Which Lovecraftian horror AA game featuring a WWI vet-turned-detective from Boston did you prefer?

[Cosmic Voyager]

The two games I'm referring to, of course, are Call of Cthulhu and The Sinking City! I just played them both back to back, and while I knew they were both Lovecraftian horror games, I didn't realize their premises would be *quite* so similar to each other.

In The Sinking City, you play as Charles Reed, a WWI veteran-turned-detective from Boston who travels to the eponymous town of Oakmont where he investigates Lovecraftian terrors to uncover a cult's scheme.

In Call of Cthulhu, you play as Edward Pierce, a WWI veteran-turned-detective from Boston who travels to Darkwater Island where he investigates Lovecraftian terrors to uncover a cult's scheme.

Which one do you think did a better job of delivering upon the premise?

 

[Bradford]

I haven't played The Sinking City but I thought Call of Cthulhu was a tragically terrible game so, I'll probably prefer The Sinking City when I get around to it. At least, here's hoping.

 

[rpm]

Real talk: are either of them worth playing at all

Both caught my eye but both reviewed like shit. I'm not expecting them to be one of the best games of the generation but is one or both of them passable at least?

 

[Riversands]

The Sinking City, you play as Charles Reed, a WWI veteran-turned-detective from Boston who travels to the eponymous town of Oakmont where he investigates Lovecraftian terrors to uncover a cult's scheme.

In Call of Cthulhu, you play as Edward Pierce, a WWI veteran-turned-detective from Boston who travels to Darkwater Island where he investigates Lovecraftian terrors to uncover a cult's scheme.

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Are you sure both are not adapted from the same material work like short story or novel?

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

I haven't played The Sinking City but I thought Call of Cthulhu was a tragically terrible game so, I'll probably prefer The Sinking City when I get around to it. At least, here's hoping.

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I think you will— I enjoyed The Sinking City more as it felt more mechanically interesting with a much better world.

Real talk: are either of them worth playing at all

Both caught my eye but both reviewed like shit. I'm not expecting them to be one of the best games of the generation but is one or both of them passable at least?

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They're definitely both passable. I didn't love either of them but I also didn't regret my time spent with either. I got about what I expected out of them.

The Sinking City is the better of the two imo, I'd recommend going for that one if you just play one of them.

Are you sure both are not adapted from the same material work like short story or novel?

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Call of Cthulhu is based on the short story of the same name, but The Sinking City just borrow various elements from Lovecraft's broader mythos, I don't think it's based on any one particular story.

in fact I think The Sinking City tries to position itself as an addition to the canon rather than just an adaptation

 

[Corporate Clown]

Sinking City was the better game overall as there was just more to see and do and the story was actually quite in depth. I was pretty meh on the endings, though. Call is a quicker game with a couple of cool endings.

 

[Castamere]

I bought CoC thinking it was Sinking City. For 3 hours I was like "man whens this world gonna open up".

 

[Elfgore]

I've only played The Sinking City, but it was amazing. It had some jank, but the story for most of it was engaging, the combat satisfying, and the open world enjoyable.

Real talk: are either of them worth playing at all

Both caught my eye but both reviewed like shit. I'm not expecting them to be one of the best games of the generation but is one or both of them passable at least?

Click to shrink...

The Sinking City was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had this year. Nails the setting and feel of being a detective

 

[sredgrin]

They're both kind of awful but Sinking City tries some stuff and is kind of weird AF at times so I think it earns more points for effort.

 

[Logan]

Fun fact - Frogwares (the studio who developed The Sinking City) worked on both games: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Cthulhu_(video_game)#Development

On 16 January 2014, publisher Focus Home Interactive announced via Twitter that video game developer Frogwares was working on developing the game. They also announced that the game would be released on Microsoft Windows and "next-gen consoles". Later that month, a Frogwares spokesperson said that the game was still in "early development". They noted that the game would have a focus on investigations in a horror setting and that they would be using the experience from developing their Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series. They also revealed that they were working with multiple writers who had written scenarios for the 1981 role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
After two years of inactivity on the title, prompting concerns that the game might have been canceled, Focus Home announced the game again in February 2016, in development for release in 2017 by studio Cyanide. They revealed that the game would be a semi-open world investigative role-playing game with elements of stealth and psychological horror. The game will be built on the Unreal Engine 4 game engine. It will be more closely based on the Call of Cthulhu "pen and paper" role-playing video game than on H. P. Lovecraft's original short story of the same name.

