Talking about this game is a little difficult for me because I've never played it alone (extreme fear of the ocean), so I've always had to have friends holding my hand through it. Now, I'll be honest and say the infamous "Open World Survival Crafting Sometimes-Horror Early Access Available Now On Steam For $30 (But More Content Will Be Added In The Future)" genre is at the bottom of my interests, and I was put off at the game's mechanics at first, but all of those expectations and prejudices are completely shot down within the first hour.

Subnautica has such a unique and exceptionally thought-out alien world, with the designs of the creatures, the natural formations, even the man-made structures never really feeling like our world, what we're used to. The developers use those differences to put you in a very clear and distinct position that affects the game's tone as well as affects how you play the game: you are not the top of the food chain. It's textbook for games like this to have enemies that are bigger, meaner, tougher than the player so that there's some form of obstacle to overcome, but the challenges that Subnautica offers often don't point towards that solution. Your solution, most of the time, is to let nature be. You're in an ocean with creatures tens, hundreds times bigger than you; in the game's context, you are prey rather than just "an enemy." It creates a very unique symbiosis with the world, where you grow to feel like a part of the ecosystem, rather than an invasive species.

The game also has a fair amount of pull due to its narrative. I went into this expecting "Minecraft in the ocean with scary monsters", but I was shocked to find that there is a surprisingly compelling story, with lore found through scanning through the things you come across and putting the pieces together. I won't say a thing about the story here because Subnautica is full of so many fun surprises I would hate to spoil, but a certain moment a few hours into the game (anyone who's played knows what I'm talking about) is such a massive right hook that immediately grabs your attention and slaps you for thinking this was going to be "just another survival game."

Now, I do have to say my major qualm with the game also comes from this narrative I'm praising: the pacing. I won't blame the developers on this, since I feel like pacing a story in a game where the player is free to do whatever they like at whatever pace they please is probably impossible, but I do feel like it perhaps shows its cards a little bit too early, and leads to long stretches of having to do a lot of hunting and gathering just to make one single step forward in the story. Of course, that does inspire you to explore and learn the land more, which is smart, but... it feels weird saying the story is so interesting that it makes the gameplay feel uninteresting as a result, but that's what I'm saying. Also, while it is a bit nitpicky, I found that some enemies in a couple major biomes were a massive pain in the neck, and led to me feeling less terrified and more annoyed. To any game dev reading this, please never make a creature that moves you around from one place to another, it's incredibly disorienting and frustrating, and not in a good way.

Overall, if things were tightened just a bit more, and if the ending didn't feel like a footnote (again, this could've been affected by me being a chronic hoarder in these games), I feel like I'd like this game even more. But, as it stands, it is such a creative and lush experience that my problems don't bring the game down as a whole. I recommend it to anyone who has a fear of the ocean, you'll come out of it loving the ocean more and simultaneously never being more afraid of it.