The Sinking City
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Top Critic
The Sinking City features a genuinely interesting story and setting but is let down by performance issues and very poor combat controls. Traversing the city is often a chore and will have you hitting more dead-ends than a night of speed-dating. The Switch port is the worst way to experience the game and I can only recommend it to the most die-hard Lovecraft fans.
It’s no pleasure to be so critical of a title which innovates on the third person adventure genre while offering an engaging plot. The Sinking City was clearly created with a strong vision in mind, and its failings are largely technical. There is much to love, and I will be going back to experience more of the story, but given the current state of the Switch port, I cannot recommend it. Wait to see if Frogwares release a patch before sinking any time into this one. I’m giving it the Thumb Culture Bronze award.
Top Critic
The Sinking City is the type of game that will appeal only to the most hardcore of H.P. Lovecraft, or noir fiction fans. Everyone else will be left wondering how so much could go so wrong in what really is an excellent idea for a game.
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Rough but still great
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It does some interesting things such as using bullets for currency, causing the player to have to weigh the options of fleeing from or killing a threat. The sanity effects caused by being in disturbing situations or using Reed's investigation abilities too much are cheesy but mainly unobtrusive and add a charm to the game I did not expect. Nonetheless, even with these fun aspects, the significant technical problems and boring traversal of Oakmont make me hesitate to suggest the Switch be your chosen platform for visiting this doomed town.
Top Critic
While it's carried over its fair share of clunky elements in the transition to Nintendo's console, The Sinking City on Nintendo Switch is a fully-featured and mostly well-optimised port. The mixture of psychological horror and detective skills is a positive step beyond the developer's previous work on Sherlock Holmes titles, and while its sanity mechanic doesn't quite hold up to the likes of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and it's not without bugs, it offers an enjoyable if not particularly scary descent into madness and delirium.
Top Critic
The Sinking City is a faithful adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft´s universe. As in other versions, some mecanics are pretty interesting and make it an interesting adventure, but this port to Nintendo Switch has many technical flaws and the open world structure feels "empty", long loading times aside.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Top Critic
The Sinking City both sinks and swims. Delivering a good mystery within a picturesque yet grotesque hellscape, while also held back by visual ramifications and tricky combat engagements.
Top Critic
While occasionally frustrating, The Sinking City's compelling stories, exciting environments, and memorable characters make for one of the better Cthulhu lore games around.
Top Critic
An occasionally entertaining detective game blighted by poor writing, rote combat, and a dreary open world.
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Frogware's most ambitious title to date sees it take on the Cthulu mythos, but unfortunately it makes for one of its most flawed games too.
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The Sinking City's engrossing premise is ultimately betrayed by counterintuitive systems and bleak monotony.
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The Sinking City succeeds at creating a memorable world and twisting narrative that pulls players beyond its mediocre gameplay
Top Critic
Clumsy design, tedious storytelling, and often game-breaking technical limitations sap The Sinking City of any real terror or intrigue.
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Great investigations and ancient horrors are hidden by frustrating action
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The enjoyable Cthulhu detective story is enough to be worth seeing through, but it’s a mystery why the other parts of the game couldn’t be as strong.
Top Critic
Overall, as much as I adore the story and atmosphere of The Sinking City, it definitely feels like a budget title at times. If you can get past the weak combat, harmless jank, and enjoy a solid detective experience that won't hold your hand and throw tough choices your way, you shouldn't pass up on it. Even more so if you're a fan of Lovecraft. Because as the Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be and that's a good enough reason for me!
Top Critic
The Sinking City is an amazing experience, portraying a great interpretation of the pieces of H. P. Lovecraft. Adding together L.A. Noire with Sherlock Holmes, Frogwares gives us a game that blends private investigation, shooting and narrative into a believable world that is immersive and molded by our decisions, making us feel the true protagonist of the adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Top Critic
The Sinking City promises a nightmarish journey through a Lovecraftian townscape filled with monsters and threatening cults, but too often falls into a loop of forced combat and resource hunting. The investigative parts are excellent, and this is probably the best Lovecrat adaptation since Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth, but it still never really lives up to its potential. Close, but no Shoggoth.
Top Critic
The Sinking City is a faithful adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft´s universe, and has some interesting mechanics, but the game has many technical flaws and the open world structure feels "empty".
Review in Spanish | Read full review
