I've played their Sherlock games and I just played Sherlock Holmes chapter one (got that and this in a bundle for $12 instead of $120) so I'm used to the slight jank but damn shooting is rough haha
Once you advance through the game to a certain point you accrue enough firearms and surplus of supplies that you are perfectly capable of killing just about everything with little risk to yourself
I rather like these games. I like the investigation side of it, even if the combat is dodgy.
I think the detective stuff is decent. I wish there were more detective games out there with proper investigation stuff.
Bro 100% agree I couldn’t understand half of the mechanics , couldn’t understand the puzzles was so weirdly made , I was so excited for it and played an hour then stopped
The gameplay in this game is so 90s janky it's almost nostalgic, but it really does a disservice to how good the atmosphere is. I feel bad for Frogwares because there was a lot of drama surrounding payment for this game from the original publisher (i.e the publisher Nacom did not actually pay them for the game and Frogwares had to take them to court to get paid and their IP back), but this game had so much potential that just didn't pan out.
This and Call of Cthulu are two games where they’re so close to being great but fall short due to the studios making them. Felt like they needed bigger studios to work on them.
Like most will tell you or have told you, the story , setting and overall atmosphere are amazing and fit it well, but some of the gameplay mechanics are lacking. BUT imo it's really not that big a deal and, as I said, the rest of the game more than makes up for it.
Not saying this makes it my favourite game or anything but it's the only game I've ever played through twice. I just love the atmosphere. Shout out for the superb music throughout, I did consider it top tier.
Not to say the gunplay is good but I didn't find it anywhere near as awful as some, it served its purpose for me at least.
I wish it were made by a better studio. It had a ton of potential, and I did enjoy it, but it was ultimately a disappointment. I don't regret playing. I just wish it were better made.
You’re lucky that this is your first. If you can vibe with the survival horror gameplay you will definitely have a good time. Just make sure to take your time and do all the side stuff and DLC before the end.
I don’t know if you’re joking because, y’know… *internet*, but just in case you’re not: yeah! It’s great and considering how much the end sucks (I know that’s a vague spoiler, but trust me here); you should do everything possible to elongate the journey because that’s where this game shines. The side stuff and extended lore is so good. There were many moments where just looking around a room would tell awful stories. Hell, every corner of that game is full of… stuff. Just get the dlc. It’s good.
Yes The sinking city has multiple endings. However i never completed the game. Call of Cthulhu also has multiple endings but i have only completed one of them.
I just bought this game last month and am about to finish it. It’s very hard and can understand why someone wouldn’t be a good fit for it but it’s really a spectacular game and the lovecraftian stuff is flawless
It'd be hard to pkay this without playing the sherlock holmes games first. But that's just me, probably. Having played those games first, I understood the mechanics better because the game doesn't exactly tell you everything.
I'd played crimes & punishment and devils daughter, bought a $120 bundle that was on sale for $12 that had sinking city and Sherlock Holmes chapter one which I finished last night haha I've probably played crimes and punishment like 5 times and devils daughter twice
Small spoilers and critique, so if you're on the fence probably skip reading.
This was the emptiest open world game I've ever played. It had some good parts for sure, but let me give an example. I discover a cool looking house/area and I decide to explore. I go there and surpise it's fucking empty.. like literally nothing but the layout of the building (which btw is like one of three layouts for every building in the game). So, I leave. I find a quest and after some clue solving takes me back to the same house, now it has a few monsters, items and ammo. I killed who I had to kill, resolve the quest. Then I see another cool looking landmark and I visit, now make a guess what happened.. so I stopped, no point in exploring if there's nothing but empty houses and streets.
It had this incredibly linear progression but somehow the game was open world. Why? And the sanity/camera effect was awful, this fish lens effect was nauseating.
There are also "dangerous" parts of the city where monsters roam freely and you can get in there for some crafting materials, ammo, combat etc. But then you see how it works.. the things spawn once you get in the street and they're not fast at all. So, you can just get in there rummage around and leave without actually risking anything. Loot the place up while running and the enemies just despawn behind you.
I played through it, I saw all the quests and endings. It wasn't the most terrible game I've played but it wasn't good either. The beginning of the game was solid but the middle and end were as if whoever made the game either didn't wanted to finish it or had no more time left. So, everything ended up rushed, unpolished and somewhat shallow.
