The Sinking City Reviews
An occasionally entertaining detective game blighted by poor writing, rote combat, and a dreary open world.
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.
While occasionally frustrating, The Sinking City's compelling stories, exciting environments, and memorable characters make for one of the better Cthulhu lore games around.
The Sinking City's engrossing premise is ultimately betrayed by counterintuitive systems and bleak monotony.
The Sinking City succeeds at creating a memorable world and twisting narrative that pulls players beyond its mediocre gameplay
Great investigations and ancient horrors are hidden by frustrating action
Clumsy design, tedious storytelling, and often game-breaking technical limitations sap The Sinking City of any real terror or intrigue.
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!
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.
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
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.
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
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
If you’ve ever been a fan of Lovecraftian horror or just mystery stories in general, The Sinking City is one stop you’ll want to make a little time for on your trip down the rabbit hole.
A good example of how to craft a Mythos game. Not for the faint of heart. Cool fact: a gamer who knows nothing about the mythos will make probably all the wrong choices in the game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite the technical disaster that it is, The Sinking City knows how to capture the essence of H.P. Lovecraft's work to create their own story in an interesting place like Oakmont, full of details and mysteries to discover.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you can ignore The Sinking City's technical failings, set the combat difficulty to easy and stick to getting embroiled in the story
If you're looking for something action-packed you'll be better served elsewhere, but for fans of Lovecraft's universe or head-scratching detectathons, The Sinking City is more than worth a shot.
The Sinking City is well worth playing for the initial rhythm of its casework and the freshness of its setting, but its mechanics, like its mystery, end up flooded.
Goodness, I was very interested in The Sinking City. I really wanted to love it. But I’m afraid rain may have stopped play this time.