Sunless Sea

I really like the idea of difficult and figure out what to do games. First off--this game is not a roguelike. It is essentially an interactive fiction title with a much more 'fixed' set of events and story. If you enjoy "Uncharted Waters: New Horizons" but want a more structured game--this might be the kind of game for you. I have numerous complaints. I saw a friend play this game and was curious how I'd enjoy it and figured I'd actually like it a lot. My suggestions/issues have some mini-spoilers below. This isn't a don't buy the game--just be aware what you're getting into. I dealt with it and had fun. Not all players would put up with this level of problems. For a better experience, do this: Have someone explain or learn how the games' 'flags' work. Mod the time for 'SAY' to occur. Problems/Issues: The UI/UX makes it very difficult to understand how your actions / what you've done changes what actions and how you can do things at a port. It is extremely important to note this plays like an interactive fiction title--READ everything you're told as once the message is gone; it's gone for good. Information about critical game elements may never be shown. It is very difficult, even when the objective is clear, to figure out what to do next until you're many hours of familiarity into the game/looked up how stuff works. You reach a point where it's a severe penalty to die if you didn't understand how it works. This is one of my biggest gripes for games like this. Any puzzle/interactive fiction game that punishes you for exploring when it's a key game element--that's a very serious issue. There are numerous unfixed bugs and the game's progression and pace is unexcusably slow. I knew how a mechanic worked--it bugged and my captain was very much screwed. It's very much a shame this game has so many unfixed bugs and unfinished content. They could have spent a very tiny amount of time fixing it, but they focused on a new game instead.

What it is: Sunless Seas is an exploratory adventure through a unique world of the Underzee (spelling?). You are a ship captain whose past and goals you choose for each attempt. You must take your ship and crew further and further from the safety of Fallen London in order to complete your goals while surviving enemy ships and zee monsters. Toward that end, you also manage your supplies and fuel while attempting to keep terror at bay so your crew doesn't turn on you eventually. There are many fascinating stories specific to certain islands (solve a conflict between sentient rats and guinea pigs for one) and stories for your recruited ship officers that involve several stops and strange cargoes at times. Solve your chosen objective and retire to take on another captain with another objective. The Good: While it takes some getting-used-to, the world is fantastic (drowned dead/undead, sentient animals, devilish demons, and more) and moody (assisted by the excellent mood-setting music). The stories for the officers and the unique flavor of each island add a lot of interest to continue seeing them all to the end and sinking in a lot of hours in the process. The position of interior islands changes on subsequent attempts (when your captain dies, and s/he will). Decisions have consequences, so try taking a story down different paths and see what you find. The art-style is well-chosen and well-done. The Bad: Movement is so slow that it takes awhile to get anywhere. Enemies are not terribly interesting to fight. Gaining money is slow at first and upgrades are very pricey. The lexicon was a challenge for me at first (veils, mirrors, echoes, and so on) and takes some acclimation. Bottomline: The slow pace will frustrate those with little patience, but the stories will reward those who learn the tricks to survival and cargo routes. It's best learned through experience, so if you like interesting worlds with intriguing stories, try it.

I love the idea of this world and the atmosphere the developers have created and as such really wanted to enjoy the game, but the gameplay execution ended up bringing down the whole experience for me. First off, movement speed is very slow; this would not be a big deal if there was more variety to what you can encounter while sailing around, but without it makes for long and dull travel from port to port. Combat is not but, but is pretty unexciting too. My biggest issue is with the permadeath system. While I love the idea of the story continuing on when your captain dies that is not what happens in game. Instead, what happens is you lose everything except a few items you can secure via things like the "Ironclad Will" and all world events reset to zero. You have to start back at or near square one and redo everything you did previously in an attempt to get farther, which quickly grows very stale with the game's extremely slow pace. I truly love the world they have built, especially with places like the island Visage, and would love to experience this world in a more interesting and involving game. As is, I quickly get bored with dragging pace and repeated sequences.

Sunless Sea starts out pretty promising, with atmospheric purple prose, limited but effective art, and generally a good ambiance. You set out to sea and it feels like there's this big vast world to be explored. Then eventually you realize that there are only so many locations, all of which show up in every playthrough- so dying and starting over never feels like you're getting a fresh start, you're just mildly shuffling the map; the combat is frustrating and the trading aspect isn't developed enough for it to be a satisfying space trader-type game; and generally, an awful lot more is hinted at and implied by the text than the game ever actually follows through on. There is stuff of interest in this game, just not nearly enough to sustain the amount of time it takes to play it.

Tries to phone home and crashes to desktop if blocked during startup.