iPhone Sunless Sea (by Failbetter Games)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Repulsa, Mar 23, 2017.

  1. senkoujin

    senkoujin Well-Known Member

    Aug 28, 2013
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    First Impressions!

    Hey everyone, I've got some first impressions!

    However, I would FIRST like to point out that on iPad, I have to turn my iPad upside-down to play the game, which is inconvenient because it's uncomfortable to play like this while wearing headphones. Developers, please enable Screen Rotation/Orientation (Landscape-Left and Landscape-Right) so that we can comfortably play this $9.99 game!


    With that being said, the game looks and plays extremely well on my iPad Air 2 (iOS 8.x). There is no lag, and graphics are clean and crisp so far. Using the TAP and TOUCH controls to navigate the ship feels a little bit awkward, probably because I'm not quite used to them; you gotta put your finger in front of the ship to navigate and turn, and sometimes turning on and off the engines could be cumbersome without practicing the correct taps/gestures. With the SCREEN BUTTONS controls, I feel like I have better control of the ship, so I've decided to use this control scheme to enjoy the game.


    The text size in this game is just the right size on iPad (9.7-inch display), so no problems there. The lore and grammar in this game is quite...perplexing (for lack of a better term), and the player must learn to get used to it. My English (American native speaker) is excellent, but even I must point out that this game may not work well for people who don't like to read or lack the sense of being somewhat analytical. You gotta get used to the terminologies and the somewhat "rough" grammar and vocabulary introduced in this game. First word you should learn before playing this game is "assay", if you don't already know it. Another thing is that this game can feel very overwhelming at first; all I can advise is for you to take your time with it until you get the hang of how things work.


    Aside from that, the exploration factor of this game is quite exciting...it feels like an entire uncharted world is out there awaiting discovery! :)


    Additional Notes

    -The game makes the iPad hot (like Radiation Island hot) + high battery drain
    -Making an iPhone version of this game doesn't seem feasible considering sizing and scale...but hey, if Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition was miraculously modified for the iPhone, I wouldn't completely rule it out for this Sunless Sea.


    Lastly, above all, our dear devs, PLEASE fix the screen orientation on iPad!



    I will continue to play and write a review at a later date. :)
     
  2. Dragan

    Dragan Well-Known Member

    Aug 21, 2014
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    Thank you very much for this review, I will wait till the orientation is fixed before buying the game, it's so basic that I can't believe it's not implemented.
     
  3. doomowl

    doomowl Active Member

    Mar 18, 2014
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    Possible to run on iPad mini 2 without lag issue?
     
  4. anthony78

    anthony78 Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2015
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    Runs fine on a mini 2.
     
  5. heephap

    heephap Member

    Jan 12, 2017
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    Super pumped for this

    Loved it on PC... One quick question for those who have played it already; can you play it with one hand?
     
  6. anthony78

    anthony78 Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2015
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    Technically you maybe able to but it wouldn't be comfortable with so many menus and buttons. Honestly hard for me to play most games at all one handed on an iPad mini even.
     
  7. heephap

    heephap Member

    Jan 12, 2017
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    Thanks for the reply, I play many games one handed and judging from having played the PC version, using the buttons and navigating menus should be fine as long as it is paused. I was just wondering about the ship piloting and real time stuff...
     
  8. Ubisububi

    Ubisububi Well-Known Member

    Oct 8, 2009
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    #28 Ubisububi, Mar 23, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2017
    It can easily be played with one hand, as long as you're not counting the hand you use to hold your device. I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm just not sure what you mean. If you truly mean "single-handed play," then probably not, unless, as you said, it's paused. navigation is possible with one hand, at least on a Mini because the ship is always centered on the screen.

    By the way, this looks and plays great on an iPad Mini 4. It pushes the hardware, though, which drains the battery as a previous poster mentioned. I own the desktop version but never played it much because, like Mini Metro and a few others, I always felt it was better suited for a tablet (it is!), and at roughly half the price of the Steam version.
     
  9. heephap

    heephap Member

    Jan 12, 2017
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    #29 heephap, Mar 23, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2017
    Thanks, I hold my iPad (pro 9.7) in between my legs (sitting down) and it is often the case that one of my hands is not usable so I use my left hand to play the game. From what you (and the other guy) have said, I am sure it will be fine and I am used to it anyway.

    I am glad it looks and plays great, very much looking forward to playing this!
     
  10. yankeeblue000

    yankeeblue000 Well-Known Member

    Aug 29, 2016
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    What kind of game can this be classified as? Action/Rpg? I can't really tell what's going on in the trailer as far as gameplay. What is the main story about and what is the objective? What role does the player have in the gameplay and its mechanics?
     
  11. anthony78

    anthony78 Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2015
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    I'd say a mix of interactive fiction, RPG and rogue like. The objective is just to explore as much as you can and stay alive. You have to balance how far you want to explore with the risk of dying from starvation or battles with ships and sea monsters.
     
  12. orangecan

    orangecan Well-Known Member

    Aug 9, 2011
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    I've read every review that I can find of the PC version and despite the universally great scores I still can't work out whether I'm going to like it or not and unfortunately the recent glut of good releases has cleaned out my wallet so I'm reluctant to take a punt on it for a tenner (not remotely a criticism of the price BTW).
     
  13. yankeeblue000

    yankeeblue000 Well-Known Member

    Aug 29, 2016
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    I'm in same pickle.:D The thing is I'm trying to decide if I should buy this or Death Road to Canada. I can only really afford either or right now with the amount of games I picked up the last month I've read a lot of good things about both games but still not too sure of any of them.:confused: In the end I'll probably just pick them both up.:D:D
     
  14. orangecan

    orangecan Well-Known Member

    Aug 9, 2011
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    That's one of my problems, I've already bought Death Road, Oxenfree and many others over the last few weeks and barely had chance to play any of them - but like you a few more glasses of red this evening and I'll wake up tomorrow morning with this installed on my iPad.
     
  15. orangecan

    orangecan Well-Known Member

    Aug 9, 2011
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    And that's just happened.... Bought....
     
  16. anthony78

    anthony78 Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2015
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    Sounds like I need to live at your house. :)
     
  17. orangecan

    orangecan Well-Known Member

    Aug 9, 2011
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    Booze. It's a terrible thing....
     
  18. Ubisububi

    Ubisububi Well-Known Member

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    It really depends on whether you consider yourself a PC gamer with a mobile device or a mobile gamer at heart. This is very much a PC game in that it's not particularly bite-sized in its delivery nor is it a simple game to get into. For me, a PC game on my iPad/iPhone is always what I'm looking for, but to each his/her own.

    Also, after another hour of play, I'm finding the battery drain to be less than originally appeared, and the touch implementation to be spot-on. And, no crashes.
     
  19. Kenan2000

    Kenan2000 Well-Known Member

    Nov 25, 2013
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    So I guess it does not work on iPhone 5/iPad 4?
     
  20. imdakine1

    imdakine1 Well-Known Member

    Aug 23, 2011
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    Intrigued... not rogue fan but the overall game seems unique! Tough for me with 30+ backlog games and waaaaay to many purchases last week/this week... the weeks have blurred together with a crazy amount of releases!

    Kingdom new lands, ticket to earth, card thief... I am still considering oxenfree, pavilion touch, cosmic express, Euclidean lands, Ellie and Max...

    Is this rogue like or can you make progress after each try...?
     

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