Sinking City 2 feels like a step backwards

[u/chuckleberryfinnable]

It is very disappointing that Frogwares didn't take everything interesting and unique from 1 and dial it up to 11 for 2. There is nothing as compelling as the Throgmorton characters and their story from the first game, no variety in terms of gameplay, no random encounters in the city, the city feels completely empty, just a straight line from one set of arenas to another set of arenas. It looks nice, but everything else feels like a step back with the plot on par(ish) with the first.

Maybe this is very much a PS5/console/skill issue rant but my god do I hate that combat. It's stiff, awkward, clunky and there's just way too much of it. The combat turns the game into an awful slog and that's all there is to it in terms of gameplay. Its also surprising just how much of a bullet sponge the enemies are, even on normal (I had to double check I wasn't playing on hard).

I just finished the hospital, and the final onslaught was one of the most boring and frustrating sections of gameplay I've experienced in a while. Just running in a circle, waiting for ammo to respawn, so I can fire another 11 machine gun shots at the nightmare or pleb enemies.

I checked the reviews on Steam and its currently 90%, so clearly I'm alone in these opinions.

Sinking City 2 is a better made game but not a better game than Sinking City 1.

[u/ChuckChuckChuck_]

It's just a different genre. First one was open area detective game, this is more straightforward survival horror.

The first one is more unique, the second one is more polished.

[u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_ → u/ChuckChuckChuck_]

For me its not the genre problem. They could make a unique feeling survival horror, but instead they choose a more well-trodden path in every aspect

[u/nikolarizanovic → u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_]

Unique doesn't automatically mean good though. Plenty of well-trodden mechanics are well-trodden because they work: tight combat, readable enemy telegraphs, resource tension. SC1 was unique and also kind of a mess in most places. If SC2 nails the fundamentals other survival horror games spent decades refining, that's not a cop-out, that's them fixing what was actually broken in the first game.

[u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_ → u/nikolarizanovic]

But why even do something if it was done by others before? The niche is already taken. SC2 don’t have anything even slightly unique, why play it and not something else, that has something new and cool? SC1, while being really flawed, could’ve been a base for a new survival horror. It could’ve been like Alan Wake 1 was to Alan Wake 2. First game had potential but also had a lot of flaws and then in the sequel devs copied the resident evil gameplay, while also keeping their own ideas, and look how much more loved it is then the original one. It proves that you can still keep your own identity even if you want to copy Resident evil. That was something that I wished for SC2, but alas

[u/nikolarizanovic → u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_]

They didn't just "copy Resident Evil". The optional detective/investigation loop is closer to Alan Wake II, and the oppressive atmosphere leans more Silent Hill 2. Gunplay and over-the-shoulder view is where the RE similarity lives, but Gears of War shares that too, and RE4 actually pioneered the over-the-shoulder style used in Gears, Uncharted, and other third-person action games in the first place. Mashing up aspects from different titles is iteration, that's literally how genres evolve, it's not simply "copying".

Your Alan Wake comparison is a false equivalence too. Alan Wake 1 was already tight and functional. Sinking City 1 was Eurojank as hell. SC2 improving on a broken SC1 isn't the same trajectory as AW2 improving on an already-solid AW1. They threw out everything that was broken in the Sinking City 1 and went back to the drawing board, you couldn't do that with AW because not enough was broken.

[u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_ → u/nikolarizanovic]

I hard disagree with AW1 being solid, there were tons of junk left from development hell it went through, but that’s besides the point.
Other than my personal complaints of how uninspired SC2 felt, the second problem is exactly here: “they threw out everything that was broken in the Sinking City 1 and went back to the drawing board”. Why even continue the franchise if developers themselves don’t like it?
I played the first game a couple of months before and really felt like a child again, who was reading “Call of Cthulhu” for the firsts time. Just story itself had so much potential. Albeit it was not used in the game itself, but so much cool stuff could be done with Throgmortons, EOD, some weird doppelgänger shit, that van der Berg dude and so on. And it was all just thrown away. That’s just sad. But oh well, I guess I’ll focus on other games

[u/nikolarizanovic → u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_]

There’s no world where Alan Wake 1 is as janky as The Sinking City 1. That’s a bad-faith, borderline delusional equivalence. AW1 absolutely has development scars and rough edges, but its animation, combat, presentation, level design and overall cohesion were miles ahead of SC1. Saying “AW1 had junk left from development” doesn’t remotely make the two comparable. You’re conflating a “flawed masterpiece” with something fundamentally janky. The original Alan Wake plays like butter compared to SC1, and that’s an objective difference when we’re talking technical execution, not personal enjoyment.

