Good time, dear ones.
Today we will tell you about a game in development – The Sinking City.
The Sinking City – a game from a Kyiv company Frogwares, based on the myths of Howard Lovecraft.
The main character, a detective, arrives in the town of Oakmont, Massachusetts. His goal is to figure out what is the reason for the eternal floods and total decline.
Key Lovecraftian principles – alienation, fear of the unknown and hopelessness – fit perfectly into the general outline of this game. Local residents realize that there are creatures with humanoid features next to them. Being much older and stronger than ordinary people, they are capable of destroying everything in their path. Feeling chilling horror doesn’t leave them for a minute. However, new daredevils continue to arrive in the city.
Oakmont has long been mired in crisis and poverty. At the same time, there are many cults and secret organizations that exist very separately and maintain their own traditions.
What is the cause of terrible natural disasters?? Everyone can try to find the clue, and Lovecraft’s dark fictions will help you.
You can learn more about the game by watching our video:
After the success of a whole series of games about Sherlock Holmes, Ukrainian developers from Frogwares began a new project. Unlike the previous ones, it is entirely devoted to the myths of H. P. Lovecraft. As you might have guessed, today our focus is on The Sinking City.
The essence of this game is https://non-uk-casinos.co.uk/review/lucki-casino/ that its hero, a detective, has to figure out what is the cause of the eternal floods in the fictional city of Oakmont, Massachusetts. The image of the main character has nothing to do with a brutal macho, as is often the case in games where someone came to save someone. This is a completely ordinary, very tired and excited person.
But let’s get back to Oakmont. This is part of the general world created by Lovecraft’s myths, with its canons, gods and cults. It’s built around some pretty supernatural attractions, which inevitably sets its tone. Oakmont is an explosive mixture of architectural styles, from Romanesque to Renaissance and realism.
The city was founded back in the 17th century, but in the game the events unfold in the era of the “roaring” 20s of the last century. Many people associate this period with prosperity, but this does not apply to Oakmont. As if separated from the whole world, he is endlessly subjected to terrible floods, from which there seems to be no escape. Tens of thousands of people died in the fight against merciless disasters. But why don’t the remaining residents leave this city?? And why do new ones keep coming??
You shouldn’t hope for a warm welcome from the locals, because each of them is part of a closed society, jealous of its traditions and customs. There are secret cults and organizations that worship ancient deities. And between factions and influential families there is still a struggle for influence on the fate of the city.
But now the situation is completely out of control. The collapsed flood awakened sinister creatures with humanoid features who roam the streets and strive to destroy everything in their path.
People were consumed by real horror from the realization that they were not the masters of this land, that there were creatures older and stronger than them. Fear of the unknown, hopelessness and alienation – these are the main Lovecraftian principles that formed the basis of this game. However, inducing fear is not the main goal. The Sinking City explores human behavior in extreme conditions – how the desire to survive gives rise to unthinkable actions.
This detective game looks much more complex than its predecessors. Before you is an open world: a huge city that you explore for your own pleasure. Moreover, with the help of convenient tools, you can independently design locations and fill them with residents – more than 4 thousand buildings at your disposal. In other words, you have a “city editor” that allows you to realize your wildest creative fantasies. According to narrative designer Frogwares, the idea is to give players the opportunity to surprise the developers.
Throughout the game, you will be offered quests, both main and side, so that you can properly immerse yourself in the game world. In addition, tasks can also be generated independently.
The Sinking City is based on the principle of "free investigation". That is, no one is forcing you into a framework, pointing out the necessary locations, required evidence, etc.d. All that remains for you is to draw conclusions, make decisions and reap the benefits of their consequences.
So that you don’t forget anything and don’t get confused, because the game also has big quests, the developers took care of creating an investigation log and a mind palace in which all the evidence of a particular case is stored.
A little about economics (where would we be without it??), here it will be presented in the form of economic relations. For example, to gain access to secret documents, you will have to bribe a policeman. However, the developers had to abandon stores and the purchase menu, as well as dollars. And they have a narrative justification for this: since there is a crisis in the city, its residents have long switched to direct barter exchange.
What is the cause of strange natural disasters?? Will there be a daredevil who will be able to find answers to all the questions?? So far, we know only one thing: the clues to The Sinking City lie in the dark fictions of Lovecraft.
It is noteworthy that even now the developers give everyone a chance to try themselves in their role. How does this work? They held a competition, the condition of which was to write a letter on behalf of an Oakmond resident. The best of them got into the game and got a chance to become the basis for additional quests.
Most recently, a demo version of the game was released. She is still damp, but the first impression is positive. It’s worth, of course, some more work on the weapon’s recoil, shooting mechanics and aiming comfort.
In general, the game began to look even more realistic thanks to soft colors. They give the city charm and a poetic appearance on the verge of horror. This is how Lovecraft saw the world.
If while watching (or reading) you are completely immersed in the eerily beautiful atmosphere of Oakmont, rate our work and leave comments. The Fromgames team wishes you a pleasant time. The sinking city can still be saved.
