Playthrough Feedback [Possible Spoilers]

[Jhonny G]

Just to be clear.. I really enjoy this game and will recommend it to anybody I know. This is not intended as a bashing, but rather as constructive criticism based on my first full playthrough.

Story
Can't say I'm a fan of the story or at least not how it was presented.. The dialouge often felt sparse and inconsistant, which made it hard to focus at the task at hand and the overall goal. Same thing goes with what little lore you're presented with at the various landmarks. The lack of information on the world around you threw me off more than once, leaving me pondering on what happend or if I missied something. Overall it failed to keep my attention.

Then there's the red herring, like Morgan's Tear in act II, that worked way better than it should. I became more intrigued by the mystery and lore of Morgan's Tear than I ever became with the main story itself and actually felt a little sad it didn't evolve any further. There's so many questions left open about the war and political strife of House Morgensonne, that in the end, I only ventured down into endless corridor because I had.

The whole story reminded me most of all about that Futurama episode, where they chase a giant para-dimensional space whale around on some far-fetched quest. Only to have it promptly end in some deus ex machina that magically solves everything while raising a couple of philosophical questions about humanity and our desires. In other words, it felt like a cheap way out.

This is certainly the aspect of the game which I feel could use the most improvement. They created an amazing and intriguing world, yet it feels shallow once you start to dive deeper. (hah)

Exploration
For a game that encourage exploration and taunt you to go off the beaten path, it certainly feels like you're being punished when you do. When you're finally able to explore the deepest parts of each map, you'll discover they're completly empty. Void of any wrecks, landmarks and hidden stations.

This was somewhat disappointing, as it is where one would expect to find hidden tresures and forgotten wrecks filled with loot. Maybe even a easter egg or two. So to truely reward exploration I would suggest adding in some deep secrets in the future. Not only for the joy of discovery, but also to make ship upgrades and base building feel more rewarding.

Weapons
There's a nice selection of weapons, but sadly they feel unbalanced and most of them end up being useless to quickly. While available at the same time and similar in price, everything except the Krok leaves you horribly underpowered and wasting scrap like crazy. Not only does this limit the tactical options available, but it also reduce replayability.

To improve the longevity of the game, turrets should be categorized into 3 tiers which all allow for either a short, medium or a long ranged option. Thus allowing for different builds all throughout the game. Short ranged weapons should have a high fire rate, fast reload speed, no knockback and fast bullet velocity. Whereas a long ranged weapon would be the exact oppersite, like the Krok currently is. But maybe even with a close range penalty to it.

Now torpedoes is a little trickier.. For the most part price and usefulness goes hand in hand with maybe the exception of Cluster torps which is useless in a battle with multiple enemies. Still, it would be nice to have more endgame options between speed, range and damage. Especially one that could act as a counter to a long ranged turret build.

Home base
To be honest I never really felt connected to my homebase. If it wasn't for the weapons mechant that moves in or that it's a prime source for cheap airtanks, I proberly never would bother to upgrade it. Which kinda relates to the weapon issue mention before.

Being able to upgrade the base to tier 3 and get all the best weapons from the start kinda ruins the rest of the game. Especially for those who like to explore and scavenge alot. So instead each upgrade should be locked until you reach the according zone. This also means the weapons merchant should be available at each tier, but instead sell weapons matching the current difficulty/zone.

All in all I think this might help balance the game out a bit and make the home base a place you would visit more often. Maybe even add some sort of repair bay that will fix your sub for a minimal fee. Basically anything to make it more attractive than it currently is.

Edit: Typos and stuff

[Anelyn]

Keep in mind that the 3 type of subs play very different in combat. 2 guns vs 6 and 2 torpedo tubes vs 6 is a huge difference. So having a Sabre with last tier weapons feels very different than a Glaciem or the dweller variant.

You will use the homebase a lot in map 2 and 3 to sell & buy stuff since the prices are way better than any merchant / shop you run into and it's not worth it to move to 1st map for traveling merchants everytime you fill your inventory.

[Jhonny G]

Originally posted by Anelyn:

Keep in mind that the 3 type of subs play very different in combat. 2 guns vs 6 and 2 torpedo tubes vs 6 is a huge difference. So having a Sabre with last tier weapons feels very different than a Glaciem or the dweller variant.

You will use the homebase a lot in map 2 and 3 to sell & buy stuff since the prices are way better than any merchant / shop you run into and it's not worth it to move to 1st map for traveling merchants everytime you fill your inventory.

I agree that each sub feels unique and got its own characteristics, but in the end you'll use the same weapons and same approach no matter the ship. Simply because the Krok is so overpowered compared to the rest, even the Creeper. My point was that it would be nice to have an alternative while still being able to deal with the endgame.