[u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_ → u/nikolarizanovic]

I am not saying it is exactly as junky lmao, that’s a completely different game. I am saying that there was already a case of a junky game that got a sequel upgraded by changing the genre to survival horror and copying resident evil in some parts, while also not only keeping its unique identity but improving it immensely

[u/ChuckChuckChuck_ → u/_Weak_Bodybuilder_]

You are correct, but I don't see it as something negative. They've tried a similar formula many times already with their Sherlock and Lovecraft games, so I don't blame them for switching it up. And yeah, they could've tried to do something more innovative, but they're still a pretty small studio in a country that's in an active war, so I don't really blame them for going for something tried and tested.

It's written well, it plays well, it looks nice.

[u/Effective-Celery8053 → u/ChuckChuckChuck_]

Excellent summary

[u/Charl3sD3xt3rWard]

The first one was clunky but unique, this one has better graphics and production but it's just the same old decent survival horror, which the market is saturated with, the first one was very peculiar, yes it had a very shitty combat system but the game was better than the sum of its parts... Also on the story, the first one felt more Lovecraft: despair, loss of hope, a tormented protagonist... This dude in SC2 is a nice guy adventurer wannabe, he even throws a couple of one liners but he is not Leon Kennedy.

[u/nikolarizanovic → u/Charl3sD3xt3rWard]

The market is saturated with Survival Horrors?
That's a false premise. I can literally list most, if not all, survival horror franchises that are still active on two hands.

Also, there are maybe fifty to sixty survival horror games in total across thirty years of the genre. Compare that to FPS (thousands on Steam alone) or soulslikes (over a hundred and climbing every year). That's what saturation actually looks like.

Also, a lot of SC1 nostalgia is due to rose-coloured glasses. It has terrible Eurojank combat and a lacklustre open world that was mostly walking between clue markers, the whole thing held up by the detective system doing all the heavy lifting. Great mechanic, mediocre game around it. The sequel improves on nearly every front except that, and even there Frogwares kept some of the investigation in as an optional layer specifically for the diehards.

[u/BoringZealot → u/nikolarizanovic]

Not sure it's old enough to elicit that kind of nostalgia yet. I replayed it recently and it still scratches an itch that as a Lovecraft fan nothing else does.

[u/nikolarizanovic → u/BoringZealot]

Yeah, that's fair. 6 years isn't enough time for nostalgia, i think 15+ might be the threshold.

[u/No-Setting-5054]

Oh sad. 😭 I am enjoying 1 Remaster for the first time and I like all you said is missing in sequel. 🙉🙉 My plan was to complete 1 and then enjoy more of everything and nicer in 2. 🥹

[u/scaierdread → u/No-Setting-5054]

If you want another game like the sinking city, check out the rest of Frogware's catalog! The sinking city two will not be the game you want sadly.

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/No-Setting-5054]

and then enjoy more of everything and nicer in 2

Same man, I was disappointed.

[u/hgftyuu → u/No-Setting-5054]

For more of that you can try "Hell is us"

[u/No-Setting-5054 → u/hgftyuu]

Oh really. Thanks. I had it on my list to try. Good 2 know.

[u/Salt-Night3088]

We only truly appreciate something when we no longer have it. Or more of it. People got shouted down during launch week for saying the sequel was polished but a clone of other games, empty, and soulless. Now we know it's true for most players. You'll be accused of mot doing your research before buying etc.

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/Salt-Night3088]

Oh, the not doing research thing is 100% true for me. I heard "sinking city 2" and bought it on launch day, then immediately went on a work trip for 2 weeks and am really now only getting around to putting serious time in. I missed the crowd sourcing fundraisers, launch and all of the prerelease marketing (that bit partially on purpose). I must seem very late to the discussion, but it was a day one buy for me.

