Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss
- August 1, 2024
- Sarepta Studio
- 10h median play time
Get on Steam"Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss" is a single-player, first-person psychological drama set in 1905. As a deep-sea diver on the ship Thalassa, you must investigate the mysterious disappearance of your crew and the ship's fate. With only your support Bailey guiding you from the surface, dive into the depths, uncover clues, and unravel the mystery of what truly happened onboard. The game offers a captivating story that explores human emotions and interactions.
Reviews
- The game features a captivating and emotional story that keeps players engaged and invested in uncovering the mysteries of the sunken ship.
- The atmospheric underwater setting is beautifully crafted, enhancing the immersive experience and complementing the narrative themes of grief and loss.
- The mystery-solving mechanics are well-designed, allowing players to piece together clues and develop a deeper understanding of the characters and events.
- The game suffers from performance issues, including stuttering, low frame rates, and audio problems, which can detract from the overall experience.
- Certain gameplay mechanics, such as slow movement and delayed interactions, can feel frustrating and disrupt the flow of exploration.
- There are bugs related to key items and autosave features that can lead to significant setbacks, causing players to lose progress or become stuck.
- story56 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely praised for its emotional depth and compelling narrative, weaving themes of loss and human connection throughout the experience. While some players noted issues with clue placement and immersion-breaking elements, the overall storytelling is considered strong and thought-provoking, making it a standout feature of the game. Many reviewers recommend it for those who appreciate story-driven experiences, despite some gameplay shortcomings.
“Thalassa is a really competent storyteller and investigation game; you're not exactly on the edge of your seat, but certainly craving for more answers all the way through.”
“The storytelling is strong from start to finish, weaving loss and human connection into a compelling experience.”
“A tragic but hopeful story set in a haunting yet beautiful world.”
“Clues can appear in rooms you have already visited once you reach a certain story point, which kind of forces you to rely on the map to see where to go back and it breaks the immersion a bit.”
“Protagonist hallucinates a fair amount which weakens the storytelling.”
“If the above reasons are fixed, I would rate this a 4-star instead, since the story does have some noticeable gaps in the ending.”
- graphics13 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are visually appealing and detailed, with many players praising their beauty and artistic quality. However, there are significant performance issues on ultra settings, including stuttering and frame rate drops, which can be mitigated by lowering the graphics settings without a noticeable loss in visual fidelity. Overall, while the graphics are admired, technical problems detract from the experience for some users.
“I'm not done yet but I love the story and the beautiful graphics!”
“Super story rich, amazing graphics and detail.”
“Beautiful game, both in visuals and story.”
“Game ran like ass on ultra settings (not a hardware issue). FPS were fine when standing still or walking straight, but turning caused FPS drops and stuttering. Lowering the graphics to high solved the issue entirely, and I could frankly not see a difference in graphical fidelity.”
“Graphics on ultra were a bit glitchy for me until I turned it down to medium.”
“Constant micro-stuttering no matter the graphics setting.”
- gameplay13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its exploration-focused mechanics typical of walking simulators, with a strong emphasis on storytelling and atmosphere. While the mystery and deduction elements are generally effective, they can occasionally present challenges, requiring players to piece together clues thoughtfully. Overall, the gameplay is engaging and intuitive, providing a satisfying experience as players navigate the wrecked ship and uncover the narrative.
“Mystery/detective games often struggle to actually give the player the experience of solving the mysteries, but Thalassa's mystery mechanics work very well -- guiding you toward which types of evidence to examine and what types of connections to look for, but you still need to mentally make those connections to be able to mark a mystery as complete.”
“Not the longest game (I finished in 11 hours with breaks included), but it has a well-done story, beautiful graphics, and gameplay that definitely captures the feeling of exploring a recently wrecked ship.”
“While the gameplay is centered around exploring the Thalassa, what keeps you engaged is the shifting perspectives you have on the crew and their actions.”
“There's nothing distinct about the gameplay compared to other walking sims, but the story is very moving and the atmosphere is absolutely incredible.”
“After over 7 hours of gameplay, I can't go any further.”
“This kind of micro-mechanical friction is pretty pervasive.”
- emotional8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by strong voice acting and compelling characters, with many players finding the narrative both heart-wrenching and beautifully haunting. While some felt the prologue was overly sentimental, the overall experience is described as intense and impactful, often evoking tears and deep reflection long after playing.
“I found this game was best played blind to fully immerse myself in the heart-wrenching secrets of the sea.”
“Heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful, I couldn't stop thinking about it once I was finished.”
“This game made me cry twice, but I enjoyed it :)”
- optimization7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 71 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with players experiencing significant stuttering and frame drops, particularly during movement, even on high-end hardware. Lowering graphics settings alleviated some issues without a noticeable loss in visual quality, but persistent micro-stuttering remains a concern, leading some players to pause their gameplay in hopes of future fixes. Overall, while the game shows potential, its performance issues detract from the experience.
“I don't want to rob myself of what seems like a great story and game due to these performance issues.”
“Being as how the game has little to no replay value, I choose to stop playing as of now in hopes that the performance issues get fixed.”
“Game ran like ass on ultra settings (not a hardware issue). FPS were fine when standing still or walking straight, but turning caused FPS drops and stuttering. Lowering the graphics to high solved the issue entirely, and I could frankly not see a difference in graphical fidelity.”
“Constant micro-stuttering no matter graphics setting.”
“I did have some issues with the game stuttering and the image splitting apart at times, and had to adjust the image quality, but I was able to play without much issue after making adjustments.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its emotional depth and immersive underwater ambiance, reminiscent of the Bioshock series. While the storytelling and voice acting enhance the experience, some players note technical issues that detract from the overall atmosphere. Despite these flaws, the game successfully creates a moving and atmospheric exploration of themes related to death.
“Very atmospheric, slowly paced game about coming to terms with death.”
“There's nothing distinct about the gameplay compared to other walking sims, but the story is very moving and the atmosphere is absolutely incredible.”
“A beautiful and very enjoyable game with an excellent atmosphere and solid story.”
“Great voice acting; good atmosphere, long repetitive animated sequences, and certain strange anomalies (e.g. ladder dropping down so fast underwater? Where are the dead bodies? How can you breathe for so long underwater?)”
“And with the game’s stutters and audio problems, the modest underwater atmosphere is compromised.”
“After I saw the first couple of trailers, it really reminded me of the BioShock 1 and 2's ocean atmosphere.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have serious stability issues, with major bugs that can force players to restart from the beginning. However, users noted that there are no shuddering, glitches, or crashes during gameplay.
“Seriously buggy, and I mean major 'restart the game from the beginning' bugs.”
“No shuddering, glitches, or crashes.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised for its emotional depth, with comparisons to Hans Zimmer's work, enhancing the overall experience. The soundtrack, combined with impactful voice acting, effectively evokes strong feelings and adds to the game's artistic quality.
“This is a great game for that, and I really enjoyed the music and artwork for it.”
“It is heart-wrenching, especially with the amazing soundtrack that reminded me of Hans Zimmer at times (like that doesn't break me already), and the voice acting that just hits the exact spot and note to make you cry.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Many users express disappointment in the game's replayability, citing minimal value in returning to play due to performance issues. This has led some players to halt their gameplay until improvements are made.
“The game has little to no replay value, so I've decided to stop playing for now, hoping that the performance issues will be fixed.”
“Once you complete the main storyline, there's not much incentive to play again, making the replayability quite disappointing.”
“After finishing the game, I found that there were no meaningful choices or different outcomes, which severely limits its replay value.”
