Recent reviews by Smacktastic

I played this game for 10 hours, 12 years ago, and it still sticks in my memory.

Cool combat system with three different 'stances' & a four directional skill tree for every weapon type. Very Japanese with a ton of different systems to get into if you want to. Difficult but not too bad.

Solid strategy game. Not too much competition with this particular mix of turn based campaign and massive real time battles.

Unplayable.

The gameplay still holds up; there isn't really a modern equivalent of this. It's a fantastic blend of FPS & RTS; building up your base then leading your team from the front is satisfying in a very visceral way.

The game is slow paced, and doesn't feature tension so much as random frustration. There are some interesting ideas, but nothing I havent seen before. Where Sunless Sea shines is in it's writing and it's gothic, lovecraftian style, victorian fantasy world. I actually find it soothing, something to play while listening to music or a podcast. It would be great if it had controller support, so I could lean back and fully relax.

Suffers from a an obtuse, cluttered interface that feels more like a version of Excel from the 90s than a game. There's some mid-game drag; a certain lack of choices that decrease flexibility.

However, the core mechanics are fun. I feel this game has a lot of promise.

I'd like to revise my earlier review.

It's an interesting game, flawed but compelling.

The RPG mechanics & reputation system are well thought out. Skills level up with use; levels allow you to choose abilities.

The "choices" are often silly. "Tell them to ♥♥♥♥ off" or tell them to ♥♥♥♥ off slightly more politely. Kill everything in the room or kill everything in the room slightly differently. Reactions are often inexplicable. It makes me wonder if the designers have actually done much interacting with human beings.

It often reads like a high-school creative writing assignment; someone trying too hard to appear profound, with an adolecent's nascent awareness that the world isn't black & white but lacking the maturity to define ethics & human nature in complex situations; the type of person who's too keen on Christopher Nolan's joker and 'watching the world burn'. The writers seem seem entirely absolutely obsessed with trolley problems.

Note: I don't have anywhere near the hours it's claiming. I think I've been leaving it on when I got to bed.
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The first few hours are very interesting. Then the shallowness comes through. There's not really much 'choice', you get railroaded just as much as any other RPG. Creators seem to be obsessed with 'trolley problem type situations; writing and philosophy is high-school creative writing class at best.

The game, while flawed, is still very good.

The 'most helpful' negative review does a good job of listing most of the flaws. There are some weaknesses with the RPG stat system and the level/quest design. It enforces a rather tepid character design, lacking in flexibility.

For example, if you get in a fight in a room, there's no option for retreat. You either kill everything in the room or die. Core stats don't affect stealth or crafting, and the 'might' stat affects *all* damage types AND healing; literally every class is a Might based class. You can't really spec a character for subterfuge and diplomacy as opposed to combat, except in a very superficial manner. Every character ends up playing very similarly.

The accuracy system ensures that 'support' classes are stuck playing support; you can't invest points into accuracy and it's not affected by your base stat choices. A low-accuracy class such as Priest will end up missing attacks all the time, so you're left with no choice but to use them to buff other characters. Only, you can't buff before fights and the fights are so short, and the number of daily uses so low, you'll barely use them for that either. Some classes just end up overall 'worse' than other classes, instead of being a balanced mix of pros and cons.

Most of the quests are of the "go here, kill/fetch something, come back" sort. I can't think of any that were very memorable.

Still, the rpg mechanics have enough depth to remain fun. Classes like 'fighter' are very flexible; your stat choices decide whether they are defense or offense focused. The best race for paladin tanking is the game's equivalent of 'halfling', which is hilarious. They have very interesting twists on their 'bard' (chanter) and 'monk' equivalents. The world building is quite good. Overall I've enjoyed the 60+ hours I've spent and will probably enjoy another 60+ hours.

Gameplay consists almost solely of watching progress bars fill and walking through nondescript environment. UI is a bit awkward. Repetitive. Tedious. Dissappointing.