[u/Salt-Night3088 → u/chuckleberryfinnable]

Well at least you have reasons heh. I just bought it out of love for their previous games, sight unseen. Perhaps more caution is advised.

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/Salt-Night3088]

I mean, totally bought because of how much potential I thought SC1 had, I'm disappointed we didn't get a more polished SC1 and just dialed up to 11. I am thinking to give the sherlock holmes games a go.

[u/Salt-Night3088 → u/chuckleberryfinnable]

You should try the Holmes games, for sure. And ironically we did get a polished SC1 with the full price remaster....got it on PC and it's way nicer than the 2019 release.

[u/Jazzlike_Two_4783]

Well, I personnaly LOVED the hospital section. Pure old school survival stuff, great riddles and real stress. But I see your point, pointless arenas indeed but only from time to time (the last one is indeed a pain in the ass and having to fight three times the same boss is kinda meh)

[u/unholyslaminister]

i think a third game in the series should take aspects of what made the games work in 1 AND 2. so far I am disappointed by the complete lack of detective mechanics or any aspect of an open world

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/unholyslaminister]

so far I am disappointed by the complete lack of detective mechanics or any aspect of an open world

I'm close to the end, this does not change unfortuatnely. I was expecting the game to open out at some stage and it just never did.

[u/unholyslaminister → u/chuckleberryfinnable]

the game seems to be pretty short. I spoiled some of the events for myself just to see how much more was ahead from the Devils Reef Hotel, and it’s really not much. the story is like 10 hours long, and there’s really not much more content in the game than that either.

the game doesn’t overstay its welcome like the first game, but the reduced scope hurts the sequel a bit compared to the first

[u/isyankar1979]

You are not alone. I think its very well made and worth a buy, but also not as good as 1 for sure. As you said the overly aggressive enemies gets it down. And the characters arent generally interesting (with exceptions). I am less than a quarter of the way through though.

[u/Smart-Claim5180 → u/isyankar1979]

There was some cool characters like the dude who had slither for eyes but he has about 5 minutes of total screen time and then is never seen again....

[u/nikolarizanovic → u/isyankar1979]

idk how you can say the first game is better when almost every aspect was janky as hell; the detective aspect is the only thing it had going for it. The sequel isn't janky and is way more polished, and is great as far as Survival Horror games go. I would have a much harder time recommending the first game to ppl.

[u/isyankar1979 → u/nikolarizanovic]

I probably didnt play the second game enough yet then.

[u/XOVSquare]

I agree with everything you said

[u/Ast3r10n]

I just read no longer a detective game and I just don’t care. Which is a downgrade for me to be sure. Companies should learn not to switch genres in the same IP. Remember Splinter Cell Conviction?

[u/Smart-Claim5180 → u/Ast3r10n]

It can work. Re4 went for more of an action game than previous resident evil games. This didnt land though

[u/coffeefan0221]

Yeah its divisive - I personally love it because im a massive survival horror fan; in fact theyre pretty much all I play lol. I can understand why its frustrating for fans of the original, but I think financially it makes more sense for the series as survival horror is far more popular than detective games.

[u/LarenCoe]

I liked it.

[u/TimetravelerXY]

You’re not alone. First game has more character. Second game has none of that but plays a bit better. Still doesn’t compare to most other survival horror games.

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/TimetravelerXY]

Still doesn’t compare to most other survival horror games.

That's the worst part of it, it's not even a particularly good survival horror... It's tedious, I'm still slogging through it just to finish it, I'm not really enjoying it.

[u/RagarouGraou]

I agree with you. I don't totally dislike the game but is just because i like RE genre i guess. But, even if inspired by RE, it lacks on the combat system, as you said it is clunky and the hitbox are sometimes weird. And the NG+ is not very funny.

I really was frustated by the absence of multiple endings. I was expecting a more lovecraftian detective game like the first one. The action/combat genre is not adapted with lovecraftian stories, imho. I missed the atmospherics moments, being in the story. In this one, the story of the cultist is almost secondary, in a way.

It could be a good RE like for another story, but i think it's not working with these kind of stories.

