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It sucks because they decided to be storyfags ... at start you had the Aurora being shoot by something and that was about it, the basic idea people had was "turn off whatever shoot the Aurora" but then they keep piling up stuff ... there was the Degasi that wasnt really needed and became part of "base items unlocks", then we got the disease that does fuck all as its entirely story checkpoint that is only there so the Sea EmperorESS can fucking cure us, of course that one come later after they added so many alien bases that they stop being mysterious and became all over the place for storyline checkpoint.
And then there is the rocket they didnt allow Beta tp see because it was such a key factor on the game ... its not, you hatch the eggs and thats it, the rocket is just a lot of work for what is the victory lap, iits nice but considering how empty and basic the base and even the Cyclops are, its very dubious use of resources and one must ask for the logic of even build the thing when a S&R ship could just pick you up, like the Sunbeam tried that was another "why the fuck is this here?" story of course.
Subnautica is just a case of misplaced priorities, the initial premise was rather simple ... turn off whatever destroyed the Aurora and wait rescue but then it gone into STORY and story by LOGS thats the worst, they spended so much effort on things that were redundant like that disease because they REALLY wanted to tie it to Natural Selection 2, its not a question of gameplay being basic but rather they turned it into a linear game ... they could and should just had the weapon deep down into the sea floor and make the "winning" condition of shutting it off and allow different solutions to turning it off and concentrating on base building modules.
Wait, so now this game is shit? What's the consensus? I'm getting confused, someone please tell me what to think.
I was actually excited to get it, now I think I'll just pirate it to see how it fares.
Also, is it necessary to play with VR (which I do not posses) to truly enjoy it, or a decent screen makes do?
Wait, so now this game is shit? What's the consensus? I'm getting confused, someone please tell me what to think.
I was actually excited to get it, now I think I'll just pirate it to see how it fares.
I've played it for 20 hours and I just have the two "victory lap"s left to go (which I'm not sure I can be bothered to do). The first 10 hours were really great imo. You're still having some issues with food/water, constantly finding new cool areas to explore, new cool things to build, etc. And there's usually several alternatives for how to progress.
But after that it becomes clear the developers prefer shallow waters. Most of the endgame stuff is just obfuscated locks/keys and each lock just contains the (blueprint/materials for the) next key. Doesn't help that a lot of the required recipies are only found in one very specific place, so if you missed/wrote that place off, you'll be stuck. And the horrible draw distance means you can't swim more than some 20m above the ocean floor, or the stuff you are looking for probably won't even render.
The game world *could* have been bigger, but imo it's a fairly good size for the game. If it was twice as big you'd just be spending more time swimming back and forth. Might have worked and been a good idea if the prawn/cyclops had been faster than seamoth, but as it is it would just have been tedious.
The Seamoth has a starting max depth of 200 meters and an absolute max depth of 900 meters, which is coincidentally the bottom of the area known as the Lost River.
The Cyclops has a starting max depth of 500 meters and an absolute max depth of 1500 meters (last I checked), which is coincidentally just a little over the greatest depth that the Cyclops can hope to reach.
The Prawn has a starting max depth of 900 meters and an absolute max depth of 1700 meters (last I checked), which is coincidentally just a little over the greatest maximum depth of the game (1654 meters).
I got to the deepest part of the game with a fully upgraded cyclops just fine. You are certainly correct about how lame it is that the depth ratings map 1:1 for the deeper areas. It's not really "cyclops depth 3 upgrade" it's cyclops lava river upgrade.
I never built the prawn (well, I did but reloaded because I didn't feel like walking that shit anywhere, and after I built the cyclops there was no point even if I suspect the grappling arm would be alright). Getting the cyclops into lost river was cumbersome and annoying but at least it moves *almost* as fast as the seamoth.
I got the game about 8 months ago, so relatively late during EA.
Imo, it's a cool experience the first time you play it. Discovering a new biome, especially the underground ones, or the leftover bases of the Degassi or the Aliens has a genuine sense of discovery to it.
This works pretty well for the first half of the game, maybe a bit longer. Eventually there's not that much left to explore, though, mostly the stuff behind
the lost river, which requires updated Cyclops and/or prawn suit
and the game will shift more towards ressource gathering for the necessary upgrades and completion of the story - which you might like or not.
