Way back in 2015 Failbetter games released a Kickstarter funded experimental exploration survival RPG called Sunless seas.
The player was tasked with exploring a gothic, dystopian future in a top-down, procedurally generated adventure that combined elements of management, RPG and roguelike.
It was a surefire hit and four years later a partially Kickstarter funded sequel was released in the form of "Sunless Skies."
Fast forward to May 19th 2021 and we see the release of sunless skies, the sovereign edition on Nintendo switch.
In my opinion, this has to be the pinnacle. The final polish on a fantastic game, finally finds it's perfect platform.
Set in an alternate steampunk reality, where an iteration of Victorian London stretches across the skies. Skyfaring steam locomotives traverse from port to port linking cities with essential communication and trade routes all while fending off pirates and rebels to the crown.
You begin your adventure by taking over as the captain of one such vessel, after the untimely and grizzly death of your predecessor.
The game is played out in a top-down view with beautiful graphics, The angle, aesthetic and RPG elements somehow remind me of the old 80s Steve Jackson "Car Wars" tabletop game (for anybody who's old enough to remember that).
After a brief tutorial to familiarize yourself with basic controls and initial adventure choices, you are taken to character creation.
Here you plot out the background of your character, assign skill points and additionally set parameters for your own victory within the game world.
This is a nice touch and something that really sets it apart from other RPGs, having this goal, within a goal always in the back of your mind while playing the game; really adds to narrative depth and adds extra weight to decisions you make along the way.
The game is quite a sedate act of exploration and adventure rather than a top-down shooter although there are real time combat elements, it's fun but never frantic or button mashing.
The core of the game is traversing the strange and haunting world, meeting new people, resolving dilemmas, completing tasks and progressing toward your goal by whatever means you feel necessary.
Managing your resources crew assignments are also essential to the success of your endeavor.
The music and aesthetics of the game merge perfectly to create a somewhat gloomy and oppressive atmosphere, that thankfully never gets too dark as gentle comedic punctuation along the way act as beacons of light relief.
Personally I absolutely adore this game, I played its predecessor on PC along with a little of Sunless Skies, however I had been specifically waiting for a switch port as it's handheld format just seems to fit this game perfectly.
It can be a little gloomy and overbearing to play for long periods at a time so it really is the perfect game to pick up and play for a while and come back to a bit later.
Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition, contains four very different regions to explore, real-time combat, RPG progression, ship upgrades, almost a million words of story and even pet collectables.
It's available now on Nintendo eShop for $24.99 and is a 2.1 GB download.
I highly recommend this purchase to anybody who is even a little bit of a fan of any of the elements that comprise it. It's something quite different and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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