 

[Bradford]

Call of Cthulhu is based on the short story of the same name, but The Sinking City just borrow various elements from Lovecraft's broader mythos, I don't think it's based on any one particular story.

in fact I think The Sinking City tries to position itself as an addition to the canon rather than just an adaptation

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Call of Cthulhu isn't really based on the story of the same name at all. It's actually titled Call of Cthulhu because it was a licensed game for the Call of Cthulhu Pen and Paper game by Chaosium, which is why it has half-baked RPG mechanics in it.

Call of Cthulhu, the official videogame inspired by Chaosium's classic pen and paper RPG, brings you deep into a world of creeping madness and shrouded Old Gods within Lovecraft's iconic universe.

Call of Cthulhu © 2019 Chaosium Inc. Call of Cthulhu is a video game published by Focus Home Interactive and developed by Cyanide SA. "Call of Cthulhu" is a trademark of Chaosium, Inc. All trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved.

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It honestly does very little adapting of the story of the same name.

 

[Xero grimlock]

they are both pretty eh. call of cthulhu railroads you too much and sinking city's city becomes a slog to wander through.

 

[CaptainBojangles]

I haven't played either of them, but I get these games mixed up constantly

 

[Sylvestre]

I haven't played Call of Cthulhu, but sinking city was such a bad game I cant believe that would could be worse ?

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

I bought CoC thinking it was Sinking City. For 3 hours I was like "man whens this world gonna open up".

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Lol!! Did you eventually get Sinking City?

Call of Cthulhu isn't really based on the story of the same name at all. It's actually titled Call of Cthulhu because it was a licensed game for the Call of Cthulhu Pen and Paper game by Chaosium, which is why it has half-baked RPG mechanics in it.



It honestly does very little adapting of the story of the same name.

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Gotcha, thanks for the clarification! Been a long while since I read Call of Cthulhu, so I couldn't remember how accurate the game was (but my impression was definitely "very loose" lol)

 

[carlsojo]

They both suck. Call of Cthulhu I could at least finish.

 

[NDA-Man]

Call of Cthulhu isn't really based on the story of the same name at all. It's actually titled Call of Cthulhu because it was a licensed game for the Call of Cthulhu Pen and Paper game by Chaosium, which is why it has half-baked RPG mechanics in it.

It honestly does very little adapting of the story of the same name.

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Press X to listen to the creepy hollow-eyed artist mumble about his dreams.

(Admittedly the LeGrasse chapter and the Norwegian Sailor story could actually be adapted. The New Orleans police venturing into the cursed swamp looking for kidnappees could be a game on its own, while "We fought some cutlists, then accidentally woke a god before running him over like a manatee" needs more meat).

EDIT: Wasn't Sinking City delisted for some reason? Like a mega contract dispute or something?

 

[ak1287]

They both suck. Call of Cthulhu I could at least finish.

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Not gonna take quality judgments from someone sporting an Arrow avatar, thanks.

 

[Billfisto]

I enjoyed them both, but I enjoyed my time with Sinking City a lot more, and it's actually stuck with me quite a bit.

Call of Cthulhu is basically rote Lovecraft. It does exactly what it says on the tin, for better or for worse. If you've experienced any average Lovecraft pastiche before, Call of Cthulhu is basically just that, again.

Sinking City is way more interesting, both mechanically and in terms of what it attempts. It kinda posits a world where all the Lovecraftian tropes actually exist, and extrapolated what that would be like in a "real" world, with all the weird politics and racism towards fish people that entails. It kinda falls apart a bit when it comes to asset re-use, but it has some interesting ideas and delves way deeper than anything Call of Cthulhu attempts.