Some of the biomes stay a bit shallow, despite their depth (see what I did thar? hurrhurr) - they might offer a wreck or two, a few animals to scan, but will give you little reason to visit more than once.
The other part of the game is the survival/crafting aspect. Survival means finding food and water, and evading predators. Staying fed and hydrated is more of a problem early on, but even then it's usually not difficult to find something. Later on, with better equipment it becomes even less of an issue.
Scattered over the game world are parts of the Aurora (the spaceship you traveled on), which often contain equipment you can scan to build it yourself - you will need to gather some ressources (minerals, metals, fauna, flora) to be used at your universal constructor console (your escape pod conveniently comes with one). Initially that will be stuff like a repair tool, or a knife, but eventually you will be able to craft several vehicles and a base to store all your shit (mostly the ressources needed to craft yet more shit). In principle the base-building offers quite some freedom - you can choose position and layout according to your personal preferences - but ultimately it's a lot cosmetics.
You will only really need some storage and a few devices that offer the possibility to conduct upgrades to your equipment.
Overall I enjoyed my time in the game, but personally I don't see huge replayability there.
It's all about exploration and discovery, with some lite survival aspects and a bit of crafting.
Still, if playing a marine biologist stranded on some alien planet sounds interesting to you, I can definitely recommend Subnautica, at least during a sale.
Just don't expect to pour hundreds of hours into it unless maybe you really enjoy the base-building aspect.
Yeah I thought they would have ridiculous combinations of shit to build for the base in the final game. But nope, still only really one room type (multi-purpose) and few things to put in it. Same as a year ago.
Still fun tho. It has one thing all the other 9876347492 survivalcraft games don't: a point.
Game is great. Solid 9/10 for me. Bought it blind at release and have about 30 hours in so far. Just built the prawn with drill and grapple arms. Now I'm trying to get the damn thing back to base after falling down an 800 meter trench. I've explored a good chunk of the map, but not much below 600m. I'm surprised how much I've been enjoying the game's story moments as well.
Finding the Degasi survivors island and underwater bases were both great moments, and stumbling upon Alien vents and a cache for the first time was quite memorable.
The game also does a great job at being one of the most genuinely scary games I've ever played. From the very beginning when you pop out of your escape pod and look at a vast unending ocean, there is a real fear of what might be lurking in the unknown depths. In some respects it was almost a relief when I was first ambushed by a Reaper. At least I finally knew what the big scary monsters looked like. It ties well into the game's sense of progression as gradually you become more and more comfortable and competent with each biome, and that knowledge and confidence gained is every bit as useful as anything found in the crafting trees.
So far biggest criticisms are the graphical issues and the fact that the Cyclops is pretty useless, and frequently a liability. The Seamoth is far less likely to get noticed skirting along the Ocean Floor through Reaper territory. I also think the base-building mechanics could use a better interface. I still don't really understand how to build multi-level bases, or how exactly power is being used throughout the base. I also don't give a shit about playing "House" so all the cosmetic crafting stuff is garbage to me. I do have a containment unit, but it's really just a Peeper farm for nutritional purposes. Also there's a crabsquid in there. He's pretty cute I guess.
Anyways, game is great. People who like games should buy it.
I decided not to follow the SJW drama on purpose, because fuck that shit. Either the game stands on its own, or it's shit.
Here's my extended demo impressions:
This game seems to be good for about 20 hours. The beginning is indeed the best part, but after a while I found myself caught in a loop of scavenging for rare resources to build new shit, only to discover it wasn't really worth it.
So I finally built this big ass cyclops, but Seamoth is still more convenient to move around in.
So I finally built a reactor, but my hackjob 100 surface pipe connected to a solar panel still does the job and is hassle free.
So I finally built a radar room, but it turns out I already cleaned most of the important shit within its laughable range.
etc.
I never bothered to build the escape rocket, because it felt as exciting as striking shit off the grocery list.
The survival aspect felt negligible, as I never felt to be really in danger unless I did something deliberately stupid (it gets more relevant in Hardcore mode, but it just felt... tedious. Perhaps I am just not into survival games).
However, the fishes are purdy, undersea bases also look purdy, and it's quite nice to zoom around undeground shrooms in a mini-sub.
It's a very casual game (not necessarily in a bad sense) that feels quite relaxing. I think it's good for a sandbox game to have a sort of a story framework, a beginning and an end.
