Frogwares' The Sinking City - that other Cthulhu game

[Multi-headed Cow]

Unfortunately it looks like Sinking City is most likely a bit of a downer on the C&C front. Wasn't expecting much but despite fully investigating and filling out the mind palace shit for the EOD quest I still decided to side with the EOD because I'm always gonna go balls deep in the occult where I can in a Lovecraft game, but that just led to them trying to murder me shortly after the quest. It's still possible there'll be some deeper C&C where if I teamed up to take them down it would lead to something else, but I got a strong sense that you'll get a combat encounter at the end regardless, it just changes if you're ambushed or actively trying to whack 'em. Similarly I've been trying to stoke Throgmorton's Innsmouther hate as much as possible but at the end of the quest all I could do was tell him that not ALL the fishmen are cultists. Again, not really unexpected but it's still a shame.

Beating your dick with sandpaper is more enjoyable than CoC.

Beating my dick is more enjoyable than every game, that's not a very fair comparison. And speaking of beating my dick, enjoy some pictures.

 

[Zlaja]

One of the game's biggest faults is that your choices don't really alter anything in the long run. When you're first presented with a choice on how to solve a case it seemes really cool, but down the line you realize that it's all cosmetic and changes nothing other then a few lines of dialogue and a getting a different short cutscene shortly after completing a case. And then we have the ending:

Spoiler

It's just an arbitrary choice at the very end. Do you want A, B or C? No matter, just save right before the final choice, and you can see all 3 endings by reloading. And they're all very short and unsatisfying.

Which is a shame, because the game is really engaging early on and the atmosphere around town is well done.

 

[Zombra]

Legitimate C&C certainly would have been a nice addition. Personally I loved the game anyway; the lack of different destinations didn't detract from the excellence of the road to get there.

 

[Tramboi]

Is the drama between dev and publisher still a thing btw ?
Should I buy it through Frogware's site ?

 

[Zombra]

Is the drama between dev and publisher still a thing btw ?
Should I buy it through Frogware's site ?

Yes, they link to Gamesplanet which is the version to buy to support the devs. Do not buy the Steam version which was literally pirated by Nacon and repackaged for sale - the developers don't see a penny of those sales. In general avoid anything with Nacon written on it.

 

[Tramboi]

Done it The Right Way, thanks man.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Huh, damn. Even if it doesn't seem like there's much (If any) C&C to be had, I had a nice moment of piecing shit together in the Fathers and Sons case.

Spoiler

The occult stuff is pretty mandatory of course, but your ultimate takeaway of Brutus (The old guy) or Graham (The son) is left nebulous. EXCEPT there are clues. The basement of Brut's lair there's a dead woman you can see was popped in the head by a goon, and the potato-stealing irishman tells you Brut's got a reputation for tasteful rape and getting away with it. Graham on the other hand appears to be working with the cult, but the cult's paperwork implies that Graham's kept in the dark (A brief one-scene time warp in Graham's room showing he's there taking Christian services instead of fucking fish or what-have-you) and they could replace him if need-be. And in fact the cult replaced Brut with a retarded clone when he went to them seeking immortality (As evidenced by the snake oil for longevity in his room as well as his own journal) and tried to cremate the real deal all without Graham's knowledge, because they wanted Brut out of the picture and Graham leading the family since they intended to manipulate him and replace him if he wasn't compliant. Other cases have had a much clearer "This is the correct answer and this is the wrong answer" to them like with the EOD case I was talking about above, this one led you through the supernatural stuff but a fair few of those moments I mention don't get put in your journal, and your final decision's a lot more nebulous if you're just going on what's in your journal.

All that said I'm still going to side with Brut because I've been going for the wrong choice every time (As far as I know) since I'm curious if there's end-game C&C what the state of Oakmont is if you fuck everything up. Wanted to toss a positive post out though since I really liked the touches in this particular case since I haven't noticed it not adding pertinent information to the journal before.

EDIT BONUS ROUND AS I GO TO WRAP UP THE QUEST:

Spoiler

Went back to Brut to fill him in on the adventure and saw I had a dialog option to ask him about the dead chick in the basement. He assures you that she wasn't killed by his order and the guilty party was punished, and that you should trust him because he doesn't hurt women and kids. Always makes me inordinately happy when characters in a game can lie to you and the game's happy to let you never know about it.

 

[Alphons]

On sale on Steam. I remember some story about Nacon stealing it from devs and adding it without their permission to Steam. Was that sorted out? Or should I look for some other version?

Thanks!

 

[Roguey]

sale on Steam. I remember some story about Nacon stealing it from devs and adding it without their permission to Steam. Was that sorted out? Or should I look for some other version?

Top review:

Dont buy it here this pirated version is far buggier than the one on the gamesplanet site (where the devs want you to get the game from) It is a good game thats for sure just dont buy it from steam.

 

[Fedora Master]

It's not a good game. Certainly not a good Lovecraft game.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

I had my eye on this for a few weeks. What sucks about it? I don't really care about the C&C or janky shit. If it has a nice spooky atmosphere and a interesting story I'll play it.

 

[JDR13]

I had my eye on this for a few weeks. What sucks about it? I don't really care about the C&C or janky shit. If it has a nice spooky atmosphere and a interesting story I'll play it.

I wouldn't say anything really sucks about it except for the very limited monster variety. It's just a very average game in most aspects.

If you like Lovecraft, get it. Don't pay more than $20 for it though.

 

[thesecret1]

What sucks about it?

