The Sinking City is paradoxically teeming with life and things to do while atmospherically making you feel alone and unsafe. The revamped investigation systems rely on your own powers of deduction and the combat is both tense and nerve-wracking. Save for the graphical issues, The Sinking City is heart-pounding, unrelenting, and addictive. Its powers of immersion and fear are not to be overlooked, and fans of eldritch horror, Cthulhu, and things that go bump in the night will definitely be satisfied playing in the dark.

The Sinking City struggles under the weight of its ambition, but it’s compelling mysteries and horrific world make it a compelling journey.

Besides the primitive battle system and the technical shortcomings, The Sinking City is a solid investigation experience with a compelling story that provides hours of case solving.

The Sinking City is a fun game, but to really enjoy it there is a lot you'll have to put up with. Maybe that will be solved in the future, but at the moment the only thing that really saves this game is the amazing influence of Lovecraft.

Weaves Lovecraftian mythos into an interesting setting. But it frequently veers into being dull and repetitive, which isn’t what you want from dreamlike horror. [Issue#165, p.89]

Those invested in the Cthulhu mythos might be interested in the tale found in The Sinking City, but most others should wait until the game is patched.

It's hard to resent a game as unapologetically dweeby as The Sinking City. It's an old-fashioned, bookish mystery rooted in the mythology and mysteries of a pulpy, cult-favorite mid-century American novelist--an effort not without charm, to be sure. But no matter how fond your affection for H.P. Lovecraft and the idea of a wide-eyed, slow-burn literary adventure, the poor design, cliched writing, and lumbering pace make this far more tedious than delightful, let alone unsettling or terrifying.