The biggest letdown, apart from the gradual buildup of boredom and tedium, was the limited possibility of interacting with the environment. It feels like there's not a lot of meaningful stuff that you can do.
Would I buy it? I don't really miss this game. Could be good to have around to entertain one of my 12yo nephews, but other than that, meh.
So I finally built this big ass cyclops, but Seamoth is still more convenient to move around in.
So I finally built a reactor, but my hackjob 100 surface pipe connected to a solar panel still does the job and is hassle free.
So I finally built a radar room, but it turns out I already cleaned most of the important shit within its laughable range.
Yeah, I think it was a big mistake to make the best form of transportation the first vehicle you unlock. Especially since it gets everywhere but the two last areas once upgraded.
I don't know why you'd use pipes instead of a thermal generator though, seems like a lot of hassle to set up.
Heads up: if you uninstall the game temporarily, unlike every other Steam game in existence you need to back up your save file manually because there's no cloud saving. Be careful you don't lose 38 hours of gameplay just because it's time for your yearly system drive reformat.
I bought Subnautica when it was still in early access and I'm actually content with the final release. For the price, it's a good game if you like survival/base building/underwater stuff. The different biomes are cool and it's fun building a custom base however you want. If you find resource gathering and base building tedious or pointless though, you won't like the game. If you plan to play it, I recommend a basic guide so you know what the most important tools are to make your life simpler early on and how to build your base properly.
There's still a sense of wonder to the game despite more bases and such being added. The equipment and vehicles could do with some upgrade reduction, as I think there are too many. Haven't reached the late game stages yet, but I don't mind having story beacons that basically gives me new upgrades. The interface could use some cleaning up for most things, I find it annoying to scroll way down to find something I can't remember the recipe for. Unfortunately, this is more of a symptom of being ported to consoles and thus interface annoyance. Overall I find the game is enjoyable and pretty cool. Can't comment on VR as I don't have an Occulus.
Huge sea serpents like reaper are part of the package for these kind of setting and any familiarity with real life marine creatures would tell you that reefback is harmless but the metroids are scary af.
Yeah, since the full release came out, I have only been able to find 1 beacon piece.
This game SUCKS if you have no beacons. Seriously, it's the goddamn future, people have spaceships and augmented reality suits but nooooo, adding some kind of navigation system beyond a compass is too much to ask.
Can't you craft new becaons with a bit of copper wire? I haven't played this game since it started sucking so much ~a year ago, but it used to be really easy to get beacons (and I agree that they are very important to go back to your shit).
Yeah, since the full release came out, I have only been able to find 1 beacon piece.
This game SUCKS if you have no beacons. Seriously, it's the goddamn future, people have spaceships and augmented reality suits but nooooo, adding some kind of navigation system beyond a compass is too much to ask.
Yeah, since the full release came out, I have only been able to find 1 beacon piece.
This game SUCKS if you have no beacons. Seriously, it's the goddamn future, people have spaceships and augmented reality suits but nooooo, adding some kind of navigation system beyond a compass is too much to ask.
Interesting. I found all beacon pieces I needed within 5 minutes of start (or there about).
It is however an issue in the game. A lot of the debris pieces are very localized, so if you miss the two places where they are found, you get to eat shit.
Interesting. I found all beacon pieces I needed within 5 minutes of start (or there about).
It is however an issue in the game. A lot of the debris pieces are very localized, so if you miss the two places where they are found, you get to eat shit.
Meh. I get that "emergent whatever" is cool but in some cases that leads to an asinine game experience. In my game I found enough pieces to learn how to build a nuclear reactor five times over hours before unlocking the magical secret of constructing an empty room to put it in. So yeah I learned dozens of recipes I couldn't use at all because ... no base.
Interesting. I found all beacon pieces I needed within 5 minutes of start (or there about).
It is however an issue in the game. A lot of the debris pieces are very localized, so if you miss the two places where they are found, you get to eat shit.
It's randomized? I'm pretty sure its fixed, but maybe they moved stuff around since early access. Your spawn location seems a bit random though, I've seen some videos of people who had their pod in a different place than mine.
Yeah I only got the beacon blueprint after I build my prawn. And I only found it because I was testing the prawn on the shallows. It sucks to have to rely on mission beacons to get anywhere and you can't do precise mapping with it.
I also haven't got the blueprint for battery charger yet. looking the wiki doesn't really help since it is supposed to be common low level item.
