SUNLESS SEA

The main thing you do is sail around between islands ferrying items you need to complete quests. The islands are far apart, the boat is slow, and the items you need are not recorded in your log so I guess you have to write them down. Just so you can get some dribs and drabs of story. I don't know why this gets such good reviews, but looking at the % of players with the most basic awards I'm guessing most people stop playing without bothering to review the thing.

I purchased this game with the expectation that it would have an excellent story to delve into. But the tediously slow gameplay is trying my patience after five hours spent on revivals and starting from the story's beginning. What makes this more unendurable is the discrepancy in the visual style. Is it too much to ask to unify the style of portraits, at the least?

Here is my review after a couple of hours of playtime: [h3]The Pace Is Glacial[/h3] The game's pacing is incredibly slow, both in terms of ship movement and overall progress. The starting ship’s speed feels agonizingly sluggish, making even short trips between nearby ports feel like a chore. While this slow pace is presumably intended to build tension and immerse players in the haunting atmosphere of the Unterzee, it often crosses the line into tedium. There’s an option to use "Full Power!" for temporary speed boosts, but this consumes extra fuel and comes with risks, making it more of a short-term band-aid than a solution. For players who value efficiency or faster-paced gameplay, this can make the early game feel like a slog, which is unfortunate as first impressions are crucial. [h3]Lore Feels Disconnected and Simplistic[/h3] I appreciate games with deep lore, and Sunless Sea clearly has a vast and detailed world to offer. However, the way this lore is presented left me underwhelmed. The storytelling relies heavily on text-heavy descriptions and storylets, which can feel disconnected from the actual gameplay. Each port offers a new snippet of lore or a small event, but the loop quickly becomes repetitive: dock, read some text, collect “stuff,” and repeat. Rather than feeling like I was unraveling a grand mystery or actively shaping my captain’s story, the game felt more like a series of loosely connected errands. The lore, while rich, feels like it’s bolted on rather than seamlessly integrated into the gameplay. It doesn’t help that the writing, while detailed, can be difficult to follow at times, making it hard to fully engage with the world. [h3]Final Thoughts[/h3] Sunless Sea has an undeniably unique premise and atmosphere, but its slow pacing and simplistic gameplay loop hinder its ability to truly captivate. Players who have the patience for its deliberate pace and enjoy piecing together lore-heavy games may find something to love. However, for those who prefer a smoother balance between immersion, mechanics, and progression, Sunless Sea might feel like more effort than it’s worth.

This game has it's charms but it personally is not for me. I like the concept and what it is trying to do, but everything feels purposefully sluggish and impersonal. This intentional slowness that feels like it would take tens of hours to complete the main story, alongside the UI that I would call old school but uncharming, and the resource management that feels like the actual point of the game rather than the horror or the story, makes this one a no go for me. I want to get in a game, and start playing it. Not be met with a wall of "you have to spend X amount of hours farming to get to a playable state in the game"

It’s a very boring game with way too many dialogues and very little immersion. On top of that, you run out of fuel ridiculously fast, which makes it impossible to enjoy the exploration. I can’t recommend it

我堂堂地海四皇，鼠鼠岛的刽子手、珊瑚岛的江流儿，海军大将和海贼王都是我兄弟，走私红蜜，贩卖阳光，在沦敦住大豪斯，开无畏战舰， 居然找不到一个可以存货的仓库？

Адмирал в Темных очках в десятый раз посылает тебя в Часовню Огней за Стратегической информацией Ты - плывешь в Часовню Огней Ты - подплывая к Часовне Огней видишь как Гора Номад буквально tpaxаеt причал Часовни Огней и c довольным урчанием приговаривает... Гора Номад - уххх ты моя sssучkа Ты - поворачиваешь назад в Лондон Ты - потом поворачиваешь назад в Часовню Огней потому что тебе очень сильно нужна эта Стратегическая информация 10/10

6.5/10 + deep lore and good writing + simple, but fitting visual - slow, draining gameplay - schizophrenic identity comment: i gave it several attempts, but my interest in the lore failed to overcome the tedious gameplay. by "schizophrenic identity" i mean that the game can not decide if it wants to be a comfortable cozy novel, or a stress inducing survival horror. i suspect the dissonance happened because this is an adaptation of what originially was a browser game, where you would log in once or twice a day to click a button to progress the story. that slow pacing did not really translate well into a real-time format.

除了没有目标和死掉基本重开以及难度过高，都挺好的，尤其是和一本小说联系起来，大概这就是朝圣。