Summary
- The Sinking City received a generally positive reception, and a sequel is set for release sometime in 2025.
- A remaster for The Sinking City has been hinted at via receiving an official rating in Taiwan.
- The remaster should focus on bundling all previous DLC content and improving graphics, controls, and frame rates to enhance gameplay while considering adding more cosmetic options.
The Sinking City, developer Frogwares' 2019 Lovecraftian detective title, was somewhat lost in the shuffle of horror games at the time and even since to a degree. After releasing a long string of entries in its popular Sherlock Holmes series, the studio switched gears for a full-blown horror title that made use of some familiar mechanics while diving into new design territory. The Sinking City follows former marine-turned-private investigator Charles Reed circa 1920 as he is called to the fictional city of Oakmont, Mass., to uncover the truth behind what happened to the flooded town and why he's experiencing strange and alarming visions.
The Sinking City itself became bogged down in a lengthy legal dispute over its IP and related rights between Frogwares and publisher/distributor Nacon (formerly BigBen Interactive.) It was resolved in 2024, with Frogwares attaining the sole rights to The Sinking City.
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Wishlist For The Sinking City Remaster
Bundle All DLC and Extra Content
After its initial launch, Frogwares put out a few additional pieces of content for The Sinking City:
- Worshipers of Necronomicon DLC
- Merciful Madness DLC
- The Investigator Pack
- Chicago Organ Grinder Pack
The first two are the most significant, as they offer a combined six extra missions between them that flesh out some of the side characters more and add to Oakmont's overall creepy vibes. The latter couple are more minor, but provide some helpful starting resources as well as a new outfit and an alternate look for Reed's submachine gun. A remaster should have all of these to give fans the complete experience in one convenient package.
Update Controls, Graphics, and Frame Rates
These are probably the areas that would benefit the most from a remaster treatment, as the original had some technical hitches, like lengthy loading screens, stilted animations, and immersion-breaking pop-in and stuttering issues. Combat, both melee and shooting, could also feel a bit floaty and unresponsive at times. The remaster is supposedly being built with Unreal Engine 5, which aligns with previous statements made by developers outlining that The Sinking City 2 will also be switching to UE5.
Smoothing all these out for an updated version would go a long way toward making the gameplay and great atmosphere more reliable and stable. Some other less pressing, but still welcome quality of life changes, such as various settings and the overall UI, would also be aided by making items like map markers and quest tracking a little less unwieldy.
More Cosmetics
While perhaps less of a concern than the above, the original title offered a range of clothing options for players to unlock and don Reed in by completing certain specific cases. Some of these were part of the aforementioned DLCs and were both outlandish and unsettling. They all offered a fun take on The Sinking City's traditional Lovecraftian elements, though, as well as referencing previous Frogwares games. A few more in this vein for a remaster would be a nice extra touch for fans.
A remaster of The Sinking City ahead of the sequel would likely help drum up interest in the franchise, while proving the best way to play the original before the second entry. Frogwares is hopefully poised then to deliver the definitive experience of it with this project.
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