Analysis of Sinking City, a Lovecraftian proposal for Xbox One

Review of the new version for Xbox Series S | X

Today, the curious The Sinking City is relaunched in its enhanced version for Xbox Series S | X. In this new edition, of Frogwares, we find an improved version in all aspects, but which keeps the original product intact. While we would expect an improvement for those of us who have the original version, due to publisher and Xbox Store ID changes, that won’t be possible, at least for now. With this in mind, it should be added that the new game is a unique digital sale.

As always with these types of outings, The Sinking City is more beautiful than ever. On this occasion, I was able to see better visual effects, greater clarity thanks to the 4K resolution, as well as a fluidity of 60 frames per second. These aren’t precise improvements, as the original Xbox One game featured the typical scratches that we couldn’t accept today, as well as jagged resolution that resulted in ill-defined scenes. In addition, the speed of loading screens and the game in general has improved incredibly, leading us to enter their world in record time. Something to be thankful for in a big card game like this.

Otherwise, the game is the same as it was a few years ago. Although it does include extras and missions from the DLC released for The Sinking City. On the other hand, the atmosphere of terror and mystery is greatly enhanced, making the game a more immersive experience. So that you can better know the title in its full calculation, below you have the original analysis with all the information. At the rating level, I increased the graphics section to update the situation you will find.

Analysis of The Sinking City, the new Lovecraftian proposal for Xbox One

Summer has arrived and people are going to the sea to cool off. What better opportunity than this to analyze a title based on the works of HP Lovecraft

Charles W. Reed, our protagonist, suffers from nightmares and visions for a while now. To find the source of the problem, he uses his private investigator skills to find the town of Oakmont. Where it assumes the answers you need are found. However the town of Oakmont recently suffered a floodBut that’s just one of their problems as residents of neighboring Innsmouth immigrated after the disaster left them homeless. This forced mixing of cultures only generated social problems and struggles. This is all strongly driven by Oakmont’s closed and protective mentality and the peculiar physical appearance of the Innsmouth, who look more like fish than men.

For those of you familiar with Lovecraft’s work, the references are all already at their key point. So We can see this story as a continuation of the Shadow over Innsmouth. Or at least an adventure taking place in his particular world. But these are not the only related details, one can also see nightmarish beings and numerous tentacles in the areas which were flooded after the incident and in “other places” that we visit during the development of the events. Because although we spend most of the time circling the city map, the greatest horror lurks beneath the surface.

The greatest horror lurks beneath the surface

Collective hysteria, feeling that people are suffering from things that you see around the corners. Although the real truth is only available to those who know how to look correctly. more our protagonist has a special ability to see what others cannot. This very useful tool allows us to investigate crime scenes to highlight evidence in true Batman style. Although they also reveal the hidden, like illusory walls. Likewise, once we have all the evidence for a place, our supernatural powers will allow us to reconstruct the facts or follow a lead in order to formulate a hypothesis. But using this ability consumes our sanity bar

The strength of The Sinking City lies in the way the investigations are solved. When we start a mission, we get clues. With these we have to collect more data, if necessary, at an inquiry point (police, library, hospital) and then find where in the city we can start to investigate. It’s a system that’s not very innovative, but it has the stitches to force us to think a bit. In addition, it does not offer us any guides or light points to go to. It’s all limited to clues, directions, and our own intuition.

The real truth is only available to those who know how to look properly.

With the clues we collect, we can formulate hypotheses in “The Mental Palace”, a menu in which we link ideas to solve the case. The most interesting is that each current case has several possible resolutions. Therefore, we can decide the progression of the story based on what our moral compass whispers to us. However tradeoffs never seem to be a good and a bad option. Rather, they are an account of possibilities and speculations while waiting to choose the lesser evil each time.

The Sinking City offers a conversation or questioning system quite similar to what we can see in Fallout 4 or The Witcher 3. That way when we talk to a resident we can lead the conversation one way or the other. ‘other depending on the questions we ask. It should be noted that the morality of the questions is in no way indicated, so it is important to read between the lines to choose the appropriate sentence for each situation.

A calculation of possibilities and elucubration while waiting to choose the lesser evil each time

Unfortunately, with words we will not be able to overcome all situations. The game therefore offers a clumsy but effective combat system. In the melee options, we can give slow hits with little damage. To do real damage, you have to opt for firearms, among which you can find pistols, shotguns and explosives. But don’t forget that like any good “horror” game, ammo is scarce and accuracy is poor. So the game itself recommends avoiding combat as much as possible. Ammo can be found lying around or received as payment (Oakmont uses bullets as a bargaining chip in the current situation). In addition, with the materials we find, we produce our own projectiles, explosives, first aid kits or even antipsychotics. Because not only seeing the hidden weakens reason, but also seeing oneself in paranormal situations or surrounding oneself for too long with horrors from the depths makes it descend.

Like any good “horror” game, ammunition is scarce

The game offers a system of progression and skills to increase our chances of survival. These include buffs for avoiding going mad so quickly, spawning or carrying more ammo or materials, and even damage buffs. Upgrades are divided into three sections and consume one point per upgrade. To earn points, we must eliminate enemies, investigate, explore or solve cases. The advance is quite comfortable since practically any action performed brings back experience.

Like any open world worthy of the name, The Sinking City offers side missions and unlockable to extend the experience. While they may be less interesting, they still have a pretty consistent script and offer a few extra hours as a private investigator. They also reward our work with supplies and, if we complete the proper missions, alternate costumes so Detective Reed doesn’t smell the used clothes.

Triple B (BBB) or double A, like this could define general packaging of this game. Although visually it is not a living tableau, it has a well-managed setting and some good tips to keep up appearances. However freckles caused by excessive loading screens, especially when starting the game, which makes dying a pain while waiting for the checkpoint. On the other hand, although the faces are quite well drawn, they repeat themselves too much. It’s funny to see the same person on two different missions with two different identities. It’s like reusing the same supporting actor during the movie, but with a different mustache.

Finally, The Sinking City is a game worthy of the Lovecarftian lore, with a story that captures from start to finish.. It’s also appreciated that it doesn’t use the typical loads to tell us where to go and forces us to search and think a bit. Likewise, the framework is well woven and offers very disturbing moments, especially during scuba diving. While the technical finish isn’t the most optimal, it doesn’t suffer from serious issues beyond wait times and a texture that takes longer to load than it should.