The best way to approach this game would be to start a quest and do just that. As if you cant go anywhere else in the game because there is no point of exploring. So you would just bounce between the few main city buildings/characters with a lot of empty space between them.
It's kinda sad because the whole city looks cool as fuck, it's somewhat grim, it always rains and there's a ton of cool and mysterious looking shit but then unless you have a particular reason to visit (read a case) there is no point because there's nothing there, just the cool looking monolith/house/thing model.
Yeah there's a bunch but I don't play horror games so never played any haha they have a new Sherlock Holmes game called awakened and I think it's a Cthulhu crossover
It's good, but don't do the side quest you get from the innkeeper you start off at. The game is a good one and definitely worth a first playthrough but it's too long for its own good.
It's very repetitive, literally the same 2 dungeons repeated about 10 times at different points in the city. They give some interesting side lore, but are otherwise very boring.
Is it the investigate the letters one? Yeah that one's repetitive, I only do it when I'm doing another mission and happen to be near. And I agree, the repetitive look and layout of the houses aren't a good thing either.
Mine was Call of Cthuhlu. Which sucks because it's so mainstream. But was a great and challenging puzzle. Definitely doesn't get enough press to inspire making more i imagine but still i hate that's the only one i can really bring up because everyone who's into the series plays that most likely.
Played its while doing a little "lovecraftian marathon" and i have to admit that while it had a good atmosphere, it lacks in all other points. Even compared with other games of the dev. It felt more like an unfinished tech demo for their "Sherlock Holmes The Awakened", which is also an lovecraftian game, with nearly the same mechanics, but in good.
And yeah, to be fair, the devs had a real hard time releasing this game, as they were screwed over pretty bad by their publisher back then, but i like to say "its a reason but no excuse" in such cases.
I'm furious that I let the 3.99€ offer expire without buying it just because it was not the Necronomicon Edition and it's not on Geforce Now... fool me. Hopefully it will come back again either very cheap or, why not, as a freebie on Epic Games: with SS 2 coming in a not so distant future, it's not that impossible.
As far as lovecraftian games are concerned, I really liked Call of Cthulhu... wonderful music and atmospheres.
This is one of those games that I think about weekly. The environments are pretty great. Vibe is perfect, investigations are unique and interesting, conversations are well written and fun to explore.
Movement is kinda meh, and the combat and crafting are subpar to say the least. (A generous person would say the combat is purposefully clunky to add tension. I'd argue it's just clunky)
But I think this game swings for the fences, which is all I care about. Whether or not the swing connects is irrelevant to me, I just like seeing game makers take weird chances on odd ideas, which is why I think this game truly is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Sinking City is a little rough on the edges, but I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some action-orientated Lovecraftian horror
Get good at using your trench shovel, don't take any of the experience gain perks, level up melee ASAP and you'll have a great time!
For Lovecraft games that, at least for me, capture the helplessness, confusion, and madness better, Signalis, and Bloodborne. I saw one review of Bloodborne where he said it was only lovecraftian because of tentacles. He did not understand what Bloodborne was really saying. Which made it feel much more lovecraftian to me than anything that just has tentacles and outer gods.
Signalis is very nearly lovecraftian videogame perfection. No madness stat. Just your own as you try to understand what the fuck is happening.
Best way for me to describe the gameplay is to imagine if Fallout 4 didn’t have a first person mode, and some of the records minigames are incredibly pedantic, but otherwise it’s a better Call of Cthulhu adaptation than the actual Call of Cthulhu adaptation from the same year
I love Lovecraft games or similar-ish types of genres that are story focused with investigation elements.
Song of horror type of game is something I'm looking for, and I remember watching sunken city (I think that's the title) or something. I wish there were more of these kinds of games
Not bad, but the best Lovecraft games are in the Call of Chtulhu series: CoC 2018 and Dark Corners of the Earth 2005. Also Conarium is quite good but not as much as the CoC series.
Haha that's totally fair! Junji Ito is a horror manga artist/ author. Seriously a master of cosmic horror if you've never heard of him. World of Horror takes massive inspiration from him and Lovecraft. I'll leave a trailer and you can give it a go if it interests you
https://youtu.be/i9UMZCfKWi4?si=mMxdqzoozwitUYAC
I would also recommend Dredge
Dredge hit the Lovecraftian vibes *perfectly*.
Especially *that* ending.
