Here’s where things get more muddy though. When investigating cases, however, you collect evidence, use reference materials from either the police station, the hospital, the university, or the newspaper, and slowly track down clues as to what is really going on. You talk to NPC’s and explore the town of Oakmont, investigating cases, and exploring. The gameplay of The Sinking City is in two (ish) phases. These are just two examples of how Frogwares has flipped the script with The Sinking City, and I for one find it refreshing and interesting. A young black woman runs the Oakmont newspaper, and a black man participates as a researcher at Oakmont University. In fact, I found myself greatly amused by the fact that Lovecraft most definitely is rolling in his grave at this game, due to the fact that African-American characters feature in prominent parts of the town. Interestingly enough though, the racist overtones tend to be directed at the Innsmouthers and other townsfolk, not the African-American people or other ethnicities in Oakmont. From the fishlike Innsmouthers to the Ape-esque Throgmorton family, Lovecraft’s creations live and breathe in the town of Oakmont. The brilliance of Frogwares’ interpretation of the Lovecraft mythos, is that they have taken many different Lovecraft stories and used them as fuel for the living and breathing world of Oakmont. ![]() Since then, dark creatures and bouts of hysteria have appeared in the city, bringing it back to something similar to a dark age. It turns out that shortly before Charles arrives in Oakmont, there came a great and terrible flood, which sunk part of the city underwater. After a stint in a psychiatric hospital, Charles began to discover that he was not alone in the visions and finds his way to Oakmont, where nothing is as it seems. He also began to experience visions, of creatures in the deep, a city underwater, and more. You play as Charles Reed, a former Navy diver who experienced a strange supernatural event and began to manifest unique supernatural abilities. However, I was very impressed by the world-building and detail put into Oakmont and its’ lore. I had played the Sherlock Holmes games by Frogwares, so I knew some of what to expect. The Sinking City takes place in a fictional town in Massachusetts called Oakmont. Surprisingly, Frogwares does it in a way that is respectful, timely, and not any more offensive than that which you would see in a period drama, or a piece examining the harsher realities of our not so kind history. How do you adapt a mythos steeped in bigotry, racism, and overall existential fear, without leaning into some of those ideas? Because of this, adapting Lovecraftian works has a certain…pitfall. Many of his stories came from his own xenophobia and fear of that which was not like him. Now, I need to preface this review with a disclaimer, much as the developers of The Sinking City have done. The Sinking City piqued my interest, and in the spirit of breaking out of my comfort zone a bit, I decided to review it. However, despite my aversion to most horror-related things, I enjoy psychological horror and some “existential” horror, fairly well. ![]() I am not fond of Jump-Scares, as I find them to be low-hanging fruit on the horror scale. When it comes to horror, I am both incredibly picky and a colossal chicken. There are people on the New England isle of Oakmont who can help him, or so he is told.Most people who know me personally, are aware of a fact that I circle back to often. He feels a pull to Oakmont, like many others have as well.Īfter traveling there from Boston, Reed meets with his contact and sets out to solve his issues. He’s been having nightmarish visions and ever more losing his grip on sanity. The Sinking City follows the adventures of a PI named Charles Reed. It plays directly off of Lovecraft’s work, but still manages to forge some of its own paths through the waterlogged city of Oakmont, Massachusetts. ![]() It seems to be ever increasing in notoriety too, with themes from the lore popping up in TV shows, movies, and of course games. That’s not to say that it’s not popular though, as the otherworldly alien gods have a rabid fanbase. I don’t think too many people would argue that Cthulhu is in the same league as zombies, vampires, and Frankenstein’s Monster. Now don’t get upset but the “fringe” tag. One of the more enduring, yet still fringe horror themes is H.P.
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