From London-based indie dev Failbetter Games, here's a unique gothic horror RPG with a heavy focus on narrative. It's a brooding time of it, played from a top-down perspective in a Victorian-era world.
This is the second in the Sunless series (Sunless Sea launched in 2015 and we haven't played it... sorry) and is an intriguing visual affair. Very intriguing indeed, I say. What what!
Victorian-Era Smog in the World of Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition
Okay, it's not often we get to embrace Britishisms in a video game review. Bear with us.
Oh yeah, you can get this thing on Steam, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. It's a single-player affair and offers going on 30 hours of gameplay—we've been playing this on and off for the last few months. Dipping in and out and the like.
Set in the High Wilderness of space, it's an environment where stars are worshipped as deities and yet Lovecraftian horrors lurk around every gravitational curve. In fact, Sunless Skies reminds us a bit of horror fishing romp Dredge (2023). Just with more space.
As the player, you take control of the spaceship Unterzee. There you pilot the area of a New British Empire (cripes, shudder at the thought) in a glorious realisation of Brexit some tabloid readers probably dreamt of.
Anyway, as the player you control your ship and pursue a mystery box. It's kind of a career RPG game that follows with trading and the like, all whilst the Empire does battle with lefty rebel colonists. Bastards!
This was an ambitious indie game with the budget coming in at £330,000. Compare that to the $300 million of snorefest Starfield (2023) and it shows a budget doesn't shape a game's quality.
It met with strong reviews from critics and we sure enjoyed this one a lot. It's a weird game, packed with oddball happenings and the like.
But that top-down perspective, so reminiscent of the first Grand Theft Auto game in 1997, drew us in. The game looks great and offers appealing RPG elements to really lose yourself in. It's immersive! Here's a detailed look at its striking dystopian world.
As the man focus is stories, it's just as well Sunless Skies has a knack for chuck up intriguing arcs. As away from that there isn't a huge amount of action.
If you want a fast-paced game, this one isn't for you. But if you want to wade along through it to enjoy some excellent video game writing then here we are! Although it's not on Disco Elysium's exceptional level with the words, it's a fine effort all the same.
On the flip side, the combat can be a bit simplistic and dull. And the early part of the game is a bit of a slog to wade through (at times, anyway).
But there's so much to love here anyway! We totally swoon for the game's looks but, also, there's a fine and melancholic soundtrack. That's provided by composer Maribeth Solomon and Brent Barkman.
And we mean, seriously, this one has some great numbers in it. Folksy, even.
That adds a lot of introspective joy and musing to the experience as you do your thing. Meaning, for us, Sunless Skies is something of a mini-marvel.
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