I started a new file recently, and the little adventure I went on this weekend was a perfect example of why the game is so fantastic.
With just 5 hearts now, I'm extremely vulnerable and have to use tricks to win bigger encounters. I was exploring the far north and decided to make my way towards the huge labyrinth you can see up there--but as I cut through the icy mountains leading to it, I realized I didn't have any warm clothing yet, so this was going to be a struggle. I did have something like 15 minutes worth of cold-reducing foods to eat, but at that altitude all they did was to slow down the freezing damage effect, not completely stop it.
So it was a rush to the labyrinth, and without the map area unlocked yet it was hard to see and know where to go once you get high up in the mountain and have no visibility due to snow. I cut too far north and ended up very nearly sliding into the abyss at the edge in a startling moment, but finally just spotted the looming edge of the labyrinth through the blizzard and made it there. Now, however, I had nearly eaten all my extra food just to keep replenishing hearts, and had been killing wolves to get more and barely survive.
Inside the labyrinth with maybe 8 minutes left of cold reduction and still taking damage, it seemed nearly impossible. In small enounters I ended up dropping firewood, lighting it with one of my few fire arrows, then using it to light my other arrows for a better attack. Also being within a few feet of a fire during a fight meant I stopped taking freezing damage. But I still would have died if I hadn't found a fire rod--and thanks to the fantastic systems in the game, it turns out that carrying a lit fire rod on your back is just enough extra warmth to avoid any damage if you've also eaten level-one warmth foods. So I had 3 or 4 minutes to spare on my final warmth food, nothing left to replenish hearts, and the fire rod to keep my from taking damage. I just barely found the entrance to the shrine before dying, and it felt like such a triumph.
That's the beauty of the game: approaching things entirely differently each time, using its various sytems. Everything works together (equipment, food, environment, combat, etc) so that you'll find on a replay that the game can be entirely different from your first experience.