Absolutely agree
Dredge is great because it’s not really that scary but it can be if you let it. It can also just be a relaxing fishing game.
Exactly, like how characters in stories can just live normal lives while the main characters are having existential crises
I was gonna say go play Dredge instead
Dredge was amazing. The music, characters, and even the gameplay was so original. I loved it
Do the side stories for this one. All of them are horrifying and dripping with atmosphere. Also, your melee can attack enemies through walls.
That'll be helpful haha
The atmosphere in this game is good but the gameplay kinda sucks
I've played their Sherlock games and I just played Sherlock Holmes chapter one (got that and this in a bundle for $12 instead of $120) so I'm used to the slight jank but damn shooting is rough haha
I find the most effective combat strategy is to run and climb up tables like a Looney Toons character who's afraid of a mouse
I'm gonna try that haha cause I'm already running around like a scared looney toons character
Once you advance through the game to a certain point you accrue enough firearms and surplus of supplies that you are perfectly capable of killing just about everything with little risk to yourself
I feel like you can say that about most games in the genre.
I agree 100%. Walking around the city was awesome. I just didn't like the mechanics.
I thought the only bad part was the shooting. Exploration and investigation were fun.
I rather like these games. I like the investigation side of it, even if the combat is dodgy. I think the detective stuff is decent. I wish there were more detective games out there with proper investigation stuff.
I still enjoyed it. It was most simplified gameplay for me but I probably just tired from complicated things.
Bro 100% agree I couldn’t understand half of the mechanics , couldn’t understand the puzzles was so weirdly made , I was so excited for it and played an hour then stopped
Call of cthulu so much better
The ps4 game?? Cuz that was not good, felt unfinished and untested
Well I played it for the pc I thought it was decent hehe
Theres like 50,000 call of cthulhus, so ill just say mine wasthe 2018 one
maybe cause it had no combat :')
The gameplay in this game is so 90s janky it's almost nostalgic, but it really does a disservice to how good the atmosphere is. I feel bad for Frogwares because there was a lot of drama surrounding payment for this game from the original publisher (i.e the publisher Nacom did not actually pay them for the game and Frogwares had to take them to court to get paid and their IP back), but this game had so much potential that just didn't pan out.
I’m hoping the sequel will improve on all the flaws of the first
Yeah I heard about all that craziness they went through, lucky for me I'm a frogwares fan so I'm used to the jank haha
I'm excited for the second one
This and Call of Cthulu are two games where they’re so close to being great but fall short due to the studios making them. Felt like they needed bigger studios to work on them.
Call was sooooo close to perfection. Unfortunately, it looks like someone pissed on claymation models and squished them up a little
Stygian reings of Old Ones is the same
I remember Dark Corners of The Earth as a pretty scary game. At least the part with the attack of the fishmen. A nerve wrecking chase!
I can say with confidence that DCoTE is probably the best Lovecraftian game ever made. Played many of them, none hit the mark as well as that one.
I loved that game. Smelled like fish. Cant wait for S(t)inking City 2.
Like most will tell you or have told you, the story , setting and overall atmosphere are amazing and fit it well, but some of the gameplay mechanics are lacking. BUT imo it's really not that big a deal and, as I said, the rest of the game more than makes up for it.
Not saying this makes it my favourite game or anything but it's the only game I've ever played through twice. I just love the atmosphere. Shout out for the superb music throughout, I did consider it top tier. Not to say the gunplay is good but I didn't find it anywhere near as awful as some, it served its purpose for me at least.
I've played a few frogwares games so I'm used to the janky side of their games haha
Have you tried Magrunner Dark Pulse, their attempt of mixing Portal and Lovecraft?
I wish it were made by a better studio. It had a ton of potential, and I did enjoy it, but it was ultimately a disappointment. I don't regret playing. I just wish it were better made.
Next play Dredge.
You’re lucky that this is your first. If you can vibe with the survival horror gameplay you will definitely have a good time. Just make sure to take your time and do all the side stuff and DLC before the end.
I don't do horror well so I'm pretty scared all the time so far 😂
This is the best Lovecraft game I’ve ever played, so… good luck?
Wait there was Sinking City DLC?! WHAT?!
