Below Zero is a pale imitation of what makes Subnautica a masterpiece. It has no terror.

[Kahale]

I would like to start by saying I have seen a lot of comments saying that the first game was a unique masterpiece and because you already experienced that you will never be able to recapture that feeling, I believe that is false. I have beaten Subnautica three times, I have read the wikipedia, I know exactly what monsters are in the game and where they spawn. Even with all that knowledge moving into the open ocean or staring into the inky blackness freaks me out. I would argue that the developers failed to understand what it was that made Subnautica amazing. This is not intended to critique the various failings of Below Zero or any controversial decisions the developers made. Instead, to describe what I consider to be the core error of this game's world-building.

What makes Subnautica great is not the story, the creatures, or the unique setting. It does what very few works of art can do, it makes you feel terror. Unlike horror, terror comes from the imagination, it comes from wondering what is out there; it is the expanding of the mind and the manipulation of our most basic instincts. When you are asked to swim through the kelp forest for the first time and the sunlight dims through the kelp or when you are taking your seamoth into an environment where the view distance is obscured, the game gives you brief peaks of a massive monster far into the ocean. Subnautica asks you to be completely alone in a world full of monsters. It makes you battle the twin forces of need pushing you outward and the deadly unknown pushing you towards safety.

Below Zero on the other hand is full of smiling creatures playfully living their lives, there is a chatty alien talking in your ear, there is a strange hermit, there is easily accessible land. Your motivation for confronting terrifying monsters is not the pressing need to survive and escape but to solve the mystery of your sisters death. No sane person would take the risks you are being asked to take for such a reason. What is worse is that the world is not some open ocean with no where to go. Everywhere you look their is safe land to build your home on, everywhere you swim is nicely enclosed environments, every biome is well lit with lots of visual space to see your predators. The game has no interest in teasing out your interactions with these monsters, instead you get a full view of every creature as if the developers are saying "Hey! look what we made." We should not see what you made that is what makes it frightening.

What I find most puzzling is that I in no way came up with these ideas. There are dozens of Youtube videos and hundreds of articles extolling this. It is as if the developers got so wrapped up in their success they failed to examine what it was that made Subnautica great and instead stormed ahead with what they wanted to do with this world. It is a world of cheerful story and lore but there are no demons screaming at you from the dark.

[Weaver]

引用自 almost_a_jill_sandwich：

The game had that rating before it was released. Less than 20% of the player base has even progressed halfway through the game, those scores will start to drop once players figure out how little there is to do, and how meaningless all of it feels. It’s like three optional stories in one, and all of them are awful

The recent reviews, all made after full release, are still sitting at over 87% positive. So why they have indeed dropped, they are still overwhelmingly positive.

[BlackZodiac]

I like BZ. Despite it's flaws it's still a great game.

It's definitely smaller compared to the original. Less verticality in it's design and smaller map. And it's less threatening.

I like the fauna, but I see the reskins with the jellyfish and the seacow.

Better basebuilding, which I like.

I love the seatruck. Gives me more of a submarine feeling than the cyclops ironically. Feels more practical and realistic for a forward operating base.

So many upsides, but many downsides too. The game is still better and more immersive than a lot of Tripple A games.

I like the focus on the characters and story too. Makes the outside world feel more alive. It's just a shame it came at the obvious expense of the gameplay. I feel we could have had both, but a choice was made.

[REDMVGE]

引用自 Weaver：

引用自 pharahmedic：

I see so many posts similar to this, but the game has 92% positive rating.

So... which is it?

Have the number of post you've seen like this one been closer to a dozen or 36,000? Because the game has 36,000 positive reviews. I'll let you figure out the answer for yourself about which carries more weight.

It's people like you that always give off such a negative example for an entire community. Who in their right mind wants to interact with you?

[PaperMartin]

引用自 pharahmedic：

引用自 Weaver：

Have the number of post you've seen like this one been closer to a dozen or 36,000? Because the game has 36,000 positive reviews. I'll let you figure out the answer for yourself about which carries more weight.

It's people like you that always give off such a negative example for an entire community. Who in their right mind wants to interact with you?

wdym? he's right

[Rushi]

引用自 PaperMartin：

引用自 pharahmedic：

It's people like you that always give off such a negative example for an entire community. Who in their right mind wants to interact with you?

wdym? he's right

It really is quite funny to see people like you keep going on about the review score but whenever someone brings up a point that completely invalidates it like that like how a large amount of them were given at different times when things were different, many of those reviewers haven't even got halfway through the game or that so many of them explicitly say the game isn't that good but they're still gonna give it a good review cause it still mostly has Subnautica's good gameplay, you all just cover your ears and avoid it completely.

[PaperMartin]

引用自 TerraByte：

引用自 PaperMartin：

wdym? he's right

It really is quite funny to see people like you keep going on about the review score but whenever someone brings up a point that completely invalidates it like that like how a large amount of them were given at different times when things were different, many of those reviewers haven't even got halfway through the game or that so many of them explicitly say the game isn't that good but they're still gonna give it a good review cause it still mostly has Subnautica's good gameplay, you all just cover your ears and avoid it completely.

Here's an existing rebutal to your first point.

