THE SINKING CITY RATING FREE

Good thing I put all those points into lockpicking… When the big baddie is supposed to be some unfeasible devourer of the cosmos, maxing out your fencing skills should be of little consequence. Whether this is some kind of final boss or just the most difficult Sudoku equivalent is just a matter of genre. Games are about overcoming obstacles, growing your skills and power until you can overcome the penultimate challenge. I’m of the opinion that the entire concept of Lovecraft mythos just doesn’t fit well into the typical dynamic of a video game. Even the much-beloved Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is only a “Classic” when looked through the most bewitching of rose-colored glasses. So far, all games that try have fallen far short of their promise. Yes, it might just be true that our feeble human brains cannot possibly give proper shape to the eldritch horrors of beyond the stars. Which is one explanation for why-despite there being hundreds of millions of fans-we have yet to see a truly great Cthulhu Mythos video game. Regardless of where you stand on the overhyped-hack/visionary genius debate, the murkiness of the source material must make it an absolute nightmare to comprehensively adapt.

THE SINKING CITY RATING FREE

The reader is free to let their imagination fill in all the holes, which has led to countless personal reimaginings and an extensive extended canon.

There’s a fair argument to be made that this ambiguity is what makes Lovecraft’s stories endure. I mean, he would love to tell you EXACTLY what the unearthly horror burrowing through the reality of space looks like, but it would totally snap your mind! Best leave things as vague shapes, lest the Mi-Go’s bore holes into your feeble human concepts of reality. You have to admit, he has a certain tendency to lean on the limits of sanity to gloss over the finer details of monstrous horrors.

The sinking city rating