Sunless Sea

It is a game crafted by those with an irrepressible love, and possibly hunger, for words and tales.

Sunless Sea's method of storytelling isn't unique, but it has never been realised with such impact and elegance.

A haunting and unforgettable journey to the heart of what made video games fascinating in the first place. The 'Zee is endless, the 'Zee is dark, the 'Zee will kill you. Your heart belongs to its dark gods now.

An extremely good game which just doesn’t feel properly finished. It’s not quite a final draft. It’s still damned good fun though.

Sunless Sea sparks my curiosity and it is beautifully designed. The exploration of a Lovecraftian ocean is well crafted and well told.

More action-focused players will be unable to enjoy Sunless Sea at first, but I hope they take their time to learn what it has to offer and enjoy their trips in the Unterzee, with all the emotion and the frustration that comes packaged in them.

The realm of possibilities seems endless, and every time I set sail I find something new.

Sunless Sea is a game for a very specific audience. It requires a patient player who loves reading and has a big imagination. But if this is you, then you'll know how does it feel to long for the open sea while remaining seated in your room.

Real history can be a bit boring, so that's probably why Sunless Sea is set in an alternate world of 19th century where the city of London was transported underground by bats. The player is a steamship captain who must explore the vast underground sea, battle monsters and solve different types of quests. The writing and the atmosphere in the game is excellent, which is why I was really drawn into the events that were happening. It's a shame that the combat mechanics are oversimplified and simply not fun. The game is also too difficult for beginners. [May 2015]

Sunless Sea is a narrative masterpiece that is inspired by gothic literature. With minimal sources this game shapes a bizarre world with a great feel of atmosphere and detail. Too bad this game often is a tad slow.

Sunless Sea gives you a wonderful world to explore and packs it with memorable written vignettes. Its permadeath flirts with repetitiveness, and combat is disappointing, but it’s far from running out of ways to inspire one more trip back across the Unterzee.

Sunless Sea is special, though it is not for everyone. That's okay.

A sandbox game with a fascinating world that is worth of exploring, with a fantastic narrative inherited from Fallen London and lots of nice touches. However, it can be really slow, requires patience and backtracking. Not a game for everyone, but worth playing for anyone looking for something different.

Sunless Sea is a unique experience that few fans of careful planning and literary cannibalism should ignore. Proponents of Fallen London's dark sensibilities and chilling, lore-rich writing will more than forgive its few mechanical trespasses; however, even less patient gamers may want to peek in to experience the sights and sounds of the zee.

There’s a variety of ways to play and the subtle changes with each new captain keep the story feeling fresh and exciting.

Sunless Sea is a little gem full of both powerful, lovely crafted narrative and fine tuned explorative gameplay. If you like your games to be immersed in an incredible atmosphere and you don't mind a narrative-heavy way of presenting things, Sunless Sea is a definitive must-have.

Sunless Sea is a masterpiece of interactive storytelling, atmosphere and exploration that spins a unique, tense and frequently tragic new yarn every time you play. It's a shame that the spiteful economy and repetitive early game gradually forces you to focus on the systems, not the stories, but the quality of the writing elevates Sunless Sea into something rather special indeed.

Sunless Sea looks as if it fell from Jules Verne’s novels. You are facing the sea monsters and pirates and appreciate the warmth of each and every island pub. Fortunately, this marvelous maritime trip is plagued only by a handful of problems.

Sunless Sea is a little darker and less cheerful than its already morbid sister Fallen London, but it’s no less delightful.

Sunless Sea stresses a fondness for resource management, vaguely turn-based combat, roguelike principles of calculated disposability, and basic role-playing.

If you want a thrill ride, there’s always Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. But if you want an incredibly well written adventure across something approximating a sea, there is no game like Sunless Sea.

The dark world of Sunless Sea is an amazing place where players who love exploration will enjoy a lot. This is an interesting game that offers a unique mix of genres like a roguelike and static narrative.

Wonderful writing resting on top of infirm foundations. Almost a classic, Sunless Sea falls a few leagues short of its final destination.

The action may not be up to quite the same standards as the writing, but the bizarre world of the Underzee is more interesting to explore than almost any other recent game world.

The static narratives and roguelike gameplay in Sunless Sea don't always gel together harmoniously, but Failbetter Games has succeeded in delivering a tense and engaging experience and a rich and atmospheric setting.

Sunless Sea is an interesting game that’s worth playing for those that appreciate a dark yarn, players that love exploration, and even the “let’s find out how to game the system perfectly” roguelike crowd. It’s a unique mix of genres that’s a finely crafted experience, marred by a few cracks in the cabin.

Indeed, one of the best things about Sunless Sea, apart from its beautifully crafted elder-horror stories, fantastically drawn artwork and generally creepy atmosphere, is the feeling that the decisions you make within the game are shaping the narrative, and that by playing, you are writing yourself into that story.

Every port is a unique and unforgettable adventure that comes together from pieces of past events and always gives the player a real, tangible choice. But the process of traveling between the islands is unfortunately lacking. [April 2015, p.66]

Written narrative in Sunless Sea is almost as good as Shadow Run’s, thus inviting players to use their imagination to the extent rarely possible while playing more visually advanced titles. [04/2015, p.58]

Sunless Sea is one of the most interesting virtual journeys I've had recently. The stories we read during playing are definitely one of the best and most original - but after some time everything becomes a routine. Pratchett or Lovecraft fans will find something here but for everyone else it's a lottery. Simply put: Sunless Sea isn't for everyone.

Sunless Sea is in many ways a real stunning adventure, that dare to be original. Unfortunately the pacing feels a bit slow, and the dialogues aren’t that existing. Still, it’s a good choice for the hardcore adventures, that seeks something new.

There are no breathtaking vistas to behold, but still, Sunless Sea is a great destination for virtual tourists. If you only you didn’t have to suffer through the monotony and fight the hastily implemented, out-of-place rules.

Sunless Sea is a dark game combining Lovecraft-themed exploration with Victorian Gothic visual novels in exciting (and chilling) ways. The end result isn't perfect, but its sense of terror and wonder makes it a worthy follow-up to Failbetter's Fallen London.

Even the best stories and intriguing atmosphere is not enough if other elements do not match their level. Constant repetition makes the dark sea adventures less and less interesting with each try.

Unforgiving and tough, but the exploration of an unusual world can be fascinating. [May 2015, p.63]

Sunless Sea is an ambitious work that attempts to capture the sheer kinetic thrill of discovery in a bottle without the inevitable entropy of player completion depleting it, and falls well short. The promise of lengthened replayability only makes the methodical pace a joyless grind at times.