Sunless Skies

.... and another three months without a post. Blame the excitement of Christmas, snow and new work exams.

However, I just wanted to point out that Sunless Skies is exactly how a sequel should be made and everybody should buy it right now to support the makers.

I'd seen it in early access and worried that it would double down on what eventually put me off Sunless Seas. Namely the grind of repeating the opening stories, of realising that eventually progress to endgame content would require more hours than I was willing to invest and the fatigue from sailing and combat that while not terrible did not live up to the storytelling.

Instead, Failbetter seem to have focused heavily on quality of life improvements. Trading is much improved with focused trade missions and limited time bargains. Rarely will a newly discovered port turn out to be initially inaccessible, there is always something to explore and a starter quest to take on. And of course the quality of writing remains among the best in the video gaming landscape.

It is early days. I'm not even out of the first of the four areas yet. Further, I'm aware that I felt the same way initially about Sunless Seas and it took some hours for its problems to become apparent.

This being said, I'm currently enjoying it greatly and appreciate the attention to feedback that has been shown by the developers!