Okay so I feel like I’m a good chuck of the way into the game and feel like talking about it. I was lured in by the description of it being a chill diving and sushi restaurant management game. However, it is so so so much more than that. I have to be honest, I almost think it is to much more, there are just systems added on, one after the other. Certain out-of-water area’s seem less polished than others making me wonder if the developers bolted it on late in development?
Note, I did not follow early access, nor have looked into any sort of development history of the game. I wanted to go in blind to be surprised by it.
What are all your thoughts? Anyone else dive in (haha) blind like me, or have you been invested from the very start and know the road it’s taken to get to 1.0? What do you think of the game at it’s present state? The game locks a good amount of mechanics behind story, so try to be mindful of spoilers for folks as much as it’s possible.
I’ve actually just started this myself and I I was actually a little worried there was too much going on at first. That however proved to be unfounded and I’ve been having a really good time with it.
I won’t lie, I’m not in love with the sushi/management side of it, but I love the diving and fishing. The games got a really nice style to it too; some of the cutscenes are fantastic.
Love the game, played it Early Access back in April. The game seems to break out new game mechanics as one-offs in the progression of the main storyline. The Out of Water mechanics that are repeated are fine for what they are - Busy work to get resources for better stuff. They weren’t add ons at the end, I think they were there from the beginning. I’d say it’s between this game and TotK for my favorite games of the past few years.
Glad to see this discussion because I absolutely love this game. I haven’t even gotten to much of the story sections and mini games because I’ve been so caught up in the hunting and sushi bar loop. One thing I also appreciate is how plentiful the oxygen tanks are when exploring underwater, which leaves room for exploration.
I will say, though, that the sushi management aspect could’ve been better explained. For example, I had to look up what the “auto add” feature was, and I didn’t know until later that you could have your employees fetch ingredients. Thankfully, the game isn’t really punishing at all.
I’m like 6 hours in and I’ve lost a little motivation but that’s more me being slightly depressed than anything. Currently the only out of water area accessible is the sushi bar. YMMV I’m sure you can play it faster if you choose.
It’s a solid 9/10 for me, the button mashing/stick waggling with some harpoon tips is just annoying for the vibe of the game but I can get over that. Also feels like I might break an Xbox joystick for the first time in my life.
The gameplay loop is really satisfying it can be a little intimidating in some parts but if you screw anything up it just takes an extra (in game) day to get back where you were. AFAIK the game doesn’t really have a failure state overall, just suboptimal outcomes.
Feels a lot like Motherlode (also highly recommend the version of Motherlode on Steam with the updated graphics) but more chill, though it can get intense when you have some nice loot you worked hard to get and Dave nearly runs out of oxygen (you can only bring one item back if that happens)
Perfect for the steam deck BTW, usually a dive is 10-15min max and a shift at the restaurant isn’t very long so you can pick up and put down the game at logical stopping points without a big time investment, though you’ll probably want to play it longer.
I have only played it in EA. It felt good, some of the combat felt a bit unintuitive or annoying. Overrall it was a pleasent experience. I am just waiting to “forget” more of the game so I can pick it up later and experience it fully.
I did not play EA, and overall I am enjoying it. The issues I have are the random mechanics that are thrown in as one time things like chase scenes and a stealth sections. Those are plain not fun, and could have been something else entirely.
Potential spoilers for the main story ahead!
spoiler
The portrayal of the Sea People seems very Chinese caricature at a few points. Plus the quests they give are kind of not fun. I could do without them altogether honestly.
As a Chinese person I actually think they’re more Korean-inspired, not Chinese. And the devs are Korean, so it doesn’t seem disrespectful.
Good to hear. A couple on the models had very American stereotype vibes. I knew the devs were Korean, but that doesn’t mean they are immune.
This game just came on my radar like 2 days ago. I don’t have anything to say since I haven’t played it, except it looks very fun and I’m also interested in hearing other people’s takes.