Sunless Skies

Over 1 thousand hours, this game helped me through depression

1 hour in: what the hell is a 'Savage Secret?'
70 hours in: oh boy, I only need 5 more Fragrant Filibusters and then I can afford the Bittersweet Acclamation I need to convince the Ambiguous Bigamist to stop sending Ramshackle Spiriteaters after me while I'm trying to deliver my shipments of Pickled Flamingo Hearts to Parliament!

this appeals to every type of autism
-trains
-numbers
-british
10/10

The sort of game you play after taking a warm bath at 8:30 PM

Curator page here--> DaRevieweD #168 <-- New review every Weekend
"MAKING DREAMS & HISS-TORY... A RAIL-ITY!”
Gist:
Tis the early 1900s, and the crew aboard The Orphean had just finish their usual sky faring and was bound for New Winchester. An unknown affliction has mortally wounded Captain Whitlock and a state of unrest and uncertainty silences everyone. You are the second in command; next in line to take over the responsibilities. What will your first order of business be? Where to next from there!? Will it be your last…? Will you live long enough to answer that nugget of curiosity- all that and more await your Reach~
NARRATIVE
Picture One Piece’s hero complex and nakama-gathering with the stirring, autobiographical-ness of The Life & Suffering of Sir Brante. There is a central plotline I’m sure of it, though I’ve yet to discover it myself. More accurately, I’ve consistently and naggingly brushed over it! Instead, I took a no holds barred dive into its magnificent universe. Imagine the captivation that stunned my mug, as I partook in various unconventional means of “self-retribution” in Carillon, or role-playing therapy to regain one’s clarity in Magdalene.
Truth be told, I had a hard time trying to follow my train of thought… As every port has its affairs it’d rather keep on the hush. That’s what lends credence to the pricelessness of its convincing war-torn and desolate world! You can’t expect to know everything, can you? The writing is surely elegant, poetically expressed with a dash of humor for seasoning. While I’d much prefer the dialogue to be exhibited with more prose- I did grow accustom to it, picking up a self-proclaimed British accent~
9 / 10
GAMEPLAY
This is what keeps Sunless Skies ship-shape! You start off an in-over-your-head Captain Phillips ensconced in a steampunk fantasy come true. Until you face your first death, presumably minutes in. What with the micromanaging and overshooting of resources like fuel, supplies, crew numbers for a long trip. Then you evolve to be more prudent, cunning and ballsy! With the barrage of randomly-scripted events governed by half luck and half skill; you kind of have to be…
Whether it’s the somewhat blissful “apple doesn’t fell far from the tree” of establishing a lineage of captains in Legacy. Or the refusal to quit it and eventually overcoming hardships in Merciful. Whichever mode you do opt for- I found both to be formidable mistresses in their own right! I wholeheartedly enjoyed cruising for a bruising, hearing snippy complaints and developing rapport with my ragtag unlikely band of officers. The Battleship style combat, stat upgrades, quests & side-quests, customization, all just gel together!
What I am about to tell you will have you out for my neck, but I’m still in The Reach; my first of four regions available. Well, what can I say… I like to play it safe and ok, fine- cowardly! At my pace, I’d reckon 90 to 120+ hours for one full, thorough playthrough. But hey, I want to bide my time~
TIPS:
1. How to earn sovereigns fast!? Beats me; I’d love to BUY any help. If anyone is selling~
2. Legacy mode got you down? Just quit to main menu before dying or docking at ports.
9.5 / 10
VISUALS
What I wouldn’t give to be one of the occasional passengers requesting passage through one of the miasma-filled, debris graveyard routes. Better yet a full-time crew member, starry-eyed and bushy tailed that is until met with an unfortunate demise! Sunless Skies has got drop-dead gorgeous sights, with its bedazzling particles fluttering away. Or maybe it is because we’re constantly in motion!?