Gameplay-wise, it's repetitive as fuck. The monsters are always the same, and the gameplay loop doesn't change either (go to some wreck of a building, fight the same old enemies there, collect loot, repeat). Story-wise, you end up forced to virtue signal for the deep ones and fight the KKK (which is opposed to the Deep Ones and their spawn) because racism against horrors from the depths is unacceptable.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

I'm really enjoying this so far. The game doesn't hold your hand, it lets you figure a lot of things out for yourself. It's refreshing.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

Yeah the side quests are pretty fuckin terrible and drag the game down. I should have just stayed on the main case. I was having a really good time with that.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

This game needed to be 8 hours long at max. Cut out all of the monotonous popamole shooter crap and it would have been a really good game. Cyanide's Cthulhu game was much, MUCH better.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

It's finally over.

 

[cretin]

Fishmen Lives Matter: the game.

What a fucking farce this whole thing is. It starts off so promisingly as well, but even putting aside the gameplay and technical issues that quickly become apparent, the most prominent issue is that SJWs just CANT stop themselves from inserting their politics even when it is inappropriate and makes the entire game look comically stupid. The "theres heckin racisms in dis game and we're sorry but thats period accurate!" warning at the start is a total red herring.

I'm still laughing that this game has several moments of forced virtue signaling and simping for the literal mutant progeny of DAGON, hahaha wtf.

 

[Zlaja]

I'm still laughing that this game has several moments of forced virtue signaling and simping for the literal mutant progeny of DAGON, hahaha wtf

The worst offender is that stupid scene where, no matter what option you choose in dialog, the main character scolds the most powerful man in the city (in his own mansion surrounded by armed bodyguards) for not being inclined to help the fish mutants, and he just goes "yeah, I guess you have a point".

Good luck taking the game seriously after that.

 

[Azalin]

So I decided to install and play this one since it's Halloween and shit but I enctountered a problem.I have the Necromancer edition on steam that includes the dlcs.I started the game and went on to do the first quest fro the ape guy's murdered son but then I noticed I don't have the extra weapon and skill point that are supposed to come along with the investigator dlc.The dlc is installed according to steam,I tried to uncheck and the check back on the dlcs but nothing happens,I verified the integrity of the installed files but again nothing changes,the game acts like I don't have that installed.

Has something similar happened to anyone and does anyoe know how to fix this?

 

[Pound Meat]

sale on Steam. I remember some story about Nacon stealing it from devs and adding it without their permission to Steam. Was that sorted out? Or should I look for some other version?

Top review:

Dont buy it here this pirated version is far buggier than the one on the gamesplanet site (where the devs want you to get the game from) It is a good game thats for sure just dont buy it from steam.

I'm still laughing that this game has several moments of forced virtue signaling and simping for the literal mutant progeny of DAGON, hahaha wtf

The worst offender is that stupid scene where, no matter what option you choose in dialog, the main character scolds the most powerful man in the city (in his own mansion surrounded by armed bodyguards) for not being inclined to help the fish mutants, and he just goes "yeah, I guess you have a point".

Good luck taking the game seriously after that.

Lol a literal woke/broke situation. No sympathy at all.

 

[Zombra]

So I decided to install and play this one since it's Halloween and shit but I enctountered a problem.I have the Necromancer edition on steam that includes the dlcs.I started the game and went on to do the first quest fro the ape guy's murdered son but then I noticed I don't have the extra weapon and skill point that are supposed to come along with the investigator dlc.The dlc is installed according to steam,I tried to uncheck and the check back on the dlcs but nothing happens,I verified the integrity of the installed files but again nothing changes,the game acts like I don't have that installed.

Has something similar happened to anyone and does anyoe know how to fix this?

The Steam version was literally pirated by Nacon and repackaged for sale. Not too surprising it doesn't work.

PLEASE refund the Steam version if you can and buy the Gamesplanet version that actually supports the developers. I bet this version actually works, too. Can't confirm personally because I played the (now unavailable) Epic Games version.

 

[thesecret1]

DON'T support DAGON CULTISTS. Pirate the game if you have to!

 

[aweigh]

Fishmen Lives Matter: the game.

What a fucking farce this whole thing is. It starts off so promisingly as well, but even putting aside the gameplay and technical issues that quickly become apparent, the most prominent issue is that SJWs just CANT stop themselves from inserting their politics even when it is inappropriate and makes the entire game look comically stupid. The "theres heckin racisms in dis game and we're sorry but thats period accurate!" warning at the start is a total red herring.

I'm still laughing that this game has several moments of forced virtue signaling and simping for the literal mutant progeny of DAGON, hahaha wtf.

They also inserted some retarded KKK stuff.

 

[Azalin]

So I decided to install and play this one since it's Halloween and shit but I enctountered a problem.I have the Necromancer edition on steam that includes the dlcs.I started the game and went on to do the first quest fro the ape guy's murdered son but then I noticed I don't have the extra weapon and skill point that are supposed to come along with the investigator dlc.The dlc is installed according to steam,I tried to uncheck and the check back on the dlcs but nothing happens,I verified the integrity of the installed files but again nothing changes,the game acts like I don't have that installed.

Has something similar happened to anyone and does anyoe know how to fix this?

The Steam version was literally pirated by Nacon and repackaged for sale. Not too surprising it doesn't work.

PLEASE refund the Steam version if you can and buy the Gamesplanet version that actually supports the developers. I bet this version actually works, too. Can't confirm personally because I played the (now unavailable) Epic Games version.

I can't since I got it months ago,btw that version was when it got released then was removed from steam a while ago and the dlcs were also removed,I bought a few months ago during a sale when they added it again which means that they either reached an agreement with Nacon or they lost in the court.

Also I looked a bit more into my problem and it seems that those items were only included as pre order bonuses in the dlc,the things that are now in this dlc(an outfit and other stuff) were given to my character so it works normally after all