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The Long Dark Episode Three: Crossroads Elegy coming in October

Crossroads Elegy will follow Astrid as The Long Dark prepares to launch Episode Three and a new feature called Time Capsule.

Bill Lavoy

September 23, 2019 10:55 AM

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The Long Dark has been available on Steam for five years as of today. Three years into that cycle the first two episodes of story mode were released on August 1, 2017. More than two years after that and after an overhaul of those episodes, Hinterland is set to release the third episode of the story, Crossroads Elegy.

In a blog post on The Long Dark website today, Raphael van Lierop, Hinterland Studio boss and creator of The Long Dark, spoke about the journey he and his staff have been on over the past five years, and gave players a teaser trailer and release date for Crossroads Elegy.

The first two episodes of story mode, Do Not Go Gentle and Luminance Fugue, followed Will Mackenzie across Mountain Town, Mystery Lake, Forlorn Muskeg, and Broken Railroad. The launch was rough for Hinterland Studio, with players unhappy about everything from the linear approach to a game they were used to being open, to the bugs that were often game breaking in nature. I experienced a bug that threated to set me back more than 10 hours but was able to snag a friend’s save file and transplant it to my own PC. Unfortunately, this was not an option for many.

Over the next couple of years, Hinterland Studio has focused on not only improving the game’s sandbox mode, but also Wintermute through its Redux version. Squashing bugs and improving everything from gameplay to dialogue, Redux plays almost nothing like the original episodes of Do Not Go Gentle and Luminance Fugue, and anyone who is anticipating Crossroads Elegy should highly consider playing through the first two episodes again.

In addition to Crossroads Elegy, Hinterland Studio is also releasing Time Capsule, a collection of 15 major game updates that will allow players to go back in time and experience The Long Dark in its earlier states. This blast from the past scares the hell out of me but is a genius way to show players how far a game has come in five years.

Crossroads Elegy will release on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 22, 2019. You can keep current on The Long Dark by sticking with Shacknews.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.