From this gameās bestiary, I obviously knew about mermaids and krakens, but had never seen those terrifying giant spider-crab things seen in Ā« Soldiers of the sea Ā» So I was wondering whether I was missing some famous naval monster lore or they were invented by Lucas Pope ?
Yeah, itās the Switch port. The first time you see a death, you can walk around but time is limited, once time runs out the notebook fills up up, everything goes black except for the cadaver of the next victim, etc
When you go back you get unlimited time
I got to the end of this game tonight. Itās very clever. I didnāt look anything up, but I did guess a few times when I had characters narrowed down to just a few possibilities.
For example, I didnāt know how to distinguish between the Chinese topmen. But I looked that up just now and itās apparently based on their pants and shoes when they are in their bunks.
I hope this game is influential, as Iād love to see more things like it.
I finished this tonight. I thought it was gorgeous and rather well done. Iād say it was compelling butā¦I dunno, it went on much longer than I would have liked, right? By the time Iād figured out half the fates I really wanted to wrap things up cuz Iād mostly figured out what was up and did not care about the specifics. I did not care about any of these people or these mysteries. They did not have personalities or concerns. They were just puzzle pieces. I really cared about putting together those puzzle pieces though. I cared about winning the game.
I guess itās a real feat to make a game thatās mechanically enjoyable and compelling but thereās also a story here and I think the fact that none of it resonated with me on any level has left me feeling somewhat dissatisfied. This is 8+ hours of watching dozens of people I do not care about die and I did not find any of it chilling or thought provoking because there was just so much and also cuz of the whole supernatural angle, which may have made for some gorgeous setpieces but I think half a ship getting spiked to death by mermaids really undercuts the bleakness of all these lives being reduced to just names and prices in some insurance adjusterās ledger.
And Iām not against the supernatural elements, but itās so much of the game, and thereās nothing all that thrilling about reassembling a series of plot beats involving some deep sea MacGuffin. Itās not a bad story, itās not embarrassing, but it had all the impact of reading a wikipedia plot summary, and it wasnāt helped by the fact that I had the same problem with the Chinese dudesā feet, wourme! You arenāt alone! I peeped at those mothers the first time I caught them napping but none of them had that one dudeās distinctive cuffs so I figured it was a dead end. After a certain point just let me click on a menu and teleport to a Memory so I donāt have to hoof it all around the damn ship double checking to make sure I didnāt mix up a stabbing with a spearing, jeez louise.
Anyway I donāt remember what games came out in 2018 but this probably woulda been top of my pops. I recommend it.