Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders

What a nice surprise this game turned out to be. The visuals, sound effects and theme are very crisp and calming, but the gameplay itself is very tight and precise. At first I would repeatedly fall or hit rocks, but doing the solo time trials has helped get a lot better at it, and it's a lot of fun now to perfect my execution and to explore all the shortcut possibilities in the maps. Although there's a limited amount of maps (4 biomes with 4 maps each, and 2 variants per map, along with a new biome if you purchase the DLC), they all contain a lot of hidden paths and skips, and change wildly depending on the slope, and gamemode ; so far I still don't feel bored of playing these maps. There's a map editor in beta for this game, which will be a fantastic addition once it becomes multiplayer-compatible. I very much recommend trying the game out, it's great value and my friends and I play it together a lot.

I'm so pleased to play this game! Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders elevates everything Downhill did, while also adding in some new features, such as online play, trick mode, and an over-the-shoulder camera. For a game about going fast and continuously setting a quicker pace, I always feel an intense zen when playing this franchise. The atmosphere and ambience make feel like that I'm actually hitting the slopes. Exploration is so much fun and each level takes me several playthroughs to find the optimal route. The visual design and use of color are a pleasure to look at and experience. The gameplay especially shines, as I'm just as addicted at trying again and again to get the fastest time possible. This never feels like a chore or makes me feel sweaty, everything about the experience is well designed and the course difficulty feels fair. Props to the devs for adding in the new camera angle. Based on the first game, I thought this was non-negotiable. My playthrough of this game has been so much smoother because of this change and I appreciate the devs ability to listen to the fans.

Such a great addition to the franchise. The fans cries were finally heard with the follow cam instead of the fixed angle cam. That alone makes this game a huge improvement from Downhill, but the tricks just are a whole different level of fun. The game is beautiful, challenging and has a huge skill ceiling with relatively low learning curves. My only complaint is that I'm not going to be able to 100% the achievements because the multiplayer isn't that active. I love skiing and Lonely Mountains: Downhill so I knew this was going to be a banger.