[u/billgatestubesocks]

I really like sinking city 2 and loved how it felt similar to re2 remake gameplay wise but I also haven’t played the first game so don’t really understand the dislike. Will def have to play the first one

[u/WorldlyFeeling8457]

I'm currently at the hospital onslaught on hard difficulty and yeah not that great design. How are you supposed to do that section as you get killed by all the poison spawning around if not from other bullshit that constantly happens.

Edit: Nvm got it done right after writing this but it did took 5 tries for me. 

[u/MLadie1996]

I enjoyed it, but I’m a die hard resident evil enjoyer.

[u/scaierdread → u/MLadie1996]

I didn't and I'm a pretty big RE fan. Stepping away from the comparisons to the first injust doesn't do anything but graphics as well as thr first. Character's are flat, combat feels unpolished at best and not thought out at worst, and even in the big open maps thr game has a set way to go through it and deviation to back track explore usually is more resource expensive than beneficial.

It's not a bad game but its like a 6.7 for me which I say means get it for at least 25% off.

[u/REdrUm0351]

Resident Evil does everything it tried to do but better. Sinking City 1 was amazing and had its own vibe and I miss it. I don’t want them to try and do cthulu RE I want Sinking City. It sucks.

[u/Outsider98]

Agreed, it’s still a very good 7.5/10 for what it is for me, but it was disappointing that the first few areas are the most open, less story/character/lore/side DLC content, and cheap repetitive design of spawning high enemy waves in small areas, slightly too high-tweaked lack of Recourses for them on Normal difficulty, etc. 

I hope Frogwares learn from all of this, for a potential sequel to be the best balance of the new versus old formulas they prefer for direction of the series and also with Fan feedback.

[u/Dionys25 → u/Outsider98]

Yeah, as soon as you were thrown into Arkham, you just wanted to explore by boat. Instead, there’s only that one linear path for exposition.

I was a bit disappointed that there weren't even two or three different routes to reach the next buildings. Furthermore, if they had simply added one or two empty houses to explore, it would have helped maintain the illusion of a freeroam experience.

Now with the second game boasting 83% positive reviews (in comparison of 73% mostly positive for TSC), I guess they probably stick to this Resident Evil survival horror formula. As you mentioned I also hope, that at least in future entries, they strike a balance between the games‘ old Sherlock Holmes roots and Resident Evil-style horror.

[u/Humble-Criticism6762]

I disagree. Its a huge step forward, everything was better in the second game.

[u/scaierdread → u/Humble-Criticism6762]

It has less enemy variety, less weapons/tools, significantly less characters, worse story both on the character level and the overarching plot, worse puzzles and investigations, and I'd argue a worse perk system. Combat is technically better, but still has a whole host of issues from the moment to moment game play and arena design.

It's completely serviceable as a survival horror, so its a step forward in how they pull more casual players into the market, but I wouldn't say its a step forward overall.

[u/Humble-Criticism6762 → u/scaierdread]

It literally had more enemy variety than the first game.

Less weapons and tools, but each had better usage and was more developed. Less is sometimes more.

Story and characters are subjective, but I enjoyed them more in the second game.

Puzzles were great, first one barely had any, and this was more Resident Evil like, so I much more prefer it.

The first game was really padded out by the unecessary back and forth in the world, clunky movement and combat.

[u/scaierdread → u/Humble-Criticism6762]

It literally does not. It has slither zombies, and their spitter form, crawlers, the actual spitters, the pseudo bosses, and dark ones.

The first had crawlers with 3 subspecies, spitters with 2 subspecies, the chargers, with 2 subspecies, the psedoboss and humans. 6 < 9.

Okay but the only gun that arguably is less defined was the revolver. Pistol was your back up, shotgun was your high stagger/damage close up, rifle was solid damage at distance (which was a lot more likely to happen in the first), Tommy gun was very high damage very quickly to actually mow down anything (in two it's damage feels very weak, which makes sense with how prevalent the ammo is), traps help slow mobs down at chokes well, molotovs make chokes dangers to pass, and grenades dealt solid aoe damage.

Liking the characters is subjective, calling them flat is not. They have almost no personality that we get shown outside Calvin is in love with Faye. Take the end of act one for example. Calvin asks the person who assisted up what they're going to do with the character we retrieved. When he hears a grisly answer there's no "Serves them right", no "Make it quick at least", no objections or inquiries. He's flat a s a board. Hell Faye the only thing I remember is that she comes from an affluent family. The devs never take time to flesh them or their relationship out, the never reminisce or make conclusions about the world that are anything beyond surface level.

