Normally I don't care for another "submersible horror" game, but this one actually allows you to look outside and explore, which is not as overdone as all the Iron bootlegs, and it probably has the most enjoyable gameplay among similar titles that I have played, you could say it has more.... "depth" to it. You control the sub freely, but there are also controls on both sides for things like your claw, radar, and flash weapon, so it has that intentionally clunky feel to it. I think it's a very fun game, but it needs a patch or two, it can be difficult if you want to go for some of the bonus objectives, and frankly I don't think that it needs to be punishing, underwater exploration games are kinda fun by default if you ask me.
What kinda sucks about this game is that you can easily beat the game for the bad ending and miss like 80% of the areas, and if the game didn't have achievements for other endings/objectives, I would not even know that it has more content. However, going for a different ending is almost a completely different experience in terms of difficulty, you have to optimize your day to day progression, or you won't make it, and I think right now, experiencing most of this game can be a bit too punishing. That said, there are only a few things that need to be adjusted, assuming the dev wants to do so.
You get 7 days to collect enough resources, which honestly is a bit of disservice to a game like this because you want to chill and explore all the parts of the game, but instead you kinda have to optimize your strategy and not waste too much time, if you want to get a different ending that is, I got 2 so far, and I suspect there could be more. It can be a little challenging to memorize the map, it's one location, but it has 3 different levels of depth to it (sorta like 3 circles), and as you go deeper, you can find more valuable resources. There are also various trinkets you can collect around the map, I am not sure if they are for another ending or just some lore, maybe both.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) I have seen a few similar games where you could control the submersible freely, but I think you handled the feel and controls better than most of them, while also combining it with more gameplay elements. That said, there are still things to improve.
(+) This game has a bunch of exploration and a few different endings, although it can be easily missed if you don't optimize your run and actually dive deeper to make faster progress. But overall, I liked the aesthetic underwater, it has all kinds of interesting locations, just not at a "nooby depth".
(+) I liked the game mechanics, it's almost like you playing submersible mechwarrior, tilting your capsule up and down, firing flash beams, checking and switching the radar.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[b]Outdated:[/b] the dev addressed most of the issues
[u] Quality of Life: [/u]
- make it easier to find your ship if you returning from a long trip
- if you can, make the claw detection box and item detection box a bit bigger
- consider using Mouse 1 in addition to F to activate claw grab, and capsule panels
- I think you should increase starting Oxygen by 20% maybe
I think it could be a good idea to remove hitbox on claw so it's not hitting the ground when you in range of objects, also it can get a little funky if you rotate it poorly
[u] Other: [/u]
- it can be a little clunky if the enemy keeps hitting your from the back, not sure if you could force them to prefer frontal attacks if possible, or perhaps only attack you twice max, and maybe leave if they don't kill you
- I only got 2 endings so far (I assume there are more?), but they felt a little abrupt honestly, not much of a punch to them
- just a random suggestion, I wish there was a little more exploration on the actual ship, even if it's just lore, just exploring the cabin or a few rooms for immersion
- we already talked about the rotation glitch and the alt-tab glitch
[b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b]
I will assume the dev will reasonably adjust the difficulty of gameplay loop for the second ending, it's a decent game, it's just a little punishing right now if you want to go for other endings. There are a bunch of things to find in this game, but you do have to commit to those deeper dives which at the time of this review, is kinda tricky as you have to commit to short runs in one direction. Overall, I think the gameplay was better than just about any submersible game that I played, just not the best start to finish experience overall because maybe the story is a little meh.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
