Ultimately Sunless Sea is a potentially amazing game if you like rich narrative worlds and don't mind reading a lot . . . but you should either wait a bit after release and/or take long breaks between when you play because it's not where it needs to be yet.

Why?

Because of the way the game is being developed. Failbetter Game's previous effort, Fallen London (which this game shares the same universe with) has grown massively over time, and so has Sunless Sea. But right now shortly after release, Sunless Sea is a bit sparse. And it's got a lot of issues that need resolving.

The first big issue is the combat, which is very basic at the moment. It works, and it's exciting and dangerous at first, but once you play for a while it becomes very dull and simple save for a few specific "boss" monsters, and even then it's just simple and dangerous. A lot of new AI and balancing is going to be needed before it gets interesting.

Another big issue is size and speed. Your starter ship is almost unbearably slow and at first the world seems vast, but once you get past the (HUGE) initial difficulty wall, upgrading to better ships and engines with a fully explored map reveals that the world actually isn't all that large. More a lake than a sea. Honestly, the game would be better served if the map size were scaled up 15% and all of the engines moved about 10% faster than they currently do. Then at least you'd feel like you were moving, and the world would feel a appropriately large.

The next (and really the biggest) issue is replayability. The game offers a lot of good story content in it, and this content is fixed. However the world is intentionally very harsh and you're bound to die a lot early on thanks to that big initial difficulty wall. These two facts result in a major problem where the narrative content ends up directly at odds with the death and respawn "legacy" mechanics.

Namely: you're going to end up re-reading (more likely skipping through) lots of stuff you've already read before. Finding out about a character's past or an island's secret is really cool the first time, finding out about it the fifth time? No so much. There is currently no mechanic - and certainly not enough content - in place so that the different lives you start encounter notably different story experiences in the game, which would be the obvious solution to this problem.

However, looking at how Fallen London has grown, and some of the systems already in place in Sunless Sea, I feel it's safe to assume that as time goes on more stories and content are going to continually get added in. There's already a pretty big expansion planned, and been a steady drip of new stories over the last month. They even just added a new alternate method to end your current game, so it's not like these are minor updates.

Essentially, what you're likely to not realize (I certainly didn't) when buying Sunless Sea is that this is more a single player MMO that's half Naval Elite/Sid Meier's Pirates and half Victorian/Lovecraftian Adventure gaming. Knowing that is probably more key to whether or not you should purchase it than anything.

This game is currently strong, but threadbare after you spend some time with it. In a few months? I'm guessing it's going to feel much fuller and robust. In a year? It might actually live up to the immense potential it has.

Take that as you will, and certainly, if you're not the type to trust that a game will reach it's full potential in time or don't like that development model, hold off. But I'd encourage you to check back later when it's gotten a bunch of new content.

For myself, I've found more than enough so far to justify the purchase, and have enjoyed the vast majority of my time with the game. The promise of more to come is just a bonus.

This is a bit of a challenging review to write. While I love the concept behind Sunless Sea a lot, and it definitely nails it when it comes to tone and atmosphere, but the game itself has some fundamental flaws that erode its fun factor a lot.

The good: Graphically, it is a rather beautiful game, depicting its underground sea in an almost painterly way. It captures the rich, dark, almost Lovecraftian tone of it's world perfectly; and the artwork it uses to represent the characters and creatures populating that world are great too. It's writing its fantastic, fo rthe most part, and make me wish there was a straightup novel I could buy that would let me dive more deeply into its mythos. The gameplay itself is a rather simple top-down view of your ship, but it is effective, fun, and evocative of older sailing titles from the 90's like Sid Meyer's Pirates.

The bad: The game is designed around perma-death, and while that is actually a feature that drew me to the title in the first place, it doesn't really work here. You are going to die... a lot... and unless you managed to advance to the point in the game where you can pass things along to an heir, which is NOT an easy task, that means you have to start all over again. By the fifth or sixth attempt, it grows really repetitive to have to re-find the same officers, have the same conversations, re-encounter at the same obstacles at the same ports, and re-read the same blocks of text (no matter how brilliantly written). In the end, after my ninth captain went down with his beautiful customized ship, I just didn't have it in me to start in a crappy little boat all over again.

The bottom line: I'm still recommending you buy this game, if you can get it on sale, so that you can experience the good stuff it does have to offer... but be aware that it does have some flaws that will become increasingly hard to overlook. 3 out of 5.