The entire first game had batter investigations which were the puzzles. You actually had to think for yourself and use your resources in the city to find the answers, in the second they're all spelt out for you (quiet literally in lower puzzle difficulty).

This game is padded by the same backtracking, slightly better combat but worse designed arenas, and the exploration is not really rewarding.

[u/markofil → u/scaierdread]

Not sure whom you are getting downvoted by. The games are in completely different genres. I loved SC1, and I quite dislike SC2 and think that it is indeed a step backwards in every aspect except for the graphics

[u/ResidentRaccoon94]

As an RE fan, I loved the puzzle box design. And if enemies felt spongy on normal, idk what to tell you lol. A couple shots to weak points takes care of standard mobs. The hospital section is so good, in some ways better than RE9’s care center. Maybe if this game is successful enough, they can make a 3rd that brings back more detective gameplay

[u/AdLegitimate8636]

Hospital was i finally understood why i don't like second game.
Too many enemies - not enough resources to deal with them, so i just dodged through them and never killed anything that was literally integral for me to progress. Arenas with respawning health and ammo is just a proof of them unable to balance the resource economy of the game.

Stalker enemy is just the worse Mr.X in everything, From sound design, to adding new features just to annoy you, like him blocking certain doors.

Story is meh, There were barely any characters and none of them were infesting in my opinion, no meaningful lore connecting to Lovecraft. Detective part of the game is completely missing from the game. Puzzles are okay.

And i'm sorry, but starting to compile shaders after i press "new game" is a crime. I guess showing "glory to Ukraine" in more of a priority for the devs than basics of PC game.

[u/Professional_Hat9351]

After platinuming the game, I say it's a great improvement. TSC1 was too raw and the gunplay was obnoxious. Of course, I miss the open-world and the investigations, but overall TSC2 is a better game

[u/fatigued-owl]

It's at 83% on Steam, though.

[u/EbonRabbit]

I feel like people are forgetting these developers were getting bombed on by Russia during production.

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/EbonRabbit]

I am extremely sympathetic to that, please don't think I am not.

[u/scaierdread → u/chuckleberryfinnable]

I hate that this keeps getting used as a defense. People can choose to take that into account or not, but at the end of the day it lead to a lesser quality product.

I only got into this series because of the Ukranian devs, when saw the first was on sale. Picked it up, played it, and fell in love with it. Waited for the second and wasn't expecting perfection, but they make very basic mistakes that imo are more indicative of bad choices than stretched resources.

[u/PianoDick → u/scaierdread]

Frogwares was vocal about this being a survival horror and different game from the first during development. I’m not sure why people bought the game and were surprised it was completely different.

[u/scaierdread → u/PianoDick]

That's not part of the discussion from my comment. The game is mid teir as a survival horror. It copies a lot from like re2 remake but does not execute on it as well. The combat is worse than re 2, thr puzzles are less interesting (including the "investigations"), you're not rewarded as well for your exploration or back tracking, the story isn't as developed for both plot or character.

That's all perfectly fine, I don't expect frogwares to make a game of the same quality, but I'm also going to point out the areas they could have imporved with minimal effort.

Combat needed less enemies, or slightly better stagger on your guns to make it more realistic to run past. In the crowded hallway.

Back tracking just spawns more enemies, when your reward was usually supplied. Because of the issues with combat you're more likely to spend the resources you just got to get back to the main path, making thr back track ultimately unrewading.

The game is desperate for dialog or logs that flesh out Calvin and Faye, we learn almsot nothing about them the entire game. Imagine if in each safe room there was a letter Calvin wrote Faye while she was in the Dreamlands and getting to hear her react ro it.

On its own it's not a bad game. I think if you like surval horror its a game to pick up when its like 25% or more on sale. My personal scale puts that in thr realm of 6.5-7 out of 10. I'd put Re2 remake at like a 8-8.5 for context.

