SUNLESS SEA

I love this game, it is a rare example of where story can trump subpar gameplay. It has excellent world building and fun characters, and each bit of exploring you do makes you want more. It nails the concept of elusive storytelling: you are given bits of information about this world as you travel and, in a way, figuring out the puzzle of the world itself becomes an element of the gameplay. For story alone, its absolutely worth the purchase. The gameplay though...this is where it fails pretty hard. In the base, un-altered game, you start out very poor and you are supposed to go from island back to home port and then to island again very slowly, building up your income as you go. This would work if they had taken the time to work the math correctly but they did not. The upgrades are priced at rates that I genuinely question how long it would take to achieve if you played the 'correct' way. The cost of fuel and supplies VS. your income from missions just does not add up correctly imo. There comes a point where the sheer amount of effort just to make a paltry few coins starts to take a game from being 'fun' into a chore. It's a shame they dropped the ball on this aspect, as much of the game's true beauty lies in its mid and late game content, story-wise. Fear not, i propose a solution below: "How then do you have 80 hours in this" you may wonder? That's literally because I cheat to play this game. And I recommend you cheat too. This game becomes IMMENSELY more fun when you go in and change one simple parameter in the game files: make yourself a millionaire. Please go look up on google how you can edit the gamefile and change your starting amount of money. You will thank me later. Because here's the deal: the grind in this is just...unnecessary. It's not fun and you don't even need to do it for the game to still be rewarding. I ♥♥♥♥ you not I have lost multiple times while literally having the best ship, with all the upgrades and weapons, and all the money in the world to purchase supplies and fuel. Why? Because of hubris and greed. "Just one more island" or "I can make it back to port in time" and all of a sudden "whoops!". Which I feel actually adds itself to the story of my greedy-ass captain. There are also 4 (5? been a second since ive played...) parameters which essentially correspond with (strength/perception/dexterity...etc) that if left unaltered can lead to failstates or 'negative' outcomes, and they are not tied in with income at all. So why grind for money I say? The real heart of this game is in those stat checks*. *(I will note that you can also change these stat parameters in the gamefiles too ;) and I argue that even giving yourself the godlike ability to 'pass' every check STILL led to me getting 80+ hours in this game. Because the writing is just that fun and the desire to get to one more island and see what weird ♥♥♥♥ is there is enough on it's own to create an addictive gameplay loop.) Another aspect of this game that I would consider uh...not great...is it's combat, and that's a real shame because I feel that it had the beginnings of something good going on and they just didn't quite nail it. One way that it fails is literally tied in with the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ income mechanics of the game (more money means better ship, better guns, etc etc...which my proposed solution would of course solve ;) )...but sadly even with the best of the best stuff, the combat essentially revolves (pun intended) around circling something and clicking to shoot at it in an ultimately unsatisfying way. I guess money really can't always buy happiness. Overall, if you've read this far, please don't let these critiques stop you from enjoying what can absolutely be an amazing game. It remains one of the most unique worlds I've come across in a game, and has some truly stellar storytelling moments that make the dumb combat mostly worth it. I think it really says something that one can cheese a game like this and give yourself all the advantages in the world and STILL have a wild ride of a time. I personally love making my millionaire character, and have played several ways (millionaire but with base stats, millionaire but with one really amazing stat and normal other stats, millionaire with abysmal stats...etc) and I recommend giving these scenarios a try, it's really fun, in a roleplaying way.

无与伦比的精彩……船长，返航！

gud vibes

Интересная задумка, но очень халтурное исполнение. Косяки интерфейса (на поверхности нельзя посмотреть количество груза), необходимость читать гайды для завершения квестов и сюжетных линий, плавание по океану скучное и занимает большую часть времени, все цены нужно держать в голове.

Enthralling game, I love the stories contained to each island. That said, it sounds odd to say about a game superficially built on driving a ship, but as the driving mechanics are very simple and have little to do with the stories or the main draw of the game, I often wish they had made ship movement passive (destinations selected beforehand or something like that) to free up for more of those crew interactions which make the journeys feel memorable, rather than just pushing the boat around, if that makes sense. However, this is a nitpick. The game is an incredible atmospheric storytelling experience, and I've gotten absorbed into it for hours on end. The music constantly gets stuck in my head, even now, and will pull me back to the game. Yes, the trade routes can be a bit grindy if you're determined to make big $$, but you'll be exploring and soaking up stories all the way through so that's fine. Even trade routes are semi-optional since you can subsist decently off submitting port reports and buying fuel to break even. After trying Sunless Skies, this one is still my favourite. The stories being so self-contained makes a difference; somehow it lends to isolating feeling of it all.

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Oyunu az oynadım çünkü kesinlikle bir rehber, yönlendirme şart. Oyunu öğrenemediğim için azıcık oynayıp, hatta oynamadan sadece yazı okuyarak- çıktım ve bir daha girmedim. Oyunun atmosferini güzel anlatan daha yeterli Türkçe yorumlar var. Bu yorumu onlara ilaveten yazıyorum: İngilizce düzeyiniz iyi de olsa bence kesinlikle bir rehber şart yoksa benim gibi oyunda hareket bile etmeden 2 saat yazı okursunuz. Okuması da ayrı bir zevk tabii ama ben onca okumaya ve anlamaya çalışmama rağmen tek doğru bir hareket sergileyemedim ve oyunu kapattım. Yorumlarda bahsedilen atmosfer anlatısı, oyunun tercihlere ve maceraya dayanması doğru ve gerçekten çok güzel. Hatta her bir satırı okumak da çok keyifli. Yalnız dediğim gibi oyun başlangıç için çok zor, bence imkansız. Yine de oyunu sevmiştim, kaliteli bir yapıt. Bu noktada düşünülmesi gereken şey, ilerleyebileceğinizden bile emin olmadığınız bu oyuna 10 USD vermek olmalıdır. Malum... oyun 10, 20 tl iken çok düşünmüyorduk bunları.

I find it hard to recommend this game. I love the world and the atmosphere and the writing, and what they are trying to do with this game. But when it comes to the actual sailing and game-play, it keeps turning me off. I have tried playing this game over and over again for what feels like ten years now. I never end up getting far into it. While I absolutely love the prose, and the premise of this game, I always end up extremely bored and underwhelmed with everything else and turn it off. Perhaps if you started with a bit more money, or the ability to not just customise your captain, but your ship as well. Maybe if the learning curve wasn't a cliff, and if the early game wasn't so brutal with you when it comes to money and fuel and supplies. Then possibly that would fix the issues that I keep facing. But I just find myself getting so bored with my super slow ship, and getting anxious over my ever dwindling finances, that I end up being unable to enjoy the world, or fall into the atmosphere of the game, and read and see all of the amazing things this game contains. I would recommend the game, but only very lightly. Sadly, there is no demo, but the game has been out for a long, long time now, and so is more reasonably priced. Still... If you are interested in it but are on the fence, I would perhaps get it on a sale regardless, just in case.