The Sinking City

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 246 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 96 out of 246
  2. Mixed: 75 out of 246
  3. Negative: 75 out of 246

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  1. FacundoM97
    Jul 6, 2019
    8
    En mi opinión es un muy buen juego,claro que pudo ser mejor pero logra captar tu atención y meterte en esa ambientación de terror suspenso que lovecraft plasmo en sus obras populares,mi consejo es que no esperes a que salga en steam y lo compres claro si prefieres vivir la historia mas que obtener logros y puntos
  2. Bloodnes
    Jan 29, 2020
    8
    Неплохая игра, затянула! Сюжет имеет свои повороты, но вполне понимаешь, что тебя ждет в конце. Но дойдя до конца, осознаешь, что это провал, концовки как таковой нет. Разработчики просто напросто испоганили игру своими тремя концовками. Игра линейна, но геймплей отличный, полное погружение в игру тут есть. Музыкальное сопровождение средненькое. Графика не блещет изысками, сразу видно, чтоНеплохая игра, затянула! Сюжет имеет свои повороты, но вполне понимаешь, что тебя ждет в конце. Но дойдя до конца, осознаешь, что это провал, концовки как таковой нет. Разработчики просто напросто испоганили игру своими тремя концовками. Игра линейна, но геймплей отличный, полное погружение в игру тут есть. Музыкальное сопровождение средненькое. Графика не блещет изысками, сразу видно, что игра делалась для консолей. В Целом рекомендую пройти, игра стоит потраченного времени! 8/10… Expand
  3. Week
    Apr 2, 2020
    9
    Очень не плохая игра с хорошей атмосферой, хоть и не совсем передавающей Лавкрафтианский ужас.
    История и город, а также детективная составляющая очень хороши.
  4. ScathachPreach
    Dec 29, 2020
    10
    A really good take on a detective / crime story and lovecrafts mythos.
    The atmosphere is gorgeous (and somewhat fishy), and the game feels like a good mythos story with all the pulp needed. Just as it should be.
  5. damerboy
    Sep 10, 2019
    8
    This is a really great game, and really underrated. The story is pretty good, everything you would want from a Lovecraftian game. The mechanics were also really interesting, with some of the best detective mechanics, and dare i say one of the best detective games I've ever played, yet it is sometimes repetitive, and the combat mechanics aren't anything spectacular, but no as bad asThis is a really great game, and really underrated. The story is pretty good, everything you would want from a Lovecraftian game. The mechanics were also really interesting, with some of the best detective mechanics, and dare i say one of the best detective games I've ever played, yet it is sometimes repetitive, and the combat mechanics aren't anything spectacular, but no as bad as everyone says it is. It is probably the best Lovercarftian game, and if you enjoy good detective mechanics, a great story, amazing atmosphere and a beautiful looking city, then you would enjoy this game 100%.… Expand
  6. Missya122
    Jul 15, 2019
    8
    Very good game for people enjoying slow tension building, intriguing atmospehere, fascinating stories and lots of reading.
    PROS:
    + great, heavy game aura makes you "sink" into the world very quickly, espacially if you like this kind of creepy, mysterious climates + lots of knowledge from Lovecraft works, if you value getting to know world better not only through NPC talks and action,    Very good game for people enjoying slow tension building, intriguing atmospehere, fascinating stories and lots of reading.
    PROS:
    + great, heavy game aura makes you "sink" into the world very quickly, espacially if you like this kind of creepy, mysterious climates
    + lots of knowledge from Lovecraft works, if you value getting to know world better not only through NPC talks and action, you will surely enjoy diaries, book pages and souvenirs you will find in the game through the quests
    + hard to make, important decision (not like in telltales, they are smartly designed)
    + nice details in the buildings interiors
    + good soundtrack ( really creepy monsters and not only sounds)
    + requires some thinking in your tasks, for ex you're not given quest location immdeiately, you have to search archives first to find clues
    + open ending that imho indicates that the developers may be thinking about continuation, many threads has been left open

    CONS:
    - kinda PS3 graphic outside the building ( but still atmospheric, not that big thing,but if you value high quality textures, you may be bit disappointed)
    - interiors recycle ( lots of building has same rooms layout and furniture)
    - NPCs and monsters bugs, also textures bugs, but not actively interrupting the gameplay
    - many open threads may be also a disadvantage if you're into the story and not given the answer to "what really happend"
    - bad melee fight design ( not precise at all) , only "ok" shooting
    - small number of monster types
    - technical quests motonny ( "go here from there, kill something, gather some data and return " type (( but they contain some very good stories nevertheless)) )

    If you're into mysterious, atmospheric and story-driven games its definitely 8/10, if you value action , fight and character development more it's 7/10. Worth a try.    … Expand
  7. Jantho
    Jul 16, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As big Lovecraft fan, I waited for this game very much. It's not ideal and has bugs and some moments that could have beeen improved if developers had more time but overall it's very good.

