance and survival mechanics I've ever played in a game like this. It's a game that rewards imagination. I've made it a point to use the in game journal and I try to write up my own tale as well as journal the days as if someone would come behind me and read it. It can go from the most peaceful and somber game to one that brings utter anxiety as a blizzard strikes at just the wrong time, ruining your journey and trapping you under a rock or in a shack for days as supplies dwindle and you are forced to change plans and adapt. Or how an errant wolf can utterly change your course and you discover something new, or worse, leave you trapped in a blizzard. How you begin to gamble with the supplies you have for speed or warmth, or begin eating questionable food or water. The game does an outstanding job of giving you the feeling of choice and consequence of a legitimate survival situation without ever putting additional pressure on you. Sometimes it's poor choices you made, sometimes it's weather changes, sometimes it's lack of food or supplies. It never feels like the game is out to get you, it just let's you learn and make mistakes yourself.
There's nothing more rewarding than taking a risky trip for supplies, getting lost, finding your way back on course and simply surviving the mistake, then finding matches and a few tins of food. Waiting out the storm to return and finding something else on the way back you missed while you were lost. It's perfect at pacing and reward.
It's a lovely game, and those who dig into it will reap what it has to offer. Those looking for something else, well... I'll let them write their story. Once they ask for more money, I believe our journey forks.