I was thinking about subnautica recently and also came to the conclusion that the sound design basically sold the game. Take away the impeccable sound design and what you get is just another survival game but this time you float instead of walking. Womble mentioned it in his Forest essay that the game was developed first and then the story was added to make it a complete product and in the end the story ended up being detached from the game and the last quest is the devs scrambling to come up with some sort of a climax and just giving you two collectibles missions one after another. Absolute letdown. But all is forgiven because the gameplay is serviceable and the sound design coupled with visuals absolutely enchants you the first time you play it.
You'll enjoy the view, i had the same idea.
I was thinking about subnautica recently and also came to the conclusion that the sound design basically sold the game. Take away the impeccable sound design and what you get is just another survival game but this time you float instead of walking. Womble mentioned it in his Forest essay that the game was developed first and then the story was added to make it a complete product and in the end the story ended up being detached from the game and the last quest is the devs scrambling to come up with some sort of a climax and just giving you two collectibles missions one after another. Absolute letdown. But all is forgiven because the gameplay is serviceable and the sound design coupled with visuals absolutely enchants you the first time you play it.
Coop will ruin the 2nd one if it ever comes out.