 

[hwarang]

Not gonna take quality judgments from someone sporting an Arrow avatar, thanks.

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Lol.

Coc was disappointing.

 

[Noema]

This thread made me curious to check out The Sinking City and apparently it has been delisted from everything.

 

[Kapten]

Bought both. Finishied CoC.

Could not finish Sinking City even though I enjoyed it. The performance of the game made me pshyically ill whenever I played it. Basically the only game to do so.... Which sucks.

 

[Portmanteau]

This thread made me curious to check out The Sinking City and apparently it has been delisted from everything.

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Oof

 

[matrix-cat]

The Sinking City was a cool idea that turned into a real slog in practice. They lost their way with the quest design and ended up with a system where you're only allowed to do the tedious legwork of solving cases without ever getting the opportunity to SOLVE one. You schlep all around the city to the library, Police Station, City Hall looking up and cross-referencing records to find addresses, you schlep over to those addresses, you fight monsters or inspect crime scenes, but the actual puzzle pieces of the cases fall into place all on their own without any input from you, and all of a sudden your Quest Log will say "This guy is the murderer, go and choose whether to give him up to the Police or let him go".

It also has the most hilariously unsubtle interpretation of Lovecraft's mythos. You arrive in town and within 30 seconds you're meeting guys with straight up fish heads, every street is named Necronomicon Drive or Mad Arab Boulevarde, and the first quest giver is a gorilla man.

Call of Cthulhu also had a great premise but then it started getting in to combat and really bad trial-and-error stealth sequences and I just couldn't finish it. I guess I liked The Sinking City more because it does have at least some of that Frogwares Sherlock DNA, but neither game is really good.

 

[Kupo Kupopo]

the sinking city's a much, much better game, imo. far more atmospheric, clever, hallucinatory, & disturbing. just wandering around the city, & visiting the different locations, eventually begins to feel so weirdly 'off' that it kinda starts getting under your skin...

a game made with lots of love...

 

[spam musubi]

this is a good, comprehensive video

 

[Curt Baboon]

The Sinking City is an ambitious, charming, messy and bloated experience that ultimately ends up being just not much fun to actually play. I appreciate it as a fan of Lovecraft's work and you can just feel there's an immense amount of love put behind the making of the game that I legitimately appreciate the hell out of, but I'll probably never finish it.

It'll never happen, but I would really like to see them take another stab at it. The concept behind the game is a really good use of the source material despite its complete lack of subtlety.

 

[Joris-truly]

No Dark Corners of the Earth mention? It's better then both of them in my opinion.

 

[Alien Bob]

The one with my boy Throgmorton, of course

 

[Jeremy]

CoC had a better main story and TSC really only excelled in its sidequests.

Between the two of them, there's a great game, but I was glad to have played both.

 

[Bufbaf]

I liked both of them, CoC felt more like a "proper" story-driven production, if that makes sense, and Sinking City is a very cool sleeper hit style of 7/10 game that I keep coming back to when I'm in the mood, and feels much more like an expansive and free RPG than CoC. Also, while CoC nails the cinematic feel and locations in most parts, City and has such a great collection of tiny stories to uncover that pretty much encompass the entire catalogue of Lovecraftian horror tales.

I honestly think both are cool games if you dig the setting.

edit lol Jeremy put my rambling into one line. Well :)

 

[J_Atlas]

The sinking city was incredibly janky, but I highly preferred it to the other.

For one you get to tell off your racist boss for being a racist. Always a big plus.

I also feel that its like, tone more fun, I prefer to get more variety of eldritch things to deal with through a story, all of them being dangers in their own way.

 

[LordGorchnik]

I have sadly yet to experience and play a single truly mesmerizing and amazing Lovecraftian based video game. In my opinion. Everyone will say Dark Corners was amazing but it really wasn't. I don't know what I'm looking for in it but its certainly not the detective based stories that we've seen these past couple of years.

I also tried Lust of Darkness and the upcoming preview of Lust from Beyond (beware if you search as both are more adult oriented) as it deals with pleasure and pain the Lovecraftian style but it was pretty shallow.

