Sunless Sea

[Steelgrave]

Clockwork Empires
http://store.steampowered.com/app/224740/

Thanks, T!

[BanzaiCat]

I've got Clockwork Empires on my wishlist, as well...

I usually don't buy Early Access games, for reasons that have been more than covered in other forums. Sunless Sea is not all that bad; it's actually rather relaxing to play as panzerde stated. The game is not easy, though, and your fate pretty much hinges on the first several minutes of the game. If you get lucky and come across loot that you can sell, or capture a ship and it doesn't disappear into the nether regions with your prize crew (which has happened to me 2 of 3 times, despite a stated 80% success chance). Fortunately you'll know fairly early if you've screwed the pooch of luck or not, so you can easily restart the game early on if you've been f**ked by fate.

But make no mistake, it IS a roguelike game. Though there is a 'Merciful Mode' you can select to enable save games.

I've started about four games and the environment is rather interesting. It has strong storytelling elements (the writing is especially poignant and powerful); I hope those elements remain in flux with each game, though I don't know that it will do that at all given the linear feel to some of the encounters.

[tgb]

I'm not happy with the new combat system.  Too arcade-like.  The old systems wasn't a whole lot better, but I'm sure they could come up with other solutions.

[BanzaiCat]

^ Thanks for mentioning that, tgb. That's another of my peeves - I watched some Let's Play videos and kind of liked the combat, so when I made my first encounter in my game, with a smaller giant crab, I ended up ramming it and it cost me hull points. I was all, WTF? I had to look it up and see that they made the change just a few days ago, and a lot of people seemed to be happy with it. Takes some getting used to but I thought the 'illumination' of your target was a fun aspect and would be enjoyable. Too bad I won't know now from personal experience with it.

[Rayfer]

Help...are the past 5-6 posts talking about Sunless Sea or Clockwork Empires?

[BanzaiCat]

I've been talking about Sunless Sea.

[panzerde]

I'm not keen on the combat change, either. The only thing I didn't like about the old system was the frequency of combat - having to stop to fight zeebats every 2-3 minutes got to be a drag. The mechanic though, was fine, and fit in with the overall feel of the game.

It isn't enough to stop me from playing it as a break from more traditional gaming, but I do find it a step backwards.

They have done some nice things with expanding the map and other small improvements.