The Sinking City (PS4) - PlayStation 4

The Sinking City is a flawed, but overall very good experience for anyone who enjoys detective games and Lovecraftian stories.The Good:- Investigation aspects are well done. Searching for clues, making the proper deductions, properly sequencing events, figuring out which archival evidence combination to use, etc. feels rewarding and intelligently crafted.- Main story is enthralling.- Side cases. There's plenty of them, and each one has an interesting backstory to them (particularly the one involving the mirror...)- Open world. Each district of Oakmont has a distinctive feel to it, and making your way through the entire city requires paying attention to street signs, your map, and when to go on foot and when to use the boat.- Scrounging and crafting. Searching every nook and cranny will reward the player with much-needed and rare elements to make your first-aid kits and ammunition.- Story, setting and characters really do feel inspired by Lovecraft's stories and Cthulhu mythos.- Sanity system - spend too long in the Mind's Eye or up against horrific monsters and you'll have a bad time.The Bad:- The combat is very clunky, and sometimes holds back the overall experience. Do not enter Oakmont thinking this is going to be "Cthulhu of Duty" or anything like that.- Despite how good the open world is, there's too much content that's been copied and pasted. You'll see the same storefronts over and over and over and over and over again, as well as the same building/room structures.- The game looks like it came out about 10 years ago, with graphics on par with maybe Fallout:New Vegas, and often awkward-looking facial animations, especially with the eyes...As a whole, The Sinking City earns high marks for the investigative, exploration and survival/crafting aspects, main plotline and optional narratives, as well as its adherence to the Cthulhu mythos from which it bases the story and setting of Oakmont, Massachusetts. The open world is intriguingly made, with each district of Oakmont feeling unique while also requiring navigational skills to be able to traverse - paying attention to street signs, your map, and when to use the boat to cross the flooded areas is a must in an exceedingly non-linear environment. The side cases and monster-populated "infested zones" that fill out the city are nice touches, helping Oakmont feel fleshed out, as opposed to the boring, empty sandbox it could have been. In fact, the side quests are what really make the game - they encourage exploration of the city, and each one doesn't feel like a chore, instead typically coming with a compelling story that you want to discover for yourself (along with the valuable reward to help character progression and to keep yourself well-stocked). The phone-booth fast travel system, similar to the sign posts of The Witcher, is well done too. The main storyline is captivating and feels like it's something H.P. Lovecraft himself would have written, with an excellent plot and plenty of choices to be made that will affect the overall outcome, and your reward. There are difficulty settings for both the detective aspects and the combat - while the combat is so awkward it pretty much has to be played on lower settings, the investigations really shine on higher difficulties when you're not having your hand held through each case.TL;DR- buy The Sinking City if you're looking for a good detective game, avoid it if you're just looking for a shooter experience.