I have made a Deviless cry.
I have fled from, fought, and died to a Mountain of Black Glass.
I have sold souls, the honey of dreams, and forbidden books.
I have explored the Dead Letter Office and will/am/have visited the Dream Serpent in the Pillars.
I have sank pirates, betrayed anarchists, and been humiliated by a child.
I have broken mirrors, freed tigers, and opened a gate to the stars.
I have acquired strange hungers, seen too much of the dawn, and bargained with the King of the Drowned.
I have fought rats with machine guns, feed pirates to colours, and traded coffins for the future.
I have died bravely, died fleeing for my life, died of hunger, and found boredom in safety.

I will sail the Sunless Sea. I have sailed the Sunless Sea. I will always sail the Sunless Sea...

(Sunless Sea is an evocative, atmospheric, story-driven game. If you go in expecting to "win" you'll be sorely disappointed. If you dive in, start making bad decisions, dying, and trying over again, there's so much to this game and so many ways that it can proceed, at a pace you set, that it will keep you busy for weeks.)

My crew attempted a mutiny, upset and frightened from being out at sea for too long. When their mutiny failed, I sailed them back to London. Once home was in sight, and they gathered at the rails to sing praise, I promptly turned the ship around and sailed it in a circle. And then another circle, this one wider. Then, a third circle, this one smaller.

No one commits mutiny on my vessel.

Time moved swiftly as the circles continued. My crew only had a faint understanding of what punishments were in store for them as I spent the night in my cabin, fornicating with our surgeon. Around and around and around we sailed.

It soon dawned on them what was happening when the nightmares came, when the food and supplies began running low. Once the food was gone, the madness came quick; the frightened tears, quicker. One member wanted to kill herself, but I wouldn't allow it. Another begged me to stop the endless circles, so I sailed them faster, sloppier. Once, I sailed close to a zee-beast. It swam away, wanting no part in the theatre of suffering I was producing. An entire meal, the crew's last hope of staving off death by starvation, had gone. Only the circles remained.

If they wanted to live, they had to eat. Keeping their humanity was no longer an option. They knew what little choice they had, and what little they could do to control it. Out of food, cannibalism quickly took hold on the decks. Crew members butchered and ate each other after yet another failed mutiny. And back in my cabin, all I could do was muse with my sultry lady in lilac, the crewmembers' wails of grief a very, very potent aphrodisiac for more fornication.

We sailed, ate, sailed again. The rhythm never broke. A circle without end.

Soon I took part in the feasting of a brazen zailor who tried to shoot me and failed spectacularly in doing so. The few remaining crew and I ate him and we said nothing of the incident. They knew better. The silence was terrible for them, and it pleased me. Nearby, a cargo vessel sailed past us without pause. You could almost smell the bounty of food and fuel aboard it. They never knew what we were doing, or what we've become, circling without end. Then, they were gone, and my remaining crew came undone.

I shot a crewman who attempted to abandon ship, and I tossed his body overboard. I did nothing as another member leapt overboard soon after, only to be swallowed by the waves, screaming about Salt's curse being set upon us. I dined with the lady in lilac again as the second to last crewman wept and succumbed in his sleep to nightmares, alone and misbegotten.

I believe his corpse is still decomposing in its spot, somewhere in the dark in the lowest corner of my vessel, the Unsinkable II. He shall remain there as a souvenir until I see fit.

Finally, when it was just me and one broken crew member left, I turned the ship portside and set us off. Time to stop the circles; home was near, just at the edge of the screen. I paid a hefty fee for a tow and returned to port, to my zeeside mansion, where I slept like a baby that evening.

London was oblivious. Or unmoved.

Tomorrow, thirteen new crew members await orders to set sail. They haven't the foggiest of what to expect.

No one commits mutiny on my vessel.

10/10

Captain's Log, Day 13. We haven't seen coast in nearly two weeks now, and the men are growing restless... what men I have left. Three have bailed ship since we left port. In vain we tried to retrieve them, further depleting our fuel. My one officer, a shifty surgeon, keeps his many secrets to himself. My mascot, a sickly ferret, just rolls his eyes at me. Great crabs circle menacingly and pirates grow bolder. And the reefs, like ghoulish skulls... they stare from great and empty sockets from the dark and swirling abyss, yawning their maws invitingly. “Come now captain,” they seem to grumble, “come now and sleep.” It is sorely tempting. The rum is getting to my head. I'll sleep now, I think.

