The RPG Files: The RPG Files: The Sinking City Review - PC
I'm not a big Lovecraft buff, but I've always appreciated the tangential games and what little bits of knowledge of Cthulu-inspired lore I've picked up along the way. The existential cosmic horror is nightmarish indeed, but few games have really tapped into the feelings and stories presented by the hellscape Lovecraft invented. Frogware's The Sinking City, thankfully, is one such game. This is our review.
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If you've ever been a fan of Frogware's other investigative RPGs (their Sherlock stuff is fantastic), you'll know what to expect here. The Sinking City is inspired by Lovecraft, but it's not specifically based on any of his stories, from what I understand. Set in a fictional city of Oakmont, Massachussets in the 1920s, you play detective and WWI veteran Charles Reed as he investigates a murder in the perpetually flodded town, as well as his own nightmares which seem inexcplicably tied to the locale.
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But any big issues I have with the sort of jank Sinking City has is wiped away by a massively enjoyable and troubling story. Great investigations, loads of side quests, and solid character progression make for an RPG that's worth the price of admission on whatever your chosen platform is. A Switch port is due out this fall, too. Just know that the ending, of which there are multiple, often falls a bit flat or anticlimactic. The game's many stories are worth seeing through, but after such a good build up, it's a bit hard to come to a good conclusive ending.
Score: 7.5 / 10
