Sunless Skies

Look I'm late to the party but this is...maybe the best game I have ever played?

It's gorgeous. It's complex, the writing is sharp and funny/devastating as required.

It's not AAA but so many AAA games could learn from how well the designers understand how to construct a game.

Tread not thee lightly in these horrifying skies!
Having hugely enjoyed while being slightly over-whelmed by it's predecessor Sunless Seas, I've committed mine own soul and that of all my crew to this, it's really excellent.
It's a kinda uniquely presented roguelike explorer, extremely heavy in story and Lovecraft-adjacent lore, with many many choices and consequences along the way, and one of the best implemented die-and-improve mechanics I've come across. Every little element of this game, including your demise, evolves around the deep and spectacularly well written background story and ever-evolving events.
I wasn't kidding on my first line though. There is NO short way to play this game, you are looking at dozens of (thankfully absorbing and addictive) hours to get anywhere, although your reward is just how much content there is and how big this game becomes compared to your starting point.
The amount of different things that need you attention and management just to stay safe and alive remains somewhat overwhelming at times, and caution in planning is always recommended, but mechanically it's a big improvement on Seas.
Thoroughly recommended for those who dont mind depth and spending time and effort, not great for ADHD moments or if you're allergic to Victorian literary styles or high fantasy

I remember being pretty unimpressed on release, the main criticism of the game not respecting your time held true, and honestly it still does. But we now live in a post AI world, and as the quality of writing in videogames takes a nosedive games like these really begin to stand out for the fact that someone actually spent their time to come up and present an interesting idea, rather than jot down some garbage and hope Chatgpt sharts out something useable for your billion dollar IP (like Stranger Things!).
I dont think this game is for everyone (especially not with declining attention spans), and I dont even think they necessarily did a perfect job with everything, but I have come to retroactively appreciate and enjoy what it tries to do. I wonder if we'll ever see more games like this in the future

Sunless sea has better writing but this has much better gameplay. I really liked it and wish it was a bit longer.

I'm a bit torn about this game. Fundamentally, I like it, but beneath the fun is a bunch of tedium. Managing fuel, supplies, crew, hull, AND terror when the world constantly wants to strip all of them away from you is just tiresome. But the atmosphere and world are maddeningly fun to explore. The combat is clunky but there's a bit of charm in that I think. Sometimes the horror elements hit hard and beautifully, then other times it just feels like word salad with no soul behind it. This is a game that doesn't really care if you understand it, but madness is most unnerving when it starts to make sense.
Also, just do Mercy, don't do Legacy difficulty. You will die for numerous and stupid reasons, and you can always choose to pass on to the next captain whenever you feel like it. Having the option to return to the last station is very important in the early game. The game costs you enough time as it is trying to get to the good bits, so don't bother trying to be authentic about the experience.

Recommend for its unique atmosphere and beautiful writings. A great novel ruined by its gameplay. Doing chores to earn resources that unlocks some lore you like and, more chores nobody likes.
Don't get fooled by the game trailer. It appears to be focusing exploring and battle. But it's not true. Most of your time is spent reading things at ports and doing repetitive fetching quests. Battles occur way less often than it looks in the trailer. And it's not fun because you're forced to use the weakest weapons and ships in the first 5 to 8 hours ! Traveling in exotic areas is fun, but not fun when you go here and there delivering the same goods over years just for a tier 2 cannon.

Any game that allows me to recruit a brigade of talking rats with derringers as my flying space train's engineer deserves only the most heartfelt recommendation.

If you like space trucking sims this is a fun little twist on the formula. Fallen London's dense lore seems impenetrable at first but it's full of weird little talking animals and creepy eldritch horrors that I never get tired of meeting. Play if you're literate and like exploring.