Sunless Skies

 PC
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 80 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 80
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 80
  3. Negative: 17 out of 80

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  1. fredhorrigan
    Feb 6, 2019
    2
    Like Sea before it, Sunless Skies has some really good writing and atmosphere but the gameplay is about as fun and engaging as a screensaver. There simply isn't much to it, the combat is very basic and besides that the game has nothing but simple resource management, rng stat checks and waiting; mostly waiting since traveling from place to place will take up most of your playtime, and likeLike Sea before it, Sunless Skies has some really good writing and atmosphere but the gameplay is about as fun and engaging as a screensaver. There simply isn't much to it, the combat is very basic and besides that the game has nothing but simple resource management, rng stat checks and waiting; mostly waiting since traveling from place to place will take up most of your playtime, and like Sea it just involves staring at you vessel while it chugs through a nice looking but ultimately featureless map. Cheats can make the experience bearable by speeding up the game and removing the need to grind but a game that requires one to use outside means to avoid playing has failed at being a game. Probably makes for a good LP assuming it's screenshot-only or highly edited.… Expand
  2. Bordyga
    Apr 25, 2019
    2
    Big step back from Sunless Sea, sadly. They overdid this game.

    Main issues: The world is incoherent. There is no main theme to bond all elements. Why trains? Why not zeppelins? Floating islands? But why? How? Yes, game explains some of these but that's the problem: they overdid it. Too much of these. Aesthetic: again, everything is overdid. I'm looking on Albion and I'm not even    Big step back from Sunless Sea, sadly. They overdid this game.

    Main issues:
    The world is incoherent. There is no main theme to bond all elements. Why trains? Why not zeppelins? Floating islands? But why? How? Yes, game explains some of these but that's the problem: they overdid it. Too much of these.

    Aesthetic: again, everything is overdid. I'm looking on Albion and I'm not even sure what I'm looking for. Pipes, clockworks, fine... but again. WHY? I don't ask HOW. I ask WHY. The game is alienating me too much. I don't ask for story explanation. I'm asking for aesthetic one. WHY so much pipes, metal, clockworks when it just looks... stupid. Just be for "being sake".

    The tempo of the game is too slow. It was slow in Sunless Sea but here it's just... too much.

    Too much stories in one port: can be treated as weird one but I believe that it would be better to divide actual stories for more ports. I'm little bored after 30-40 minutes of constant reading...

    ...especially where stories are not so great. But again: the problem is not lack of writing skills. It's the lacking theme and incoheretion of the world.

    So overall: so far I'm dissapointed. The game is bland and boring comparing to Sunless Sea. They overdid it. Too much of everything without solid glue - the coherent world. And the atmosphere. Sunless Sea was more or less peaceful with horror elements. Now it's - again - too much "horror" elements. It's just bizarre.    … Expand
  3. Idiota150
    Apr 18, 2019
    0
    Sorry, but I just hate everything about this game. Story, unrewarding combat, game stutter/freezes, UI navigation, nothing happens, dieing, controller support.
  4. BlueberryRabbit
    Jun 28, 2021
    0
    The combat is very unfulfilling and clunky. Management is nonexistent. The controls are eh. Character customization just sucks. All characters feel the same. I can't recommend this game to anyone.

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PC Game of 2019
65
#65 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. RPGamer
    Apr 17, 2020
    90
    Sunless Skies is an excellent game that rewards commitment to its steady pace and steep learning curve. A web of plots and places suggest the infinity of the heavens, but even infinity must end; in this case, it stretches across a million words or so and easily forty hours. The story doesn’t explore every nuance introduced, but that’s a running problem when writers seek to explain the ways of the heavens to mortals. Like many powerful, unique titles, Sunless Skies leaves the player with the desire for more, not because it’s lacking but because it appeals to the mania to solve every mystery, plumb every depth.
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  2. Quarter to Three
    Feb 21, 2020
    100
    Failbetter finally balances smart gameplay and ingenious prose in this poignant saga of mortality, writ large.
    Read full review
  3. Riot Pixels
    May 26, 2019
    87
    It's an amazing journey — clever, spectacular and exciting. Fire up your furnaces, ladies and gentlemen, but don't forget how treacherous those twinkling stars can be.
    Read full review
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