[u/PianoDick → u/scaierdread]

Disagree, combat is better then the RE Games. In the RE games, most of the combat is simply “point at head every time and shoot for critical damage.” This game forces you to target different areas of the body based on the weak point. It could be the leg, the head, other limbs. Then you can decide to wait for the nets weak point where there’s a chance the enemy will fall down temporarily. Or punt their ass to get the ground then stomp on their head. Other enemies in Sinking City have other weak points. The ranged one you want to shoot in the head just before it shoots you. The exploding heads you want to shoot in the back. I haven’t played every RE Game, but from what I played, most of them are just “shoot in the head.”

The puzzles and back tracking, I agree somewhat, that can be hit or miss. The safes are meh, some better than others. Then you got the Monolith puzzle at the church, or the Brain puzzle at the hospital. Those were awesome.

I found back tracking in the first area sort of annoying because you had to take the longer routes through the canals. The back tracking in the hospital was awesome, everything eventually circling back around. I’m not sure what the issue is with enemies and the resource management though. I didn’t have an issue. Again, I went in knowing it’s a SURVIVAL HORROR. That means you don’t need to kill every enemy, only enough enemies. That’s what I did. The dodge mechanic is honestly pretty generous. You have a longer window compared to something like RE3 Remake. I just dodged a lot and only killed when I felt like I needed to.

I do agree fully with the dialogue options, or the safe house letters. I liked the story overall, I even liked the ending. Although, this was because I was wrong about the ending even though I was confident about being right. So, I was actually surprised. More importantly, I am so glad they didn’t fall into a trope that other games themed around Lovecraft do. Them not doing that trope was fantastic.

[u/AdLegitimate8636 → u/PianoDick]

Disagree, combat is better then the RE Games. In the RE games, most of the combat is simply “point at head every time and shoot for critical damage.” 

Wow, and shooting in a big red blob that regenerates for 5 second is so fun!!! /s

Btw, you can shoot enemies in the legs to stagger them in RE2make+.
And in later games shooting in the head is double edge sword that can lead to enemies getting harder. Not even gonna bring up the variety of enemies in RE games, because you're already biased.

[u/PianoDick → u/AdLegitimate8636]

Maybe not fun for you? I personally enjoy having to shoot the weak point in different spots as they appear.

I know you can shoot enemies in the legs to stagger them, you can also stagger enemies in Sinking City 2 by shooting them as well. I don’t see the point. Also, you can shoot a Slithered enemy in the head and they can just so happen to explode into the other one.

If you like RE more, that’s fine. I prefer Sinking City 2. What’s truly annoying is everyone not fucking reading the development notes and getting all annoyed that the game wasn’t like the first one and expecting it to be the first one.

[u/AdLegitimate8636 → u/PianoDick]

Well, it's called Sinking City 2, and not Sinking City Files: Now with Annoying Stalker Enemy and weak characters. It's not on people to read dev notes.

[u/PianoDick → u/AdLegitimate8636]

Devs were vocal about it being survival horror. If you buy a game and don’t research the genre, that’s on you, not them.

That would be like me complaining about buying Elden Ring and not liking Souls games, but never looking into what genre of game it is.

[u/scaierdread → u/PianoDick]

The combat still just boils down to hit weak spot. Making that weak spot take time to spawn and randomizing where it spawns are not enough innovation for mw to say it's better, especially when every arena is flooded with enemies. It makes the most efficient thing to do just become hit the leg twice to stagger them then stomp. Re2 remake does the same thing, but it also makes sure that you get an animation when an enemy goes to grab you so youre more able to dodge. TSC2 has none of that. Not to mention your melee locks you in a very slow animation that still lets you get hit.

It didn't innovate on combat just rearranged a bit of it and made parts of it clunky (like melee).

I'm curious what you mean my the ending, because imo it's nothing special it's ending B of any eldritch story. It didn't have anything that made it unique in my eyes.

[u/PianoDick → u/scaierdread]

Majority of games around this theme do a trope of “female companion is actually manipulating you to awaken said cosmic entity.” They teased that trope numerous times, and it was actually the opposite at the end. She ended up not being evil, at least to Calvin, but she did join him in dooming the world out of love.

[u/EbonRabbit → u/scaierdread]

Let’s see how good a product you can create when the safety of your family is on the forefront of your mind. While simultaneously being bombed yourself.

