This one was another xbox gamepass game that I gave a quick try back in May 2020. Since my gamepass was expiring, I thought I try as many games as I could to see what might be worth buying.

Anyway, the story drew me in, but the gameplay kept me away. The game seemed to be very heavy into the resource finding, resource managing, and resource crafting components and not so much in the getting stuff done aspects of the game.  Yes, it's an RPG that's open world(ish), but after playing for a few hours I'd expect to have made a satisfactory amount of progress with the story narrative at least.

The Story summary from Steam:

Smoke and Sacrifice is an open-world, narrative-driven RPG, where exploiting living ecosystems is the key to your survival. Craft, fight, survive and explore the huge open world in this beautifully hand-painted, gothic adventure where every character has their tale to tell. Sachi’s home is the one tiny patch of fertile land which remains in an icy wasteland of a world. Her farming community thrives thanks to their devotion to the blazing Sun Tree, which replaces the lost light of the failed sun. After sacrificing her firstborn child to the Sun Tree, Sachi discovers a darker secret beneath the aura of priestly benevolence. Will she discover the truth hidden in the secret underworld, or perish in its swirling, deadly smoke? With the odds stacked against her, strange creatures challenging her every step, and the ever-looming smoke waiting to steal life and memory, will Sachi ever discover the truth of what happened to her son?

I found the following blurb from Gaming Trend quite interest:

Smoke and Sacrifice is light on plot, but its theme looms large. The story is essentially that Sachi seeks out people who can help her find her son, follows their leads, and learns disturbing secrets about her village along the way. It’s a completely linear path, with a few small, optional detours along the way. But embedded in the story are questions about the cost of security and whether one person’s survival is worth another’s pain. Due to the game’s progression gating, the story and its attendant themes come in fits and starts. It was hard for me to keep my focus on Sachi’s quest to save her son and fight back against her oppressors when I was spending 45 minutes at a time hunting jellyfish to make new boots, but every time I reached the next milestone in the narrative, I was engrossed. Where the story really fails is where it doesn’t fully commit. The game builds a fascinating world and hints at some wonderfully complex struggles between workers and their exploiters, individuals and their rulers, but stops just short of really making its point. Even Sachi’s desire to find her son feels strangely flat and unemotional for most of the game. At its climax, Smoke and Sacrifice comes within inches of asking you to make a huge decision about the fate of the people you’ve met so far, but backs off just minutes later by offering a way to sidestep the decision entirely.

This may be a game to try to play and complete if you have more time on your hands and you can do the resource-searching that the game requires. I didn't particularly want to spend a lot of time hunting and gathering resources in order to progress in the game. I don't think I'll be returning to this game 🥱

Tried in May 2020
Achievements: 1
Gamerscore: 15/1000