Posted on: October 15, 2024

Norbk

Games: 32 Reviews: 2

Not... Even... Close...

What an absolute fumble this game is. It has so many good things, like the sleuth work mechanic, the strange visions, the city itself looks interesting, a bit of crafting mechanic. This could have been a magnificent Lovecraftian detective game, but all it managed to be is a run around simulator. Here is the nice long list: - The controls are horrible. - The enemies are laughable. - No sneaking. - No direct button to crafting menu. - Detective work altough interesting, it is shallow and there is no thinking involved from the players side. - NPCs, pop in and out of view on the street. - Crafting is dumb. Put spring and alcohol together to get medkits? - Game time is used mostly to run around in the city, back and forth between points of interests. - Lore breaking. Innsmouth residents, all of them were a member of EOD. It's in their nature as they are the children of Dagon. They are not individuals in any sence, especially after transformation. - There is no good loot to look for, just a handful of skins. Fast travel is horrible as well. You can't just travel to a phone booth (travel point).. NO! You have to go to a both first to be able to travel to another booth. - Side missions are empty shells of fetch quests with a bit of story spun around it. All in all, this game just falls between a multitude of chairs. Shooting, crafting, detective puzzles, open world. It missed all of these. I would've wanted to go through the story, but I just gave up, when the whole game revealed itself as a walking simulator, where you have to go back and thorth points of interests. Like going to a place, finding a clue, then going to the librabry to search for info, then going to another place, finding clue, then going to the police station to find info, then back to another place... Just steer clear of this one. What an absolute joke!

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Posted on: November 23, 2024

TheShaolinGamer

Verified owner

Games: 114 Reviews: 2

Great Mystery Game, poor combat mechanic

The game is quite simple in its premise: You get asigned "cases", each case contains clues and written directions, some cases require a more deep inquiry, but in the end you solve the mystery, kill the baddies and collect the reward. But there is a bit more than it meets the eye. This game has a great atmosphere, good graphics and a very enthralling story, it will keep you engaged. Even when there are many "fetch quests", you get a bit of lore of the circumstances, context to the case that more often than not is very distubing and slighly frightening. This game does not take you by the hand, you have to deduct the clues and set the case, personally pin the map and figure out how to get there. This is a welcomed feature, as it makes you feel as a true investigator. The combat mechanics are very rudimentary, awful even. It reminds me of very old games in the style of resident Evil, where mobility and aiming was atrocious almost on purpuse. Fortunately, the game is not as punishing if you die. You get used to it when you get enough experience. You will love this game if: - You love mystery games - You enjoy disturbing / creepy ambiance and inmersion - You like Lovecraftian settings. You will dislike this game if: - You look for an action / shooter game - Enjoy fast paced games - Dislike puzzles and reading for clues and directions. - Creepy settings

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Posted on: April 16, 2025

m0wlwurf

Verified owner

Games: 60 Reviews: 13

unpolished but good.. really quite good

This game could be much better with higher budget.. but honestly, it does what it does quite well. And it just drew me in completely.. I wonder how it ends.. 20 hours in now :)

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Posted on: February 25, 2024

NecroSith

Verified owner

Games: 1073 Reviews: 7

Awesome but excessive

Around 45 hours have passed since I pressed "Play" for the first time and now The Sinking City is completed. If you love detectives you will probably like the game, if you love detectives and Lovecraftian horror you will probably love it. But there is a catch... Pros: - The city. Oakmont feels gorgeous, the overall abnormality of everything feels omnipresent, you cannot escape it but only to dive deep into it. - Main quests and some of the side quests. They are really interesting to follow, you never know what secrets you may uncover. - Detective system. Here you check every detail on a crime scene, you use your special powers to see more then you connect those details in your head. Boy, it feels very satisfying. Cons: - Open world. The city looks incredible but if you take a closer look you will notice that nothing happens... anywhere. The city feels like a empty shell. And it's big. And since you have to navigate it A LOT, it turns into going from one fast travel point to another. - Bullets as money. I love how it sounds but the game doesn't use this feature whatsoever. No trade happens anywhere, you find all you need when looting chests so this feature is unused. - Craft system is too unrestricted. By the end of the main quest you will have 6 guns, you can craft bullets and medkits on the go, even during the fight, so it basically means that you are almost invincible. You can survive 99.9% of fights which, to my mind, doesn't work well with the concept of Lovecraftian horror. - Some side quests. They are boring af, "read a note but kill monsters first" style. Repeat around 20 times. Conclusion: The Sinking City feels awesome and brings true joy with its uneasy atmosphere of overall madness, fascinating city, great detective system and captivating quests. Unfortunately, later the city turns out to be big but empty, some quests are very boring and fights bring no fun. You will enjoy the game for 10-20 hours but generally avoid staying in Oakmont for longer.

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Posted on: April 1, 2024

wasp08

Verified owner

Games: 303 Reviews: 4

Great game -- but some caveats

I agree with other reviews -- there's a lot to love about this game...if you can live with the clunky stuff. The mechanics are very similar to Sherlock Holmes Chapter One. It has the same 'Mind Palace' detection mechanic as SH Chapter One. And you'll visit various places, such as police, hospital, and newspaper achives to research clues. Just like SH Chapter One, the 'open world' element is hit and miss. To begin with, it's not simple to get around and there's not much hand-holding. It does get easier as you get used to it and unlock fast travel points. The combat is marginally better than Chapter One, but not by much. Combat does serve a real purpose here, but it's hard to understand why it's so badly done given that it's a Unreal engine game. If the shooting/melee had been even half decent it could have massively elevated this game. So why 4 stars? Well, it's a good, detailed story, with some difficult choices. It's hugely atmospheric. The main characters and NPCs are interesting and and the voice acting is terrific. Despite the flaws, I couldn't wait to get back playing it. Like most Frogware games, it has its own unique feel, which is very different from many bland AAA experiences. I hope they make a Sinking City 2 one day, with much improved combat. That would be a 5 star game.

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