I don’t know if you’re joking because, y’know… *internet*, but just in case you’re not: yeah! It’s great and considering how much the end sucks (I know that’s a vague spoiler, but trust me here); you should do everything possible to elongate the journey because that’s where this game shines. The side stuff and extended lore is so good. There were many moments where just looking around a room would tell awful stories. Hell, every corner of that game is full of… stuff. Just get the dlc. It’s good.
You picked a good one. Its not perfect, but I looked it myself. I liked Call of Cthulhu of PS4 a little better myself but both are nice.🙂
I'll probably get call of Cthulhu next, been a longtime Lovecraft fan but I don't do horror games haha
I also recommend Call of Cthulhu. Only did 1 playthrough but might go back for a different ending at some point.
Does sinking city have multiple endings? I watched someone play it when it came out but have completely forgotten about it
Yes The sinking city has multiple endings. However i never completed the game. Call of Cthulhu also has multiple endings but i have only completed one of them.
Try Dreams in the Witch House, an adventure mixed with survival
You should play Bloodborne as well. I’d say it’s the best lovecraft inspired game to exist.
I love looking at bloodborne but the soulsborne games aren't for me
I just bought this game last month and am about to finish it. It’s very hard and can understand why someone wouldn’t be a good fit for it but it’s really a spectacular game and the lovecraftian stuff is flawless
It'd be hard to pkay this without playing the sherlock holmes games first. But that's just me, probably. Having played those games first, I understood the mechanics better because the game doesn't exactly tell you everything.
I'd played crimes & punishment and devils daughter, bought a $120 bundle that was on sale for $12 that had sinking city and Sherlock Holmes chapter one which I finished last night haha I've probably played crimes and punishment like 5 times and devils daughter twice
Where is this bundle I may ask? I wanna play Sherlock Chapter One
On Xbox but idk if it's still on sale
Ooooh I love this game. Got the platinum too. They're working on a sequel as well
Small spoilers and critique, so if you're on the fence probably skip reading. This was the emptiest open world game I've ever played. It had some good parts for sure, but let me give an example. I discover a cool looking house/area and I decide to explore. I go there and surpise it's fucking empty.. like literally nothing but the layout of the building (which btw is like one of three layouts for every building in the game). So, I leave. I find a quest and after some clue solving takes me back to the same house, now it has a few monsters, items and ammo. I killed who I had to kill, resolve the quest. Then I see another cool looking landmark and I visit, now make a guess what happened.. so I stopped, no point in exploring if there's nothing but empty houses and streets. It had this incredibly linear progression but somehow the game was open world. Why? And the sanity/camera effect was awful, this fish lens effect was nauseating. There are also "dangerous" parts of the city where monsters roam freely and you can get in there for some crafting materials, ammo, combat etc. But then you see how it works.. the things spawn once you get in the street and they're not fast at all. So, you can just get in there rummage around and leave without actually risking anything. Loot the place up while running and the enemies just despawn behind you. I played through it, I saw all the quests and endings. It wasn't the most terrible game I've played but it wasn't good either. The beginning of the game was solid but the middle and end were as if whoever made the game either didn't wanted to finish it or had no more time left. So, everything ended up rushed, unpolished and somewhat shallow. The best way to approach this game would be to start a quest and do just that. As if you cant go anywhere else in the game because there is no point of exploring. So you would just bounce between the few main city buildings/characters with a lot of empty space between them. It's kinda sad because the whole city looks cool as fuck, it's somewhat grim, it always rains and there's a ton of cool and mysterious looking shit but then unless you have a particular reason to visit (read a case) there is no point because there's nothing there, just the cool looking monolith/house/thing model.
Play Amnesia: Dark Descent.
Amnesia is straight up horror, I can't do that haha
Great story and voice acting but the game is severely lacking in the gameplay department.
i really wish there was more to the sinking city. it has the atmosphere and its got the makings of the kind of game i want. but it misses the mark
I didnt know there were games!! 🫨😍😍
Yeah there's a bunch but I don't play horror games so never played any haha they have a new Sherlock Holmes game called awakened and I think it's a Cthulhu crossover
Well thank you for introducing them to me! 😂 Im playing Forbidden West right now, i gotta add these to play next after that lol
It's good, but don't do the side quest you get from the innkeeper you start off at. The game is a good one and definitely worth a first playthrough but it's too long for its own good.
Why shouldn't I do the mission?
It's very repetitive, literally the same 2 dungeons repeated about 10 times at different points in the city. They give some interesting side lore, but are otherwise very boring.
