I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love DBD, and I 100% recommend playing it at least once, just for the experience.

There is one KEY STATEMENT I'd like to make about this game, for any potential new players:
Dead By Daylight is an ASYMMETRICAL game, and there are many different combinations of circumstances in each match. Even if you play perfectly, you still might get screwed over by an ill-mannered killer or an ignorant teammate. Approach this game with a learning mindset, and remember that nothing is guaranteed in your favor, and I think you'll have an amazing time playing. I've played this game for over a year, and I've always loved trying crazy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and seeing what I can get away with. I've had so much fun because Dead By Daylight is like a test of my ability to improvise, and every match is different. Every killer is different, and your teammates will usually be different. There are so many things that could go wrong, go right, go POPPIN OFF. So if you're comfortable adopting a flexible mindset and flexible style of gameplay, you can get a ton of awesome value out of this game.

I have definitely been frustrated with the developers (BHVR) in terms of some of the decisions they've made for the game, because I feel like they truly don't listen to the credible players when they're asking their playerbase for feedback. There are so many dedicated DBD players that have great ideas for improving the game, but BHVR instead focuses on releasing new content like clockwork every three months, and continues to build their empire on top of their buggy coding, leaving player concerns unresolved and creating new bugs in-game every time a patch comes out. I think DBD could really benefit from slowing down on the content production, and just fine-tuning everything. With each new DLC release, it just feels like they're selling out more and more and letting the real concerns of the playerbase fall to the wayside. Hopefully BHVR will improve, and realize that the DBD community is the most valuable resource that they have in truly understanding their own game. I question the longevity of this game because of its developers. I really feel like this game could be infinitely replayable, but all the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bugs and errors with hit registration and map glitches definitely encourage people to uninstall on an increasingly frequent basis.

If you can improvise, not take ♥♥♥♥ personally, and learn to laugh at all your ♥♥♥♥-ups (cause you're gonna be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up a lot for a while, it's just a part of the learning process), then you can really spend some worthwhile time playing DBD. Stay open-minded about everything, even when you're pissed off. It helps you improve. This game is super ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cool because it helps you train your mind to focus on immediate survival while you've got the terrifying sounds of the killer closing in all around you. It's usually not something that new players can do at first. It's normal to be totally scared of this game at first, especially if you're playing survivor. But if you wanna test your courage and just have fun, despite whatever may happen, then totally buy this game.

I've played this game for over 1,000 hours, and mostly on Survivor. I genuinely feel that playing so much Survivor has helped me cope with parts of my PTSD. My PTSD emerged from an experience where I felt completely powerless at the hands of my attacker, and DBD has helped me start to work through that. Survivors don't seem like they have any defenses against killers at all, but once you spend more time playing and learning, you can really empower yourself as a survivor. Learning to play more aggressively, and to do more risky things, and to succeed more and more often (but never all the time) has definitely helped mend the awful feelings of helplessness I used to experience when I first started playing this game. Playing DBD has helped me more easily UNFREEZE out of my fight-or-flight reactions to things that trigger my PTSD. By getting better, I've become more confident, because I'm able to give a killer a run for their money, and that's all I wanna do. I just wanna do some spicy moves and play the equivalent of intensely, tight-butthole-fast mental chess games, just to see what I can achieve. And that's why I still play DBD. I still wanna get better at the game; I wanna learn all the things I'm missing at this stage in my understanding of it. And even after 1,000 hours in, I'm still observing the behavior of other players and testing new strats and learning unexpected things on a regular basis. The game is literally like a life or death social simulator. Some of your friends will come in clutch, and others will misplay so horribly that the embarrassment ♥♥♥♥♥♥ hurts. Just go with the flow, and if it's only ♥♥♥♥ flowin by, then keep your head up in that ♥♥♥♥ river. Don't have expectations for how matches will go. Anything can happen. If your teammates hard-throw and you're sacrificed on first hook, then just accept that this is a ♥♥♥♥ Match, ♥♥♥♥ Matches Happen, and You Ain't Goan Drown on ♥♥♥♥ River. Just float on down that ♥♥♥♥ river and find yourself a new match, and try to OBSERVE the gameplay instead of judging it.

In summation: yeah, buy this game unless you come unhinged at the perceived fundamental incompetence of game developers. Talking about balancing this game is pointless. It'll never be balanced. It'll always be a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. If you aren't on board with that, then save your money. But if you wanna try something new, then definitely go for it. DBD has changed my life in many ways, and has largely been a positive influence on my life.