“Sunless Sea” is essentially Early Access H.P. Lovecraft. You're presented with a rich alternative universe: Victorian London has sunk beneath the waves and the steampunk denizens of this new world set sail, seeking treasure and purpose only to find madness and horror. It's an RPG through and through, a classic one at that. You'll select your captain's silhouette, title, and backstory (OR MYSTERIOUS LACK OF A BACKSTORY) and set sail. Random events will occur at sea with chance outcomes. Do you take a risky action in the hopes of some gain, or do you play it safe? The combat is turn-based/tactical but... happening in real time? You can pause and choose your actions FTL-style or just go off the handle, selecting maneuvers, firing weapons, and illuminating your targets in the dark and treacherous waters. You'll travel to distant ports, selling souls for more fuel and supplies, upgrading your ship, and hiring new crew, all the while unraveling the secrets this strange world holds. And when you expire (or sleep that long and fitful sleep) you can carry discoveries or important crew to your next game.

It's very rewarding to explore, and the devs promise even further expansion. Landmarks will appear on your map and your journal will fill up quickly as you drift further and further out to sea... but always keep an eye on your supplies, fuel, hull health, and crew terror levels. It would be foolhardy to stray so far from home only to find yourself crazed, eating your crew as madness envelopes you like a malevolent blanket. Or a giant ♥♥♥♥ crab decides to slice your little ship in half, whatever comes to turn first (edit: there are no giant ♥♥♥♥ crabs, unfortunately. I use ♥♥♥♥ as a descriptor. Sorry!).


This is a fun game. A twisted romp through Cthulhu's sunken playground. Like with all Early Access stuff, you can wait if you're hesitant. But the developers have crafted a deep and fascinating game here and promise to update consistently. You can visit their website and see what they've done so far to help you make your decision.

If you're a fan of FTL, of Lovecraft, classic RPG elements, and roguelikes, then you'll enjoy “Sunless Sea.”

Now sleep. You've earned it.

Let's say you've not heard of Sunless Sea, you're scrolling through all the references to 'lovecraft' and 'eating your crew' and 'the sun the sun the sun' in the steam reviews, and maybe you go check out the global achievements to see what else you can learn before taking the plunge. Maybe you notice that less than 5% of players ever beat the game (without manually saving, enabled by default) and realise 'ah, this is one of those games like Darkest Dungeon - maybe not particularly comparable in mechanics, but certainly long, a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and dialogue, maybe a bit grindy, and barely anyone finishes it. That kinda thing'.

That thought would be remarkably prescient, but it's not the fully story. The writing in Sunless Sea can be matched by only a handful of games, some of which are by the same developer, or are alumni of the developer - but to get to this writing, you have to get in your boat and slowly cruise around the map, avoiding (or fighting, if you can bear the horrible combat system) the aquafauna, managing no fewer than five different health bars, and visiting one of the vaguely-located ports dotted around the map. Each port is a world in itself, littered with stories, requests for items, skill checks, and dice rolls - all of it written in such an engaging manner that it's not surprising that the game and its setting have garnered such a zealous following. You drift from port to port chancing death and insanity (which leads to death) over and over, suffer through some nail-biting moments as you drag yourself back home clinging onto the last barrels of fuel and fish remaining, your sanity splitting in half - all in the name of your main quest, your Ambition: finding your father's bones, or making a load of cash, or achieving immortality, or whatever.

The draw, however, is not the main quest; if you have ever played an RPG and immediately ditched the story in favour of completing every side-quest you can dig out, you already understand how Sunless Sea works. The best experience is not through hunting down the remaining items you need for whatever ambition, or through grinding in-game currency for bigger and better ships (although you can, of course, do that if you want) - it's through following little hints, or clues, or simply following orders to Go Here and Talk To This Guy, and being pleasantly surprised at the little vignettes you find when you drop anchor; a monastery of warrior-monks, or a church of cannibals, or THE SUN, THE SUN, or an island-society where everyone's actions are influenced by the masks they choose to wear; all of it, as ever, so richly put together that you'd almost wish that these were actual places you could visit. Almost.

The most surprising part of all this, to me, is the actual sailing zailing itself. You would think that spending huge amounts of time chugging around the unterzee would be an extremely painful endeavour - especially before you get the opportunity to upgrade your engine, hence rendering your pace deathly slow. In other games, this is where I might take advantage of a second monitor, mute the game, and having something else up - some video or podcast or whatever - to take my mind off the thing i've spent money on and should be enjoying.