Graphics and Sound - The look of the game is Lovecraftian horror come to life .. flooded streets , disgusting monsters ,with tentacles and slime , people who look downtrodden and even some rather ... fishy. Almost every part of Oakmont is damaged by flooding and walking through the huge city has an ominous feel.The water damaged city is fully brought to life with the sounds in this. Everything is so wet , and damaged, and combining with the look of the city feels so damp and gross. Creepy background music and the monster sounds fill the city. Absolutely top notch atmosphere.Gameplay ---Cases - This games version of missions or quests. You actually have to place the quest markers for yourself , based on evidence you find and your best guess based on the directions you're given. There is also a "Mind Palace" , this holds your clues to be combined by you to gain evidence. No hand holding. Much of the game then of course is running around trying to figure out where to go , but as I said Oakmont looks great and so that didn't seem the usual chore to me. Quick travel is done in phone booths that are rather plentiful as well cutting down on the running back and forth. Some of the cases even have multiple outcomes depending on what you pick , creating replay value.The main character has some psychic vision you can enable to help find hints, but doing so drains his Sanity. Yes , in addition to a standard health bar you also have a Sanity bar .. when it goes low your vision distorts and you begin seeing all sorts of things. This is very trippy and also caused by looking at the monsters , making it hard to shoot them at times.A few times you also have to go underwater , and do some diving. This is very fun and creepy. I was expecting this to be a poorly done side thing, not so. It's a completely fun and a solid part of the game. With your slow movement , limited visibility and weaponry you feel vulnerable and unsettled and this is exactly how a horror game is supposed to make you feel , well done.-Combat – I admit when I first started playing I thought I made a mistake in buying this game .. The early combat is BAD. But from gaining XP and buying the various skills and just figuring it out , it became more enjoyable. You're not a super soldier or anything , just an ex navy man who can use a gun sure, but still pretty regular otherwise. Getting past that initial hump might be rougher on some players than others, but it gets better I promise you.The player has a variety of guns to use , but ammo is scarcer than in other games , and you can't buy any , only find it or craft. You'll craft so much ammo. You can craft everything really , ammo , explosives and medpacs for your health and sanity. Scavenging as you go through the map you find the resources , and you always have just barely enough for what you need , so running away is encouraged. A few enemy encounters sprouted creatures everywhere , so I'd often take one look at that, go NOPE , and throw a grenade and get some XP for the smaller creatures and leg it out of there. There is stealth but it seems limited , maybe it slows down the creature spawns but when they are spawned they always know where you are. Running away is always better if you can't take them down with what you have on hand.Back to the XP and skills you have the usual kinds of things to spend your Lore points, gained while leveled , on. Better damage with a certain gun , more melee damage, more health, more sanity , chance to save materials while crafted .. etc etc. The game becomes much easier when you gain some Lore points , so again hang in there.Story – Private Detective Charles Reed travels to Oakmont to find the source of visions he's been having , believing it to be here. The city has been damaged by an event called the Flood , causing some of the city to be underwater , also bringing strange creatures and visions that drive people mad with it. After the bombing of Innsmouth by the government, the citizens flee and arrive in Oakmont looking for shelter. The strange fish looking people are very unwelcome , but so are all newcomers really. An investigation to find out what is happening was conducted before Reed arrives , but the members have been driven mad , and are missing or dead. Stepping right into this situation , Reed uses his private eye skills and supernatural abilities to get to the bottom of everything ..Summary – With amazing atmosphere , story , and world design The Sinking City is finally a Lovecraft game done right. If one can work with the weak combat , they will have a great time running around, solving quests and meeting the game's colorful characters. Highly recommended to all horror and or Lovecraft fans.

El juego no es el mejor, pero pocas son las historias de Lovecraft que están representadas o en juegos o en películas. Este juego tiene ese aire de historia clásica que te adentra en el universo de Lovecraft de una manera sublime. El juego lo han empezado a retirar por problemas de licencia con el publisher, por lo que si lo pueden comprar, háganlo, ya que muy pronto no sera posible adquirirlo. Yo lo compre en 600 pesos y por ese precio es muy buena adquisición.

El juego tiene una jugabilidad anticuada, propia de varias generaciones de consolas atrás, lo cual no es bueno. Las gráficas son decentes y la actuación de voz también. El juego es entretenido para quienes gustan de la ambientación lovecraftiana o las historias de detectives y misterio. Esta edición incluye un mapa de Oakmont físico, de papel y un pequeño dlc con un skin muy bueno. El juego venía abierto, por alguna razón. Pero, el contenido estaba intacto.

Recomiendo un juego sólo para personas que les gusta el universo de lovecraft ya que hay muchas cosas deficientes en el juego como los gráficos o al modo de jugar además de que los personajes son muy genéricos pero si te gusta los cuentos de transporte gustaran ambiente ya que está la perfección como plasma este universo

Frogware is rather a very talented game developer, but this game is rather boring, dull and has some of the worst pacing I have come across.It's such a shame because Frogware is such a great dev that can do much better than this.

Estuvo extraño ya que venia sellado el producto, incluso el sello de Microsoft Xbox pero dentro no venia ni el mapa ni el codigo de Dia 1, lo raro es que la caja si lo decia, DAY 1 EDITION y en la parte de atras hacia mencion al mapa y el codigo, todos los videos de Youtube mostraban la misma version. Lamentablemente lo tuve que regresar.