    I liked the open-world city of Oakmont. Every district is different from each others and has some stuff like posters, which add atmosphere or some interesting places like monument in Advent, train station or wheel at the park.

    The most strongest side of this game is detective investigations. Special sight, retrocognition and mind palace make every investigation intriguing and interesting to solve. Even more, you can make different decisions based on the evidence, and sometimes you need to be pretty careful to make the correct choice.

    The monsters are good and can be frightening, but it's a pity that there is basically only 4 monster types. The weapon system, craft and rpg skill tree are fine.

    The other strong part of the game is its well-written scenario and characters, each of whom have its motivation and personality. However, the finale could have been written better and depend more on the past actions.

    So, as Lovecraftian fan I rate this game 9/10, but for people who are not found of Lovecraft books this game can be not so interesting.    … Expand
  8. Blacknife
    Jun 27, 2019
    8
    Game has that old school figure-it-out style gameplay that a lot of older games had but, sadly, newer games lack. A few minor bugs here and there wont ruin your experience with this game. The world is large and has plenty in it if you look hard enough and the over arching story is very involving.
  9. Oxhorn
    Jun 28, 2019
    8
    The Sinking City is a slow-paced detective game blending the supernatural with psychological horror. The setting is faithfully Lovecraftian as advertised, and has some intriguing moments, but it suffers from poor writing, poor voice acting, a clunky interface, and lack of all-around polish. If those can be overlooked, the game is atmospheric enough to be immersive, and the world brims withThe Sinking City is a slow-paced detective game blending the supernatural with psychological horror. The setting is faithfully Lovecraftian as advertised, and has some intriguing moments, but it suffers from poor writing, poor voice acting, a clunky interface, and lack of all-around polish. If those can be overlooked, the game is atmospheric enough to be immersive, and the world brims with genuine ingenuity that, although sometimes odd and even silly, is ultimately compelling.

    Players who are expecting a AAA, polished game will be disappointed. There are numerous minor bugs, and enemies often clip through walls or get stuck on geometry. The CGI cutscenes are rendered in low quality, which stands out glaringly when using high-resolution displays. It is best to go into the game understanding that it is an indie game produced with limited resources.

    The interface feels dated. It is clunky, with large flat icons, some of which are more elaborate than they need to be, making the interface initially confusing. The interface has a lot to do--manage inventory, quests, lore and other notes, maps, and even craft items. Once you get used to it, it;s not so bad, and after a few hours I was able to quickly get it to do what I needed it to.

    The game pulls a lot of inspiration from L.A. Noire, providing a case-tracking system that is far more complex than Noire's simple notebook. It's a bit tricky to figure out at first, but once you get the hang of it, it makes it much easier to solve cases (without the need of infuriating "intuition" points).

    The game's first case acts as its tutorial. The case will last a few hours, during which there is limited combat. Only after the tutorial case does the game truly become "open world". At that time, the game dumps a metric ton of new quests and lore on you all at once--a new main quest, and two new side quests, dozens of new notes and locations, each of which has to be manually marked on the world map before proceeding.

    Once we finally get to explore the city, however, the game becomes truly compelling. Half the city's streets are submerged, so we travel by foot and boat frequently. The city is littered with unmarked side locations unrelated to any of the quests where we can find scrap, lore, enemies, and consumables. Each street corner is hand-crafted. Once we can explore the open world, the gameplay truly shines. It just takes a few hours to get there.

    It has an interesting "Mind Palace" feature, which allows the detective to go back in time and witness the crime as it happens, and then track suspects--similar to the Memento Mortem from Return of the Obra Dinn, but in full motion. This feature is one of the best parts of the game, making each crime scene intriguing. For those who like slow-paced, methodical detective games, this one has a lot that makes it worth a look.

    Solving cases is fun. Each case culminates with the player having to make one of two choices. We do not know which one is the "right" one until after the choice is made. These choices do have in-world consequences, which turn up in lore we find later in the game.

    My biggest disappointment is the unsophisticated way the story is told to us. This is magnified by the poor writing and voice acting. The protagonist's voice (and appearance) is jarring, and they grind on your nerves as you continue to play. He finds unfunny things funny, has red-herring dialogue clumsily designed to throw the player off the right track, and is surprised by unsurprising events. Many characters look like stereotypes--you can pick out the game's villain by how the villain dresses and talks.