But I did enjoy it. The constantly-looping soundtracks to Sunless Sea are burned into my brain in a way that I don't know if I could ever forget it - every minute, every second of trundling around in my boat navigating to where I felt I needed to be next, was engaging in a way that I honestly can't explain; even when I wasn't on the brink of ruin and desperately trying to lose terror, or selecting crewmates for the pot, there's something thrilling yet almost peaceful about the whole experience. Planning your journey, setting out from port, maneuvering the landscape, and making it home safely - all the while enjoying the aforementioned settings and stories - is such a delight that I, like many others, have spent years trying to scratch the itch that it brings on.

Like so many other things, Sunless Sea is an experience you can only enjoy once. Go in as blind as possible; understand that your captain will die - a lot - and that this is fine (and even desirable, sometimes); appreciate the journey. It'll be over before you know it.

Is there a sea more sunless? This game is marketed as an immersive, story-driven, almost roguelike, nautically themed romp through alternate history London, circa 1890s. The people at Failbetter Games have created something both motivating and meaningful in their games surrounding Fallen London, utilizing hundreds of storylets that drive the player toward various choices and options.

At first playthrough, especially if you didn't play the precursor game Fallen London, you will find yourself immersed in a world that follows many of the rules and expectations of our own, but with many questions and concepts left unanswered. I went in without having played Fallen London (though I did go back and play it once I was hooked on Sunless Sea) and my mind immediately was grabbed by the implications of what was going on in the game world around me. I loved the content and the lore that the world seemed to be steeped in, and loved it even more for the fact that it didn't give up its secrets without its due. This game is primarily an exploration game with the pretense of combat and economics, though those are not the primary focus. That said, I very much enjoy the combat and trading aspect, but it does come easier as you get more established. It is the process of becoming established that I think turns so many initial players away.

The game starts you off with very blessed little to begin with, other than a book of tips that you can sell for some much needed cash. I very much felt like a struggling captain attempting to eke out a living and a place in an uncaring and darkened void. Again, this can easily be a turn off to players who are wanting a power play game or one in which the story is driven forward regardless of choices and actions. From the get-go, Sunless Sea made me work for what I wanted. To be honest, I wondered about whether I was doing the right thing or if I should start over from scratch. It was these hardships and questions that truly began to build my utter appreciation for the game. To reiterate: I felt like a helpless captain, questioning his choice to set sail. I struggled with how far to venture, especially as resources were scarce early on (a pivotal point of the game being resource management). I kept to certain routes and ports which I knew were safe. Eventually however, I came to a crossroads in which I had to choose to stagnate or press outwards. Obviously, I pressed on, and came to many new ports, stories, and struggles, each one a new opportunity for something engaging, thrilling, or even dangerous. It was this story-driven, choice-balancing, and ultimately life-imitating work of art that got its nets over me, hooks in me, and dragged me down to the depths.

This is all to say that I loved and continue to love this game. I eagerly await new stories and the expansion pack due out soon. That also said, this game isn't for everyone, and eventually, as with all things, it can get stale. I myself took a break from it for a few months, but eventually returned to continue on for some reason or another. The magical part is that, while I have seen what I would call the vast majority of the story content, upon my return to the game, I found myself experiencing just a few storylets I had *never* seen before.

If you are feeling particulary narrative hungry, while still challenging yourself to a harder-than-average starting learning curve, this game is most assuredly for you. Just be aware that this game is very much what you make of it. Put yourself into the game as the captain. Don't just play, experience.

*Edited for spelling.

Edit after the release and play of Zubmariner:

This is an addendum and late addition to Sunless Sea: Zubmariner (especially since, as I write this, Sunless Skies is in Early Access on Steam). Zubmariner absolutely added a ton of new content, and further, the fantastic folks at Failbetter even continued to add in the Kickstarter backer stories that had been exclusive for so long. Zubmariner doesn't change too much about my previous review content, other than adding a ton of new enemies, entirely new content ports, and some wonderful stories to sink in to. I would definitely have to recommend Zubmariner as a great content update. Rather than view it as all of the trite DLC that usually happens with games nowadays, think of this as an old-school expansion that actually adds great content and a whole other level of gameplay.

