Let me start off by saying that I very much enjoy the sunless sea and the world it’s set in; it’s poised to become a classic of the rougelike and exploration genre, and because it’s so exciting to me I am choosing to take an active approach in supporting it. Take my criticism as a token of my affection; my suggestion is an expression of my desire to help improve the game, because I enjoy it so much and want so badly for it to realize it’s potential, rather than any kind of a reproach.
It seems to me that the upcoming steel update may be going about the problem of combat in the wrong way. The issues raised were exacerbated by the reduction of enemy ferocity, but none of my suggestions are to do with balance. The problem with the combat system is not that it occurs too often, as there are many narrative based games with far more combat with far less variety which make it work just fine; nor is it that it isn’t fun enough, as the system as it is currently implemented is also the basis of other successful games.
The problem with combat in SSea is that it clashes thematically with the rest of the world. We’re given these oblique hints about these terrifying monsters we will face, we see these Lovecraftian images every time we load our save, and yet everytime we encounter one of these mythic beasts. it’s as a obvious sprite moving slowly and haltingly towards us, totally avoidable baring one of the games mostly avoidable tight spaces, bearing down on us with all the subtly and decorum of a rabid tumble drier.
Worse still, should we choose to grace this horror of the deep with our presence, we are immediately presented with statistical information on it, including a comparison of it’s fortitude to ours, the very next thing it’s going to do once it’s reached the end of a countdown. The music suggests something closer to a board game then a battle at sea. It ruins the sense of mystery, and worse, gives the player a sense of control in the situation, turning our heroic struggle into a battle of wits, setting the beastie and the player as equals in what should be an unpredictable and asymmetrical struggle.
(Cont.)