Sunless Sea:
Sunless
Sea: Daring The Dark
Sunless
Sea: The Dearth of Echos is the Greatest MysteryTime Played: 13.5 Hours
I picked up Sunless Sea
as part of the October 2020 Humble Bundle. It is based in the same
realm as the free to play browser game, Fallen London,
and is followed by Sunless Skies.
In the world of Sunless Sea,
London was dragged underground and placed at the edge of a massive
sea. As a zee captain, the player sails across the Unterzee,
exploring and returning to the former capital of the British Empire.
London is situated in the middle of the
western edge of the sea. The player starts with a blank map, as
black as the sky above. No, that isn't totally truthful. Zailors
sometimes spy false stars, light shining through holes in the
cavernous roof far above. Some daring souls even dare to venture out
into the sunlight, seeking knowledge of the forgotten world.
As the player explores they fill in the
contours of islands, the names of distant lands, and the location of
foreign ports. Since
Sunless Sea
is a roguelike, the distribution of the islands is random, except for
London and some of the nearby shoreline. Upon death, the islands of
the zee rearrange themselves into a new pattern. The first few hours
of the game sees the player carving up the black, carrying a faint
light into the darkness. The music reflects an oppressive
atmosphere, with localized cues to characterize each port. A log
book, pocketed in the bottom left corner, adds fantastic flavor about
the observations and musing of the crew. Unfortunately this record
is marred by the zee-bat. The zee-bat is a useful tool for exploring
the zee. Clicking Z sends it out, like Noah's dove, to find a port.
There is no penalty or cost to sending it, except that the zee-bat
defiles the journal with the comment, “There are no islands within
the zee-bat's range,” overwriting the otherwise praiseworthy prose.
The captain starts
with almost nothing, a cheap but seaworthy ship his greatest
possession. He pockets only a small amount of echos (cash) to his
name, along with an insufficient amount of fuel and supplies. His
other consolations are a full crew, an officer, and an apartment in
the Fallen City. The critical resources of Sunless Sea
are supplies and fuel. Running out of fuel on the underground seas
leads to disaster as my first captain discovered. John had rebuffed
the offers of the Blind Bruiser, a shady character, serving a
mysterious master. He wouldn't accept questionable jobs or free
fuel. He wouldn't be in debt to the under-underworld. But after a
trip or two his boat lay floundering in sight of London, the engines
cool and idle. A wealthier captain offered to rescue him for the
price of his ship, sparing a tiny dinghy. On the next trip this
diminutive ship was overturned by an Auroral Megalops. All hands
were lost. This captain only lasted about an hour of real life time. 
When a captain dies
the player chooses to pass on one aspect of their adventure to their
next. John mailed his map to an acquaintance who took up the quest.
Clive learned the most critical skill; knowing how far his ship could
travel on a barrel of fuel. He understood supplies maintained crew
morale. The crew consume supplies at half the rate of fuel. The
number of crew members may effect the rate of depletion. Keeping a
full contingent of crew is preferable for the solvent. A ship needs
at least fifty percent plus one to maintain its full speed. Zailors
also function as a form of hit points. Lose all of them and the
captain sinks as well. Running out of supplies isn't immediately as
disastrous as emptying the last barrel of fuel. At first the crew
grumble. Then they ask permission to eat each other. Eventually
they engage in cannibalism without the captain's permission, but any
sane captain never lets it get that far, or he asks for first bite.
Both supplies and
fuel are available for purchase in London, and while they can be
found in other ports, they cost more. 
Another critical
resource is sanity, or as
Sunless Sea calls it, Terror.
The captain begins with zero Terror, and a potential of one hundred.
Terror increases while sailing the zee and in many events at ports.
The Terror meter shows the captain how it is changing. It's either,
green and decreasing slowly, orange and increasingly slowly, or red
and growing swiftly. There are many methods to reduce Terror. The
ship has a light. Turn it on. It provides better vision and reduces
Terror. Unfortunately, it also attracts the attention of zee
monsters and, some Redditors say, consumes fuel. Sailing next to a
buoy or any coast automatically resets the Terror meter to green.
Returning to London drops the Terror to fifty, and some events in the
city, like visiting your child (if you have one), reduces Terror even
further. To avoid being overcome by Terror chart a course in advance
that takes full advantage of buoys, friendly ports, and coast lines.
At all costs, avoid snow, sand, and rain storms, which increase the
Terror to red. Those captains who recklessly brave the dark will
find themselves beset by nightmares, and descend into madness. One
hundred Terror is death!
Light offers
safety, but it also attracts foul creatures of the zee. In the first
ship, with the first weapon, wise captains will avoid combat.
Repairs are expensive, and can't be afforded. To flee, turn off the
ship's light and try to put an island between the ship and its
pursuer. My second captain only fought the easiest foes, and found
it an unnecessary risk.
Part II to follow
next week.
Recent:
Dragged
Into The Deep: Part I
Relevant:
Into
The Breach: Can't Catch Light(ning) in A Bottle Twice
Kentucky
Route Zero: The End of A Seven Year Journey Approaches
Pillars
of Eternity: Characters, Companions, and Combat
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