I enjoyed this game but I want to stress just how much this game tries to focus the game around ambience and writing instead of gameplay. Gameplay-wise, the Sunless Sea is terrible. The game highly devolves into chance, tedious sailing and the occasional monster or boat fight. So, why did I like the game? Because Sunless Sea excels at taking me out of my comfort zone. Just when I thought I had found a way to make consistent echo to start preparing for large voyages, a port would suddenly change, forcing me to change my trade/exploration route. I soon realized I had to take risks to make sailing profitable...and those risks were not a simple coin flip. The risks were sailing into unexplored territories, crossing my fingers for a new port to get additional echos and fuel from, and running into a monster with 4 to 5 times my health. The whole experience is exactly how I feel an HP Lovecraft type game should make you feel.

I stopped playing the game as soon as "mastered" the game. I finally found a way to make a ton of echoes and kill every beast that came my way without having any worry. The ending of this game is simply mastering the sea and retiring from that accomplishment. Give it a try if you don't mind failing.

The Pirates laughed.
They laughed as they sunk my ship. None but I were alive on that ship. I sunk into the depths for the second time. That is when I swore that I would have my vengeance. I was no longer Promthelius - a dapper chap of Fallen London.
I was Ahab - and this game; my great white whale.

I started from scrap. I had nothing but a ship and a gun. I started trading Sphinxstones. I brought them to London for a nominal fee. It was not living, but surviving. Pirates swarmed my trade-route. I tried to avoid them for a time, but my ship would not take me further with the holes in it's hull. It slowed to a crawl, and five Pirate-ships sank me with an impressive display of teamwork for a bunch of thieves. I heard the laughter as I sank into those obsidian depths below. Was this how it ended? Was this how Ahab would be remembered?

No.

I would not succumb there. I was Ahab. I was the reckoning of Promthelius. I was two generations of seething disdain for this world, and all that inhabited it.

I started again. I threw caution to the wind, and traded wildly. With naught but two hundered echoes and two barrels of fuel, I found the Salt Lions. I once more started trading in sphinxstones.
Pirates swarmed, but I mostly avoided them. They laughted, jeering and taunting me. Was I a Coward? Perhaps.

I traded sphinxstones until the Salt Lions ran out. And thus began one year of sunshine. I traded empty boxes of mirrors in the city of Khan's Shadow, and captured the sunshine from the Neath in droves as I emerged there from the Cumaean canal. Three boxes turned into six. Six turned into sixteen. I bought a new ship - a trading vessel with one hundered and twenty units of cargo-space. My Empire of sunshine on that opaque expanse.

My plan was not without fault. Pirates tried and failed to sink me. I faced much danger upon those waters. Men and women so uncouth and guileful that they should like to rob me were swarming those waters. But with purpose, I sank or avoided all that followed.

In the end, ninety boxes of sunshine at each time was delivered to the Isle of Cats. I netted tidy sums of money. The Isle of Cats was a sun upon my obsidian empire. But the age of sun could not last. My last run ended in roaring success. Sixty thousand echoes filled my vault.

Once back in London, I had only one purpose.
With my money, I bought an Eschatologue-class Dreadnaught, and all the battle-gear that Fallen London had to offer.
It was expensive, but vengeance is a dish best served with overwhelming firepower.

And through my cannons, upon the deck of that Dreadnaught, my justice had finally come. I ended the reign of Pirates in a single day. Unfinished revolutionaries, Pirate Steamers, Republic Dreadnaughts and Glorious Dreadnaughts. It made no difference. All were sunk. All plunged to the depths under the sound of my cannons. Some say that they can still hear me laughing. There are no Pirates upon these waters, Friends. Only death.

I am Ahab. And I have taken my great white whale. My vengeance is complete.

This game is beautiful, but you do not play it for its beauty.

This game is hard, but you do not play it for its difficulty.

This game is sonorous, but you do not play it for its melody.

You play this game because its world has its tentacles in you, not just literally, but figuratively. Because you've seen some things that can't be unseen and even if the character that actually saw them is five generations distant, having fallen afoul of some mass of flesh, you can't sleep until those mysteries are resolved. Because you think this time, this time will be the time you do it right and you find out what it all means.

And you don't. And you die. Or worse.

But you saw some new things and you lost in a new way and those scrabbling bits of beautiful, crisp prose, evocative yet still economical, the work of someone who has been honing their hand at writing faux-Victorian video game text for the better part of a decade, those bits of prose unfold yet more of this wondrous world and feed your addiction and before you know it you've selected a legacy and rolled another character and oh, hell, here we go again. Yes, Admiral, I'd like another mission.

Buy this game. It'll make you eat your mind. It's very persuasive like that. And you'll have such a great time doing it.