What else is out there? Any super obscure random gem folks have tried to scratch that Lovecraftian-horror itch?

 

[Curt Baboon]

I have sadly yet to experience and play a single truly mesmerizing and amazing Lovecraftian based video game. In my opinion. Everyone will say Dark Corners was amazing but it really wasn't. I don't know what I'm looking for in it but its certainly not the detective based stories that we've seen these past couple of years.

I also tried Lust of Darkness and the upcoming preview of Lust from Beyond (beware if you search as both are more adult oriented) as it deals with pleasure and pain the Lovecraftian style but it was pretty shallow.

What else is out there? Any super obscure random gem folks have tried to scratch that Lovecraftian-horror itch?

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Bloodborne is absolutely the best one that I've seen, especially in the way it actually handles the themes Lovecraft liked to explore in a smart way versus just going "Here's Cthulhu I dunno!".

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm full of shit and changed my mind literally seconds after writing that. The correct answer is Darkest Dungeon.

 

[Jeremy]

What else is out there? Any super obscure random gem folks have tried to scratch that Lovecraftian-horror itch?

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Bloodborne and Eternal Darkness are probably the best cosmic horror games, in terms of playability.

 

[xir]

Alone in the dark? Was carnby a vet?
I actually liked coc despite the warts!
Ma cab re

 

[grand]

Sinking City is the far better game but neither get the reception they deserve

 

[Bufbaf]

Bloodborne and Eternal Darkness are probably the best cosmic horror games, in terms of playability.

Click to shrink...

Alone in the dark? Was carnby a vet?
I actually liked coc despite the warts!
Ma cab re

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While I loved both Eternal Darkness and Alone in the Dark (the first ones that is, the "remake" was utter crap), I'm not sure they really hold up today. Also, AitD was hardly lovecraftian really, it was more about ghosts and spoopy things iirc. Just adding Ecstatica for good measure.

Honestly though, I think Sinking City is better than all of them in the context of playing it today, as a brand new experience in 2020. Apart from Bloodborne obviously. Bloodborne is by far the best lovecraftian, modern thing out there.

 

[KernelC]

Sinking City looks great, plays like ass
Call of Cthulu is fine

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

The Sinking City was a cool idea that turned into a real slog in practice. They lost their way with the quest design and ended up with a system where you're only allowed to do the tedious legwork of solving cases without ever getting the opportunity to SOLVE one. You schlep all around the city to the library, Police Station, City Hall looking up and cross-referencing records to find addresses, you schlep over to those addresses, you fight monsters or inspect crime scenes, but the actual puzzle pieces of the cases fall into place all on their own without any input from you, and all of a sudden your Quest Log will say "This guy is the murderer, go and choose whether to give him up to the Police or let him go".

It also has the most hilariously unsubtle interpretation of Lovecraft's mythos. You arrive in town and within 30 seconds you're meeting guys with straight up fish heads, every street is named Necronomicon Drive or Mad Arab Boulevarde, and the first quest giver is a gorilla man.

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Yeah these criticisms are pretty spot on -- at first I was like "oh this system is very cool, I like how they don't hold my hand and I have to piece clues together using the archives to find my destination/target!" but since that was basically the ONLY gameplay loop, that got old very quickly lol.

Like you said, a lot of cases boil down to a binary choice where you can just flip your interpretation of different pieces of evidence to come to a different conclusion about what to do. It would've been far more interesting if you could make objectively wrong deductions based on your research and then potentially nab the wrong guy while the criminal gets away. Which in turn would affect your reputation around the city and how people interact with you, etc.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

The Sinking City is an ambitious, charming, messy and bloated experience that ultimately ends up being just not much fun to actually play. I appreciate it as a fan of Lovecraft's work and you can just feel there's an immense amount of love put behind the making of the game that I legitimately appreciate the hell out of, but I'll probably never finish it.

It'll never happen, but I would really like to see them take another stab at it. The concept behind the game is a really good use of the source material despite its complete lack of subtlety.