引用自 Weaver：

The recent reviews, all made after full release, are still sitting at over 87% positive. So why they have indeed dropped, they are still overwhelmingly positive.

for your 2nd "most peoples didn't get halfway through the game" applies to just about every single game on steam, also 80% of peoples not having completed the game doesn't mean 80% of *reviewers* not having completed the game.

for your 3rd point, I'd like to see you pull actual stats on how many reviews express *exactly* the opinions you just described and not just "some reviews I read had similar opinions to mine if you interpret them in a way that validates me"

in the meantime, here's me not covering my ears and avoiding it unlike what you're saying

引用自 PaperMartin：

"not great but not terrible" is still not terrible
I'm not claiming it's amazing and/or flawless, but it's not a failure by any mean
If it was that bad, those reviews would be negative

I don't know what you mean by "peoples like me" though, as you literally don't know who I am beyond a handful of post on a forum for one video game

[Rushi]

引用自 PaperMartin：

引用自 TerraByte：

It really is quite funny to see people like you keep going on about the review score but whenever someone brings up a point that completely invalidates it like that like how a large amount of them were given at different times when things were different, many of those reviewers haven't even got halfway through the game or that so many of them explicitly say the game isn't that good but they're still gonna give it a good review cause it still mostly has Subnautica's good gameplay, you all just cover your ears and avoid it completely.

Here's an existing rebutal to your first point.

引用自 Weaver：

The recent reviews, all made after full release, are still sitting at over 87% positive. So why they have indeed dropped, they are still overwhelmingly positive.

for your 2nd "most peoples didn't get halfway through the game" applies to just about every single game on steam, also 80% of peoples not having completed the game doesn't mean 80% of *reviewers* not having completed the game.

for your 3rd point, I'd like to see you pull actual stats on how many reviews express *exactly* the opinions you just described and not just "some reviews I read had similar opinions to mine if you interpret them in a way that validates me"

in the meantime, here's me not covering my ears and avoiding it unlike what you're saying

引用自 PaperMartin：

"not great but not terrible" is still not terrible
I'm not claiming it's amazing and/or flawless, but it's not a failure by any mean
If it was that bad, those reviews would be negative

I don't know what you mean by "peoples like me" though, as you literally don't know who I am beyond a handful of post on a forum for one video game

It's naive to think every single reviewer is in that 20% who have completed the game. And there really is no way to give "actual stats". Just read the reviews yourself. It's clear as day. Plus your rebuttal is quite literally your opinion and your opinion only.

And people like you as in people who keep trying to claim the game isn't that bad using review statistics.

[PaperMartin]

引用自 TerraByte：

It's naive to think every single reviewer is in that 20% who have completed the game. And there really is no way to give "actual stats". Just read the reviews yourself. It's clear as day. Plus your rebuttal is quite literally your opinion and your opinion only.

And people like you as in people who keep trying to claim the game isn't that bad using review statistics.

I agree that it's naive. Which is why at no point did I do it. my point was that you couldn't know which of those reviewers did or didn't complete the game without manually checking each of their profiles.
"just read the reviews yourself"
I can't read 36k reviews, and neither can you. I'm not gonna read even a decent sample size of that because literally who gives a ♥♥♥♥.
My rebuttal wasn't a rebuttal, I was just saying that I didn't "plug my ears and ignore it", as you said.
Finally, I didn't claim the game was even good or bad, and I brought up the *concept* of statistics exactly once. My main point is that a bunch of peoples for some reason think they represent the entire community and that the game is somehow objectively bad, despite clear proofs of a lot of peoples enjoying the game.

[Sprocket66]

If Steam had neutral or meh available as a review score I think the positive/negative score would be a little different. I wish the scores were on a 10 point scale. I had to give it a positive score on my review but in reality I'd give it a 6 rating.

A large number of the reviews that I read seemed to be in the same range if you discounted the 10/10 fanboi's and the 0/10 haters. Most seemed to think it was a decent game that had a lot of issues (poor writing/direction). The main problem seems to be that it dies when compared to the original Subnautica.

[PaperMartin]

引用自 Sprocket66：

If Steam had neutral or meh available as a review score I think the positive/negative score would be a little different. I wish the scores were on a 10 point scale. I had to give it a positive score on my review but in reality I'd give it a 6 rating.

A large number of the reviews that I read seemed to be in the same range if you discounted the 10/10 fanboi's and the 0/10 haters. Most seemed to think it was a decent game that had a lot of issues (poor writing/direction). The main problem seems to be that it dies when compared to the original Subnautica.

I can understand not liking the game but it's a standalone dlc/spinoff, it's kind of unfair to compare it to the original. As far as I can tell, it was meant to be a shorter, more condensed experience from the get go

[Kahale]

I agree with PaperMartin about the 36000 likes. Just because someone's opinion differs from the majority does not make it any less valid or valuable. Imagine all the fantastic things we wouldn't have if only the opinions and desires of the majority mattered.

[Rushi]

引用自 PaperMartin：

引用自 Sprocket66：

If Steam had neutral or meh available as a review score I think the positive/negative score would be a little different. I wish the scores were on a 10 point scale. I had to give it a positive score on my review but in reality I'd give it a 6 rating.

A large number of the reviews that I read seemed to be in the same range if you discounted the 10/10 fanboi's and the 0/10 haters. Most seemed to think it was a decent game that had a lot of issues (poor writing/direction). The main problem seems to be that it dies when compared to the original Subnautica.

I can understand not liking the game but it's a standalone dlc/spinoff, it's kind of unfair to compare it to the original. As far as I can tell, it was meant to be a shorter, more condensed experience from the get go

In my eyes the excuse that it's just DLC or a shorter spinoff died long ago when they made it the exact same price as the original. If they kept wanting it to just be a shorter DLC experience then it would be cheaper.

[PaperMartin]

引用自 TerraByte：

引用自 PaperMartin：

I can understand not liking the game but it's a standalone dlc/spinoff, it's kind of unfair to compare it to the original. As far as I can tell, it was meant to be a shorter, more condensed experience from the get go

In my eyes the excuse that it's just DLC or a shorter spinoff died long ago when they made it the exact same price as the original. If they kept wanting it to just be a shorter DLC experience then it would be cheaper.

the original is 2 years old, this game isn't, that's why it's the same price. It'll eventually go on sales a bunch and/or get a permanent price drop