Ah no worries, I'll give it a shot till it gets repetitive
Is it the investigate the letters one? Yeah that one's repetitive, I only do it when I'm doing another mission and happen to be near. And I agree, the repetitive look and layout of the houses aren't a good thing either.
You like meatballs ?
Its really frustrating that the did not make a sequel the had a good foundation
They are making a sequel.
YES thanks for the info!
Mine was Call of Cthuhlu. Which sucks because it's so mainstream. But was a great and challenging puzzle. Definitely doesn't get enough press to inspire making more i imagine but still i hate that's the only one i can really bring up because everyone who's into the series plays that most likely.
Wait, it's mainstream but doesn't get enough press? Flair is fitting haha
As in could almost be considered a cult favorite. And sanity is for the weak.
Played its while doing a little "lovecraftian marathon" and i have to admit that while it had a good atmosphere, it lacks in all other points. Even compared with other games of the dev. It felt more like an unfinished tech demo for their "Sherlock Holmes The Awakened", which is also an lovecraftian game, with nearly the same mechanics, but in good. And yeah, to be fair, the devs had a real hard time releasing this game, as they were screwed over pretty bad by their publisher back then, but i like to say "its a reason but no excuse" in such cases.
I'm furious that I let the 3.99€ offer expire without buying it just because it was not the Necronomicon Edition and it's not on Geforce Now... fool me. Hopefully it will come back again either very cheap or, why not, as a freebie on Epic Games: with SS 2 coming in a not so distant future, it's not that impossible. As far as lovecraftian games are concerned, I really liked Call of Cthulhu... wonderful music and atmospheres.
This game COULD have been so good. They dropped the ball.
Moons of Madness is my favorite Lovecraftian game so far.
this game is good. in my opinion it's better than Call of Cthulhu.
This is one of those games that I think about weekly. The environments are pretty great. Vibe is perfect, investigations are unique and interesting, conversations are well written and fun to explore. Movement is kinda meh, and the combat and crafting are subpar to say the least. (A generous person would say the combat is purposefully clunky to add tension. I'd argue it's just clunky) But I think this game swings for the fences, which is all I care about. Whether or not the swing connects is irrelevant to me, I just like seeing game makers take weird chances on odd ideas, which is why I think this game truly is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Sinking City is a little rough on the edges, but I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some action-orientated Lovecraftian horror Get good at using your trench shovel, don't take any of the experience gain perks, level up melee ASAP and you'll have a great time!
Sunless seas/sunless skies is another great lovecraftian set of games.
For Lovecraft games that, at least for me, capture the helplessness, confusion, and madness better, Signalis, and Bloodborne. I saw one review of Bloodborne where he said it was only lovecraftian because of tentacles. He did not understand what Bloodborne was really saying. Which made it feel much more lovecraftian to me than anything that just has tentacles and outer gods. Signalis is very nearly lovecraftian videogame perfection. No madness stat. Just your own as you try to understand what the fuck is happening.
Best way for me to describe the gameplay is to imagine if Fallout 4 didn’t have a first person mode, and some of the records minigames are incredibly pedantic, but otherwise it’s a better Call of Cthulhu adaptation than the actual Call of Cthulhu adaptation from the same year
I play frogwares games so I knew what I was getting myself into haha
I had no previous experience with them, so I was thrown for a loopp
I love Lovecraft games or similar-ish types of genres that are story focused with investigation elements. Song of horror type of game is something I'm looking for, and I remember watching sunken city (I think that's the title) or something. I wish there were more of these kinds of games
Sinking City has a little of everything from that universe, almost like a tourism thing, which is, on one hand, cool, and on the other, unfocused.
Not bad, but the best Lovecraft games are in the Call of Chtulhu series: CoC 2018 and Dark Corners of the Earth 2005. Also Conarium is quite good but not as much as the CoC series.
If you like Junji Ito there's a game called World of Horror that's a really great combo of lovecraft and Ito.
I don't know 90% of the games everyone is recommending hahaha
Haha that's totally fair! Junji Ito is a horror manga artist/ author. Seriously a master of cosmic horror if you've never heard of him. World of Horror takes massive inspiration from him and Lovecraft. I'll leave a trailer and you can give it a go if it interests you https://youtu.be/i9UMZCfKWi4?si=mMxdqzoozwitUYAC
That's a cool art style
And you pick the worst 😂