Despite the main attraction that is the atmosphere being actual backdrops or “top-down” drops. I literally wanted to cry, out of pure astonishment and bottled-up frights. When the beauty gets going, you don’t want it to end ever- the bleeding of deep colors, shimmering craters and otherworldly messes. But then the serviceable “view” takes a turn for the eww, where paths become constricted, lined with masses of disgusting substances and putrefaction! It truly felt like descending into hell, which is weird since we are way up high~
9 / 10
TONE:
Cover your eyes and picture- the sustained hissing of engines, tolling of bells, whooshing of unnatural gusts of wind. The sound department really captured, no… delivered an authentic and meditative experience that is the extended train ride. This is one title where the score is equally as moving as the sound effects!
The former situates you, acting as a battle cry or mantra to retreat. They evoke an offbeat yet deadpan calm. Conjuring images of overworked, underpaid labor shoveling coal in the engine room… I can’t tell you how many times I drifted only to snap out of it too late through a thud with the nearest surface.
The latter keeps your locomotive running and stays that way. Be it sudden accompaniment of violins in a cacophonic jerk, an overpowering buzzing or a simple, maddening horn blare does wonders to your fight-or-flight~
10 / 10
CHARACTERS:
Interesting is but putting it mildly, but colorful would be more apt. It’s not easy to highlight who the big-name players are as they all have their own domineering, intense personalities. It’s not such a stretch to say I’m even overwhelmed and yes, stressed by their presence.
Nevertheless, my officers would be the ones I’m most fond of; snootiness and questionable morals aside… The little logs of astute observations or petty complaints when you arrive at a specific area add to their character way more than voices would. Like them, you are on a pursuit of ambition, self-discovery and with a little fortune, happiness~
8.5 / 10
HORROR:
It sets its compass for eldritch horror, which you can see wriggling here and there. But all bets are off from then on. Where the terror is underlying from an offhanded and innocent remark, almost that of a murmur. Assuming more physical forms- that you could leave well alone but why would you! Isn’t it all part of the learning curve, you ask and coax yourself? How liberating it is to Nothing like dying inches away from a port.
Seeing chunks stripped off that hull bar in one fell swoop… Realizing you’re doomed and making peace with that fact. What continues to scare me is how little I’ve grown, as the slightest taste of “upper hand” will shift me to being self-absorbed or greed-driven. This eventual source of undoing serve as sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Mine and my forebearers~
10 / 10
BUGS: GRADE A-
x Enemy labels still persisting after their death.
x Was at 0 hull, but somehow survived to the next port. Then died moments upon embark.
x Enemies’ fiery remains left alight.
x Sound effects doubled for a short time…
x Sound effects muffled in one instance.
NITPICKS
~ No ability to set waypoints or display a mini-map
~ Some options are inconsistent; for instance, turning in an optional quest item one at a time. But for others, all at once.
"DO YOU FUEL IT NOW? THE LOCO-MOTIVES~”
VERDICT: OVERALL
Steampunk RPG tempts a volatile cruise to bountifully terrorizing and touristic marvels. As vast my feelings of frustration may have been, nothing compared to the skies- which truly know no limits~
9.33 / 10
I hope to keep the Unplugged legacy alive! I feel blessed every day for this platform and collab

An okayish successor to Sunless Sea.
Pros, but Cons:
Has 4 times larger world as the Sunless Sea, but has only aound 30% player engagemant in the world. Even on hardest (classic) difficulty you'd be mostly just cruising through empty space.
Has more dynamic combat mechanics, but no bosses to test it against (I remember you, Mt. Nomad and The Tree of Ages).
The storylines start less abrupt and are mostly explained in-game, but a lot of loose ends and the air of mystery is gone.
Good character diversity, but most of them feel like token minorities.
Nice levelling system, but succeeding with the skillcheck is always good for the character. The eldrich Sunless Sea feeling, when you don't know if its better to succeed or fail the skillcheck is gone.
Generally. a much easier and slightly more boring game than Sunless Sea, but a good game in general.

The X key honks the horn. This is extremely important to establish dominance.