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Yeah that was basically my takeaway as well. I kept thinking, as I often do while playing AA games lol, "ah man I wish they could do a sequel where ____ is fleshed out a bit more! It's a cool idea, but it needs more polish." I legitimately loved the setting of The Sinking City. Such a cool vibe to have a half-sunken 1920s city where nobody seems all that stressed that their home is sinking and they're used to all the ape-men and fish-men and Lovecraftian horrors walking around haha.

Would love to see a sequel that makes the combat way less stiff, fixes the janky animations, doesn't rely on ridiculous levels of asset reuse, has a much more fleshed out gameplay loop, etc.

I have sadly yet to experience and play a single truly mesmerizing and amazing Lovecraftian based video game. In my opinion. Everyone will say Dark Corners was amazing but it really wasn't. I don't know what I'm looking for in it but its certainly not the detective based stories that we've seen these past couple of years.

I also tried Lust of Darkness and the upcoming preview of Lust from Beyond (beware if you search as both are more adult oriented) as it deals with pleasure and pain the Lovecraftian style but it was pretty shallow.

What else is out there? Any super obscure random gem folks have tried to scratch that Lovecraftian-horror itch?

Click to shrink...

I'm sure you've heard of Bloodborne by now lol, so I'll recommend Darkest Dungeon. It's pretty well known these days, but it's an indie game that nails the themes of cosmic horror better than almost any other game. It's not scary in the traditional sense, but the real fear comes from worrying about managing your inventory and trying to avoid the perma-death of the characters you worked so hard to build up lol

 

[Porkepik]

Oh I thought we were talking about the coc prisonner of ice game from the early 2000 from infogrammes. Loved that one. Never played the new Cthulhu games

 

[KDC720]

I actually just started CoC last night. I'm only chapter 3 but it's decent enough so far. Seems to be more of a walking sim with some light stealth and detective elements.

I haven't played The Sinking City yet but I do own it. From my understanding it's somewhat similar to the Sherlock Holmes games the dev previously made but with a bunch of Lovecraft.

 

[Aostia82]

despite its terrible combat spike moments, at the end of the day I preferred The Sinking City
probably because of its third person view lol

 

[Dervius]

Rather liked The Sinking City.

It has so many issues, but it was obviously lovingly designed and has some really cool ideas. I liked the detective system, but could have done with less combat. It reminded e of the (far superior) Vampyr in that way.

I have had CoC for months via Games with Gold and it's never really interested me.

 

[Dineren]

This thread made me curious to check out The Sinking City and apparently it has been delisted from everything.

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You can still buy it directly from the developer at https://store.frogwares.com/. There is more information about why it was pulled at the site as well. The dispute seems really messy with their publisher/partner failing to pay for milestones met and attempting to take control of the IP.

 

[Noema]

You can still buy it directly from the developer at https://store.frogwares.com/. There is more information about why it was pulled at the site as well. The dispute seems really messy with their publisher/partner failing to pay for milestones met and attempting to take control of the IP.

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Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have a pc that can run the game but it's good to know that at least there's still an option.

 

[Murfield]

Call of Cthulhu isn't really based on the story of the same name at all. It's actually titled Call of Cthulhu because it was a licensed game for the Call of Cthulhu Pen and Paper game by Chaosium, which is why it has half-baked RPG mechanics in it.



It honestly does very little adapting of the story of the same name.

Click to shrink...

Its actually a lot closer to "the shadow over innsmouth".

 

[xir]

Also, AitD was hardly lovecraftian really,

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it literally shipped with a feelie about hp lovecraft

 

[Billfisto]

Also, AitD was hardly lovecraftian really, it was more about ghosts and spoopy things iirc.

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Lovecraft did more than cosmic horror he's primarily known for. Stories like The Tomb, The Picture in the House, The Outsider, In the Vault, Herbert West: Re-Animator, and Pickman's Model all deal with ghosts, zombies, or otherwise spoopy topics without as much of the standard cosmic flavouring.

Alone in the Dark could definitely fit in with his works.