And regarding the home base.. I hardly visited it at all in act II and III since I had way more money than I needed. My main reason to visit was if I was in the area and needed a air refill, nothing more. Bought some stuff for lulz in the end but that's about it.

[Fighter_From_Orion]

I'm at the end of act 2, in fact I just upgraded everything to tier 3 (it was a bit tricky to get enough materials), and I'm completely with you with the story: it's good but it feels uncomplete. The drilling site crush ends without repercussions, just two survivors in the icer town but nothing more. The icers cities feel empty, while the landscape is so filled with details. I'm still wondering how do they get food, energy and minerals, since all the houses you find at the bottom are empty... And why the heck there is a blockade between map 1 and 2? Did I miss a dialoge about this? Even a few cities in the Sunken Coast feel so empty: the fountain of Honor, for example, to me is disappointg... An entire dome for a fountain? Where are the houses and such? The story of the Morgesson House is still a mystery to me (I've yet to read my Captain's Journal, so I still have hopes to find answers in there). The characters feel... flat until the death of Gregory (every time they mentioned Jay in the dialogues I had to search back who he was), sometimes I even wondered if I was impersonating a "captain figure" or if the captain was Jay. I loved the interaction between characters during the death event and the the search for the new officers, I was surprised when the normal sailors had comments about the Houses and the Big-Shooting-Tin (I never get the ship name right). Give me a reason to be attached to my crew!
Othe things: why the heck there was a passport inside the Yamato crab? How did they put it there? Why? And why the Shady Royal is still there after the end of the quest? Why the crab still triggers when I get down after beating it? How did house Kuberi lose the giant ship? How stole it? Why? And why does that mysteryous entity uses it just to wonder aroud and shoot at everything that moves? And why does it shoot at me from the beginning? And why no one mentions that giant thing, but they talk about a mystyrous ghost ship that's the size of a Manta, when there is a Godzilla ship that wanders the coast shooting down every sub that comes in range? And why the Spirios Engineer wants the lotus flower? That whole thing was so random to me... And the Big-Shooting-Tin resets as hostile of you re-load the game after beating it... I see a cool plot, but it's so full of holes and lack of connection between the dots, that a lot of events feel just like trown there at random, just to go on.
I'm trying to get the money for all the emblems, but they are so explensive... And I still need to get the Tune and Krakatoa torps... -.-' I need so much money....

Even the Home base doesn't feel like home: I can't deposit crew there, I don't even see my officers when I dock there, and why is it placed in the middle of nowhere? it doesn't really make much sense to me... it's like building an exclusive resort in the middle of the Sahara, or on the peak of a mountain.

[Jhonny G]

Originally posted by Fighter_From_Orion:

I see a cool plot, but it's so full of holes and lack of connection between the dots, that a lot of events fell just like events trown there at random

You describe it a bit better than I did, but that was more or less the point I was trying to make. Alot of the inconsistencies you mention are also the same that left me scratching my head, wondering what the hell was going on. And the fact your crew will often mention critical areas by a name you have no reference to at all, doesn't help either.

Originally posted by Fighter_From_Orion:

why is it placed in the middle of nowhere? it doesn't really make much sense to me... it's like building an exclusive resort in the middle of the Sahara, or on the peak of a mountain.

It's just an assumption, but I think the home base is strategically placed close to salvage heavy areas. At least if you look at Forgotten Fjords and Sunken Coast. In The Abyss its location doesn't make much sense though. It so far away from the active area that you'll never pass by unless you have to.

[Fighter_From_Orion]

Originally posted by Dogmatius:

And the fact your crew will often mention critical areas by a name you have no reference to at all, doesn't help either.

If you're talking about the Morse Radio mission, they have added zone-names in the map. Now you crearly have a zone named "Toma-thing". I think they should improve a bit the aestetic of the map, but story-wise and even gameplay-wise that alone is good improvement.

[Jhonny G]

Originally posted by Fighter_From_Orion:

Originally posted by Dogmatius:

And the fact your crew will often mention critical areas by a name you have no reference to at all, doesn't help either.

If you're talking about the Morse Radio mission, they have added zone-names in the map. Now you crearly have a zone named "Toma-thing". I think they should improve a bit the aestetic of the map, but story-wise and even gameplay-wise that alone is good improvement.

Yeah, just opted into the beta and started a new game. So I guess you can ignore that part of my previous comment.

Have to say it's a really nice improvement. Makes navigation easier and the dialouge make more sense. So to speak. Now, if only we could get a survival mode that would remove the golden fish trails and save points as well. ;)