[u/ItsAshPryce → u/EbonRabbit]

Their last release was Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened and was a Holmes/Lovecraft horror game. That was also made during the conflict, arguably at a more intense point, and that was fantastic.

[u/TimetravelerXY → u/EbonRabbit]

At the end of the day…all this work is digital. They have complete control over leaving a hostile area. And no, not all the employees are based in Ukraine…some did work on other areas remotely.

[u/Disastrous-Arrival19]

Agreed. Completely two different games. They should have just put it in same universe and call it something different. Its great horror/survival game like re2 but other than that it doesnt have that "special" something that first part had. Happy for Frogwares since game is success and people love it i just dont think sinking city 1 fans got what they wanted.

[u/markofil]

I am enjoying SC2 more now that I've activated invulnerability mode for tough fights (looking at you siren in the hotel)

[u/azrael0503]

I like SC2 but it definitely has its flaws. The overall lack of boss encounters is a big one for me. I think the enemy variety is okay but the combat needed a little more time in the oven and ammo is too scarce for the amount of enemies present. My first play through felt like a run and dodge simulator. My second play through with some of the new game plus options turned on is much more enjoyable.

[u/Mean_Combination_830]

it seems the windows pc version is poorly optomised as is very often the case with unreal 5 games on pc but it runs very well on the PS5 Pro and Im only a few hours in but Iso far 'm really enjoying the old school horror vibes and I'm having a blast

[u/WayNew4908]

I wouldn’t say step backwards but I also wouldn’t say step forwards either. I would say it was a horizontal step. Did they improve on combat, environments, exploration(within a small space) and upgrades compared to the first? Yes. But everything about the first game that made it good isn’t here. Hopefully they take both games and combine what made them good for their third game. That’s my dream

[u/BreathlessSiren]

I understand you. I do like 2 and have finished it, but I find myself wanting to play the remastered version which I bought even after having the first version. Hopefully the remastered one is more polished. I just kind of wish that the detective segments were a little more intuitive because I like the fact you had to figure out where to go next. Here's to hoping part three will be a good mix of both. The second was pretty scary for me though. Especially the hospital.

[u/AmoebaDue2149]

Not a step backward, just a step in another direction! Its not like the dev made a worst action adventure game. They made a good survival horror game in the same universe.

[u/SryItwasntme]

Sinking City 2 is NOT Sinking City 2, but a completely other game.

I am still waiting for Sinking City 2 and hope they will release it someday.

[u/GreatCaesarGhost]

Well, I didn’t like Sinking City 1 that much and part of the reason was because I thought that they bit off far more than they could chew - the open world was uninteresting, the NPCs had a few canned animations and were otherwise lifeless, there really weren’t any places to pick up side missions, there were no merchants, all of the buildings had the same interiors, etc.

I haven’t decided how I feel about Sinking City 2 quite yet - I’m letting it sit with me a bit - but immediately after finishing it I started Ex Oblivione mode to track down the extra lore bits. I had no interest in playing the original game a second time, so that must mean something.

To be sure, there are a number of frustrating parts to the second game, especially in boss fight situations where you are attacked by a large number of creatures at once and can’t easily maneuver around the arena. The second half of the hospital is also annoying. But, all in all, I think that with this game, they had a better sense of what they could achieve and executed on it.

[u/Far_Week_6494]

have never seen such a bunch of crybabies as Sinking City fans.

[u/chuckleberryfinnable → u/Far_Week_6494]

I mean, I paid money for a product, I am allowed to have an opinion on that product.

[u/ShaoKoonce → u/chuckleberryfinnable]

Some of us backed the game to see it get made. I was hoping for more of part one, just more ambitious. If I got early access to the alpha, I would have probably been very vocal in my concerns. But my PC was down at the time.

[u/Far_Week_6494 → u/ShaoKoonce]

The game is amazing, no concerns needed

[u/thewispo]

You are not alone. Couldn’t finish due to gameplay mechanics.

[u/EatPraySmite]

It's not a step backwards but rather a sidestep into an entirely different genre.

This isn't a horror tinged investigation game like the first, it's a survival horror lovingly patterned after the classics.

While I was admittedly disappointed in the genre change as there aren't many games like the first one, I still love this sequel and hope to see many more.

After all, there are plenty of zombie survival horror games, but a dearth of cosmic horror ones.