I'm not one for survival games

[XALE]

I don't find much appeal towards the genre as most of the popular survival games out there look more or less the same to me. However, Subnautica specifically looks very unique and its grabbed my interest for a while now from all the positive things I've heard from it.

But I'm not sold on it (yet). So I just wanted to ask what made YOU buy the game, and what made your decision of buying it left you satisfied in the end. And if not, why?

[Suzaku]

Honestly it just looked beautiful. Swimming through the ocean is lovely, even after beating the game multiple times, and it's just fun to explore, gather, upgrade, and explore some more.

I feel one of the biggest issues people often have with survival games is how much you have to babysit your hunger/thirst/etc meters. In this game, it's pretty easy to manage right from the start, and becomes easier as you advance. And if you really dislike meters, there is freedom mode (no hunger/thirst), and creative mode (no hunger/thirst/oxygen, invincible, everything unlocked and free), so the player is free to focus more on the game and less on the meters.

[GiantPotato]

This is the best survival game IMO. Here is why:

1. You won't starve every 60 seconds without eating. The focus is on exploration and discovery, not running back and forth between resources to keep all the bars filled. The O2 meter is limited, but that's just a part of the early gameplay progression. (And BTW, if you hate survival games altogether then there's a mode that also shuts off the food and water bars). I would recommend leaving survival mode on, but you can play it with or without to your personal taste.
2. There are some very interesting things (and some very scary things) down in the deeps. The best way to play is to go into it the game completely blind, so I won't offer any spoilers.
3. As you learn the game, you turn each new depth into something that you can handle. For me this is the real benefit of the survival genre.

[Bastila Shan]

Just play with the need to consume food turned off.

[worstcase11]

I enjoy that the areas to explore are so diverse, and every new area gives you a little 'chill' because you don't know what to expect there.
There is tons of things you can build and basically no time limits for anything story related.

I wish there was something like an in game 'how to build a base' tutorial though ^^' My first attempts at that were spectacular failures.

[qubol]

Subnautica is easily one of my 'no regret' purchases, like you it peaked my interest but i was still hesitant that it wasn't a strong enough candidate to hold my interest.

A compiled play through on youtube sold me on the merits of the game and inadvertently my first play was spoiled, as i was aware of much of the story from the outset, but here i am having just completed my third play through and enjoying it as much as the first.

[PH4T3 <*.*>]

Thing is the main survival mechanics are negated after just a few in game days after you find ways to make clean water and grow your own food, so really it comes down to oxygen at that point, and vehicles circumvent that. So then its just keeping yourself alive, which is rather easy to do. That being said, there are a few creatures that can 2 shot your vehicles and REALLY set you back if it gets destroyed, but without risk there is no reward.

[LadstonFelisGaming]

I love water levels in games, so an entire game based on navigating underwater was almost like a granted wish.

Subnautica is truly beautiful, too. One of two games that I will play purely for its graphical merits alongside solid gameplay.

[meanwhileinrome]

I grabbed it in EA after watching it for all of a week or so. i will recommend it to you without hesitation. i don't have a lot of hours up in it but i pop back to it from time to time to wind down and chill. for that alone it has a permanent place on my system

[The_Pastmaster]

My GF bought it and what I liked about it A LOT was that you don't been to farm a bajillion resources to make a tiny base.
In Ark you need 80 stone, 40 wood, and 30 Thatch to build a single foundation square. You don't even need foundations in Subnautica to build a base. Most corridor type base pieces cost 2 titanium, and the aforementioned foundation is 2 by 2 tiles and costs 2 titanium and 2 lead which is NOTHING. With a full inventory you could build 10 of the things or more.

[Ish]

Here's the thing for me, I didn't intend to play it. At least not any time soon. It was something I got in a bundle and I was gonna start it up, go do stuff around the house for a couple of hours and get my cards. But it looked so pretty and inviting... so I thought eh, sure, underwater stuff always has something horribly wrong with it but I'll pop in real quick.

