The original Don't Starve is somewhat forgotten due to its DLCs and sequel Don't Starve Together. Like most people, I initially skipped over to play Reign of Giants instead but I did eventually return to play this, at least for 30 days.

There are two seasons in this version. The calm and peaceful Summer and cold and dreary Winter. Outside of those, you can also venture into the caves which have their own slew of dangers and rewards. Spelunk deeper and you'll find yourself in the Ancient Ruins, a highly danger yet highly rewarding area meant as a sort of final challenge in this game.

Combat is rather unique in this game with most enemies following a kiting pattern. Essentially you bait the enemy to attack, step back then step forward and attack then rinse and repeat. It is very satisfying to do correctly and if you are skilled at doing it you rewarded by not needing armor or healing items.

Another integral part is the playable characters. Each with their own perks and quirks.
You have Wilson, a gentleman scientist who can grow a beard and has no downsides.
Willow, a pyromaniac who is kitted out with a sweet lighter and starts fires when below half Sanity.
Wolfgang, a strongman that can hit as hard as 2x or as little as 0.75x the damage depending on his hunger.
Wendy, a sombre little girl who can receive assistance from her fallen twin.
WX-78, a robot who starts with low stats but can upgrade with gears and gets powered-up from lightning.
Wickerbottom, a libertarian that can craft items from 1 Tier higher then normal and makes use of magic books.
Woodie, a lumberjack with a talking axe and a horrible curse.
Wes, a frail mime who has trouble staying alive.
Maxwell, the shadow King, can create his own army and has exceptional brain power.
And Wagstaff, a mysterious, near-sighted inventor with a delicate stomach.

Overall Don't Starve is a great game with a difficult learning curve but that's part of the fun. I would however recommend you start with either it's DLC, RoG or it's sequel DST as those have much more content.

Visuals and theming are amazing. The Tim Burton artstyle really adds a lot to the experience of being trapped in the brutal wilderness full of monsters and terror. I especially love the occasional cartoony moments that defuse the tension a bit.

The gameplay, though, leaves a lot to be desired. Don't Starve pays lip service to "roguelite" but every run feels pretty similar once you know what you're doing. There's a definite meta and progression chain with no variation. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll be stumbling into noob traps and hitting your head against the wall until you look up a guide.

This review of Don't Starve isn't going to be very conventional as far as my writing goes. I try to be as thorough as possible with these, especially with games that I've completed, but with Don't Starve, I simply cannot do either. Klei Entertainment has absolutely stuffed this game full of content that I simply cannot experience in its entirety within the time frame I was able to play this game.

That being said, Don't Starve is an enjoyable time. There's a wealth of different things to build, ways to survive, and things to do. There are straight-up areas of the game that I know exist that I did not get to. In any case, there's a lot to do in this game, and part of the fun is coming across all of the things you can find and wondering what they do. Not all of what they do is interesting, mind you, but there's so much that some of it is inevitably going to be fun. For example, cooking food on a fire eventually becomes a monotonous, automatic task, but is made more fun when you build a crock pot, which allows you to experiment with different recipes that have different levels of effectiveness. Despite that, I can't help but feel the game's procedural generation isn't as good as it could be. It mostly focuses on "setpieces", individual areas with unique events, rather than the map itself. While this is a unique approach, it does mean that every game of Don't Starve feels essentially the same to me. Maps always have the same broad areas for the most part and even if the layout is different, it doesn't feel that way. In the thirty or so hours I spent with the game, I couldn't say I was presented with the same uniqueness that other procgen games such as Spelunky and Brogue had recently shown me. Despite the wealth of content, I just sort of got bored near the final stretch, but still felt satisfaction in reaching the "end goal" for this exchange. The game is helped by its stellar presentation; a Tim Burton-inspired world with memorable character designs, tons of personality in the fluid and expressive animation, and a genuinely whimsical if overly short soundtrack. Some minor issues, such as an unnecessary 60 FPS lock, remain over a decade after release, but it's not a huge problem.

Would I recommend Don't Starve, then? I honestly don't know if I can. Not because the game is not quality, it is, but because I have not experienced enough of it yet. If you like survival games and somehow haven't played it yet, it's certainly worth a shot.