I've been playing a ton of Sunless Sea recently. For those who aren't aware of what it is, it's essentially an indie rouge like exploration game with a huge emphasis on story and atmosphere. And, in short, it is SO FUCKING GOOD. Like, in a week, I've played almost thirty hours of it, and I really don't plan on stopping any time soon. There are just so many awesome story lines contained within this one game, it's unlike anything I've ever played before. If you're into games with an excellent atmosphere and stellar writing, please buy this game. It's top goddamned notch.
I wanted to pick this up during the Summer sale, but all the comments/reviews said that the game was repetitive and once you saw an event or series of events, the gameplay was pretty dull. Clearly this isn't your experience.
What kind of things draw you back into the game and make it exciting for you?
I definitely understand those criticisms. I won't tell you that they're untrue, because, yeah, things do repeat themselves in the game. Part of the problem is that the game has a permadeath-type deal going on, so if you're deep into a quest on one captain, but then that captain meets an unfortunate end, you'll have to start that quest aaaallll over again. So that sucks. But, two things make it better for me: Firstly, the game has a fuckton of content and things to explore. So, even if you might encounter a couple of quests and stories several times, I've found that the new things that I find on a given playthrough vastly outweigh the old. I've played the game, like I said, for like thirty hours by now, but there are still loads and loads of things that I have yet to do. So, basically, I have plenty of motivation to just power through to get to the good stuff. And secondly, I find that using a bit of imagination also makes everything way more fun, and I think a lot of the game was made with the intention of getting you to fill in some blanks in your own head. So, for example, I've made up a character for all my captains, which is a ton of fun, and makes decision making in the game more immersive. Like, I'll be at a point where I can either use force or try to run away from an enemy, and perhaps I'd want to run away, but then I'll be like, "well, wait, wouldn't Captain McAwesomepants go in guns ablazing, and screw the consequences?" So yeah. It's repetitive sometimes, but I've found it to be fun enough to make me ignore that art of it. Definitely at least reconsider getting it. It's real fun.