    In the end, the game is fun if you can overlook some of its clunky issues. For players who are looking to immerse themselves in a distinct, intriguing world, The Sinking City will provide hours of entertainment.    … Expand
  10. Cthulhu_Sir
    Jun 28, 2019
    8
    A very good plot and lore accompanied by clunky mechanics. But it does not deserve such low ratings. If you are into plot - play it. If you are into gameplay - skip it.
  11. rBose
    Mar 2, 2021
    10
    very good game and characters strongly recommend, good atmosphere and graphics
  12. igolrum
    May 26, 2021
    8
    The atmosphere, characters and neat little stories are definintely pretty nice.
    Gameplay is a bit clunky and they unfortunately didn't really tie things together into a satisfying main story finale/ending. More of a collection of good small stories.
  13. Sheblov
    Sep 24, 2021
    9
    A normal game with a good storyline. The combination of many things in the lovecraft genre makes the gameplay truly interesting.
  14. OmegaKaiju
    Jun 30, 2019
    9
    I am now around 20 hours into the game. It's definitely one of my favourites this year. The detective work with visions is great and also looking up crimes in the police archives etc. is done greatly and not something that slows the game progress.
    Everybody has a great story to tell and the decisions you take are very impactful and the outcome hard to forese. They are clearly not black and    I am now around 20 hours into the game. It's definitely one of my favourites this year. The detective work with visions is great and also looking up crimes in the police archives etc. is done greatly and not something that slows the game progress.
    Everybody has a great story to tell and the decisions you take are very impactful and the outcome hard to forese. They are clearly not black and white and I often do think, was this the right choice? Only let down is the combat at the beginning of the game. A few hours into it and after spending a few skill points it gets easier. Besides even the witcher 3 combat is more clunky.
    Even when dying, the auto save system got your back and you do not lose much progress.
    3 save slots are available for manual saving.
    I will definitely play through this game again. All the negative ign etc. ratings show that they haven't played the game for a long tim.
    There are some minor bugs and flaws but nothing game breaking.    … Expand
  15. CDrew
    Mar 25, 2020
    8
    i was about to downgrade the game's score for being an Epic exclusive, but the developers got out a very nice physical edition, which was very nice of them (and the only way they convinced me to buy it).

    In any case, I can tell you that, if you're into investigation and games with a horror tone, this game is amazing. It features quite a lot of very good storytelling, enthralling    i was about to downgrade the game's score for being an Epic exclusive, but the developers got out a very nice physical edition, which was very nice of them (and the only way they convinced me to buy it).

    In any case, I can tell you that, if you're into investigation and games with a horror tone, this game is amazing. It features quite a lot of very good storytelling, enthralling mysteries, and tough moral choices. It is pretty much the only open-world investigation game out there of this quality, and, in my opinion, it deserves support if only because of this.

    The investigation mechanics are, by far, the game's strongest pro. Most cases feel like a genuine mystery, and having to browse through different types of archives to get the next clues is always exciting.

    Combat is not so great most of the time, but the different types of weapons, explosives, and RPG progression do tend to make it somewhat more strategic.

    Graphics is also pretty good for such an indie game, particularly the lighting.

    In the end, the game's biggest problem is that it feels crushed down by its own ambitions. It seems quite clear to me that, with a bigger budget, this could easily have ended up as one of the best games of the century. Like this, however, animations are all pretty clunky, NPCs have little diversity in terms of appearance and unrealistic reactions, and many of the buildings' and streets' templates feel copy/pasted, with only minor modifications here and there. This decreases a lot of the game's exploration fun, but not enough to crush it altogether in my opinion.

    In the end, I definitely recommend the game for people looking for a good Lovecraftian/supernatural investigation game with a good story. Get over the clunkiness and overall lacking open world, and you will be quite surprised and satisfied.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
20
#20 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. Games.cz
    Aug 19, 2019
    60
    Creators of the Sherlock franchise have hurled themselves into a watery abyss full of monsters and completely drowned their own brilliant investigative formula. The world is open, but terribly empty, the fights are dull, and the RPG mechanisms are lacking. Only the investigation remains fun - and it is not enough.
    Read full review
  2. Softpedia
    Aug 15, 2019
    80
    Despite its shortcomings, the story and the oppressing atmosphere of The Sinking City recommend it as one of the best Lovecraft inspired game to date. If you can get past the clunky combat and technical issues, there's much to like in The Sinking City.
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  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 2, 2019
    66
    For the entire game you’ll have the feeling that something significant is going to happen soon – but it won’t. Story never takes a sharp turn, every interesting character is introduced in the first third of the game and there are no meaningful rewards to find in Oakmont openworld. [Issue#239, p.56]
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