Man was I wrong, first off it starts you in a gorgeous environment. At first you're a bit like "man it's annoying to find water all the time", but it's not like an average survival game where you're like "ok so now I just need 300 more bricks and OH GOD I HAVEN'T STUFFED MY FACE IN A WHOLE MINUTE I'M STARVING TO DEATH!". Instead the survival mechanics were mostly things to keep you from just going off unprepared or just plunging into the deepest parts at the start. It became more of a realistic thing where yeah every now and then you have to drink and make sure you have water and some food with you. It's the first survival type game where I didn't think it was wildly unrealistic and just flat out annoying.

It helped that the base building was relatively easy - not a lot of different components and low quantities needed per piece. You can label your containers - something that so many games fail to let you do. The style of the base pieces is clean, functional and gives you enough room to work with without being overly bulky. Construction for the most part is simple, you generally don't need to do 6 sub-combines just to put a bloody window up and you can have the recipe accessible to you as you go out gathering.

It also gently drives you to explore areas that are scary at first. Some of which then become terrifying once you realize what's really there, but by then you know that damn it, you need the scan of that one gizmo over there near the thing with really big teeth and you will have that!

Lastly, it has a story, a rarity in a survival game. And that story is good, which in a survival type game is outright shocking. The game will sort of nudge you in the right directions up till a point and when you reach that point you'll be interested and motivated enough to carry on without the nudging, figuring it out by yourself.

I honestly was shocked how much I enjoyed the game, I do not like deep water, I'm a terrible swimmer and I find most underwater games/game sections to be that horrible stuff you go through to get to the good bits. I wouldn't even consider this to be a survival game, I think of it as a very good exploration game with some survival aspects.

[Acolyte]

well of course, i bought the game for entertainment. the atmosphere in this game is amazing, and i love how almost nothing can spoil it for me. i've spoiled the ending for myself, but i still got there and enjoyed it anyway because of how atmospheric it can be, as if i didn't even spoil myself. the game got me a good 100hrs of playtime on 1 single save file, and potentially more in the future, which is probably worth the price. i loved the intense monster fights/evasions, the submarines, the story plot, the exploration, the concept and the survival aspects. im sorry that you aren't the type to enjoy survival games like these, they really are masterpieces.

[SmooshieBanana]

Alien world? Unknown creatures? Learning to survive? Each of these things were things that appealed to me. I bought it early access and have played almost 700hrs. I still love it. I've got a massive base and have had some really great fun playing the game. More than that though, this game is a nautical game, and also a future tech game all rolled into one, and these are my two favorite types of games to play.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

Originally posted by XALE:

I don't find much appeal towards the genre as most of the popular survival games out there look more or less the same to me. However, Subnautica specifically looks very unique and its grabbed my interest for a while now from all the positive things I've heard from it.

But I'm not sold on it (yet). So I just wanted to ask what made YOU buy the game, and what made your decision of buying it left you satisfied in the end. And if not, why?

First of all, Science-Fiction is my thing. Can't get enough of it. Also love survival games... So it was kind of a no brainer to me to get this game in EA and try it out.

Then once I started getting more involved in my first game I realised how great this game was, even thru its flaws (and it had way more back then in EA). The fact that the game force you to do everything without real weapons is a plus (tho I was on the fence on this one for a while) which make it unique in comparison to most other survival games.

[primobrainlet]

Im not sure it is a 100% survival.

I would put it under a mix of survival-exploration and, depending on the person, horror. While food/water is finicky, most of the game is you exploring deeper and farther, trying to find more resources to get even farther and deeper. While hunger, thirst and building is important, for me at least, unraveling the mystery surrounding this planet was what took the spotlight

[XALE]

After seeing all of your answers, I've decided to pick the game up when the next sale roles around.
Thank you very much everyone, for taking your time to reply to this so I was able to come to a firm decision.

Have a good day!