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.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a beautifully crafted story that explores themes of grief and loss, making it emotionally engaging.
- The underwater atmosphere and graphics are stunning, creating an immersive experience that enhances the exploration of the sunken ship.
- The mystery-solving mechanics are well-designed, allowing players to piece together clues and uncover the interconnected stories of the characters.
- The game suffers from technical issues such as stuttering, low audio levels, and bugs that can disrupt gameplay and lead to frustrating experiences.
- Some puzzles and clues require backtracking and can only be accessed after certain story events, which can feel tedious and disrupt immersion.
- The slow movement and interaction animations can make gameplay feel sluggish, especially during critical moments of exploration.
- story91 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely praised for its emotional depth, compelling characters, and intricate narrative that invites players to explore and piece together a mystery. Many reviewers highlight the effective use of atmosphere and sound design to enhance the storytelling experience, while some note minor gameplay issues that can detract from immersion. Overall, it is recommended for those who appreciate story-driven exploration games, with a strong emphasis on themes of grief and human connection.
“The story was so engaging and heart-wrenching.”
“I loved how the slow, heavy walking speed and the underwater dimness and obscured vision metaphorically brought the grief of the storyline to life.”
“The storytelling is strong from start to finish, weaving loss and human connection into a compelling experience.”
“The protagonist hallucinates a fair amount, which weakens the storytelling.”
“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.”
“Sadly, it does feel a little unpolished and does have a few bugs; however, this doesn't take away from the story.”
- gameplay23 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss" focuses on mystery-solving and exploration, featuring simple mechanics that can sometimes hinder the experience due to visibility issues with interactable items. While the game offers a compelling narrative and engaging mystery mechanics, players may find the need for precise camera angles and the inability to interact with certain items frustrating. Overall, the gameplay is satisfying for those who enjoy story-driven experiences, though it may lack replayability and distinctiveness compared to other walking simulators.
“Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss is a game featuring mystery-solving and exploration with minimal mechanics.”
“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.”
“Overall: 8/10 (solid experience, though one that has somewhat low replayability. This is a story-heavy game with minimal game mechanics, so it's one of those things that you'll probably only play once. There are multiple endings, but it's easy to imagine what the other ending(s) would be, and one optional achievement that would very likely require a replay of the whole game if you didn't realize it was a thing for you achievement hunters out there.”
“There's nothing distinct about the gameplay compared to other walking sims, but the story is very moving and the atmosphere is absolutely incredible.”
“The mystery/deduction mechanic, which to me is the highlight of the game, also stumbles sometimes.”
- graphics18 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their stunning detail and beautiful environments, effectively enhancing the immersive experience, especially in underwater settings. However, some players reported performance issues, such as stuttering and glitches on ultra settings, which were resolved by lowering the graphics quality without a noticeable loss in visual fidelity. Overall, while not on par with triple-A titles, the game's visuals are considered impressive and contribute positively to its storytelling.
“The graphics for me are stunning, with an amazing level of detail.”
“The graphics and underwater sounds were amazing, and really made me feel like I was in the game.”
“Super story rich, amazing graphics and detail.”
“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.”
- emotional15 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of "Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss" is highlighted by its engaging and heart-wrenching story, which features compelling characters and intense scenes that can evoke strong feelings, including tears. The game's stunning graphics and immersive sound design enhance the emotional experience, making players feel deeply connected to the narrative. Overall, it is described as a touching psychological drama that offers a worthwhile emotional journey.
“The story was so engaging and heart-wrenching.”
“Heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful, I couldn't stop thinking about it once I was finished.”
“Definitely an emotional journey but so worth it.”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is described as stunning and emotionally charged, with a perfect blend of tension and beauty, particularly in its underwater settings reminiscent of the Bioshock series. While the graphics and voice acting enhance the experience, some players noted issues like stutters and audio problems that detracted from the overall ambiance. Overall, the atmosphere is praised for its depth and ability to evoke strong emotions, making it a captivating experience.
“It can get emotional in some parts, and the atmosphere can be a bit tense, but know that you won't get any jumpscares here, so you can stay chill and play without fear. The graphics for me are stunning, with an amazing level of detail.”
“Very atmospheric, slowly paced game about coming to terms with death.”
“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.”
- optimization10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 70 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with players experiencing frequent stuttering and frame drops, particularly during movement, regardless of graphics settings. While some users found temporary relief by adjusting settings or boosting hardware performance, the overall consensus is that the game is not well-optimized, detracting from the experience and leading some to pause their play until improvements are made.
“When I decided to boost the deck's watts to 15, that lowered the crashes and improved performance, allowing me to complete the game and almost achieve every achievement.”
“I don't want to rob myself of what seems like a great story and game due to these performance issues.”
“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 the graphics setting.”
“It is not optimized well currently.”
- music3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received positive feedback, with users appreciating the emotional depth and quality of the soundtrack, which evokes comparisons to Hans Zimmer. While the overall amount of music is limited, the underwater ambience enhances the audio experience, contributing to a compelling atmosphere.
“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, and the voice acting that just hits the exact spot and note to make you cry.”
“Sound: 8/10 (there's not a whole lot of music, but there is plenty of underwater ambience; I found the audio experience to be rather good.)”
- replayability2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game offers a solid experience with a score of 8/10, but its replayability is limited due to its story-heavy nature and minimal gameplay mechanics. While there are multiple endings, they are predictable, and the only significant reason to replay would be for a single optional achievement, making it likely a one-time play for most players.
“Overall: 8/10. This is a solid experience, though it has somewhat low replayability. It's a story-heavy game with minimal game mechanics, so it's one of those experiences you'll probably only play once. There are multiple endings, but it's easy to imagine what the other ending(s) would be.”
“The game offers multiple endings, which adds a layer of intrigue and encourages players to explore different choices, even if the core experience remains largely the same.”
“For achievement hunters, there's one optional achievement that would likely require a replay of the whole game if you didn't realize it was a thing.”
“Overall: 8/10 (solid experience, though one that has somewhat low replayability. This is a story-heavy game with minimal game mechanics, so it's one of those things that you'll probably only play once. There are multiple endings, but it's easy to imagine what the other ending(s) would be, and one optional achievement would very likely require a replay of the whole game if you didn't realize it was a thing for you achievement hunters out there.)”
“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.”
- 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.”
