It was impossible for me to play The Sinking City 2 for more than 15 minutes without coming to the obvious realization that this is Resident Evil in a fedora. That might sound dismissive, but I really enjoy the recent Resident Evil games, so comparing Frogwares' Lovecraftian survival horror sequel to some of the best of them – which feels especially similar to 2019's Resident Evil 2 remake – is much more of a compliment than a put-down. What sets it apart begins with its unique, rich, 1920s New England setting flush with loving detail that instills a strong sense of personality over the top of the mechanics it so clearly imitates.
You play as Calvin Rafferty, a likeable occultist waking up to an apocalyptic flood set to wipe out the entire city of Arkham, Massachusetts in 1929. He's definitely a little bit of a pulp fiction stock character: hard-chinned, two-fisted, and foolishly brave. But there are layers to him that rise to the surface here and there. Similar to the Resident Evil comparison, likening him to the classic heroes of the genre is not really an insult.
The intriguing cosmic horror plot revolves around a half-remembered expedition to Lovecraft's surreal Dreamlands that left Calvin's partner and paramour, Faye, in a comatose state. This creates immediate emotional stakes and momentum from the very start, which carried me through the somewhat slow first half of the first chapter. I don't want to spoil too many surprises, but The Sinking City 2 manages to be a bit of a who's who of the Cthulhu mythos. Some of its eldritch guest characters are much more hinted at than portrayed in all their terrible glory, but Arkham-heads will find lots of little nods to make them cackle with otherworldly glee.
The unfolding story includes some effective emotional beats and a few neat twists that kept me guessing about some characters' motivations, but overall remains pretty easy to follow given the high concept subject matter. This isn't the kind of tale where you're going to have to look up a YouTube video to explain the ending afterwards, and I appreciated that. But it also doesn't back down from engaging with some of the heavier metaphysical aspects of Lovecraft, effectively selling the idea that you're up against beings beyond human comprehension. And it also does a decent job of sidestepping some of the ones that haven't aged particularly well.
The centerpiece is the town of Arkham itself, which presents a gorgeously damp and decrepit backdrop for exploration and combat. Excellent texture work and sound design come together to create an atmosphere that made my skin feel clammy even in the dry heat of a Colorado summer. The density of little details crammed into every corner of every area is truly inspiring. Every dilapidated hotel room or terrifying hospital ward feels both lived-in and ravaged by the ongoing disaster. The cutscenes and facial animations aren't always to the same level of quality, but pretty strong voice acting across the board helps carry them past their production limitations.
Each chapter takes you to a new locale in Arkham, and each feels distinct in both vibes and layout. You start out in the flooded city streets, navigating by boat to various ruins and culminating in a creepy, haunted hotel. Chapter 2, which I found to be the scariest, is set in an abandoned hospital that features its own version of the unkillable stalker in the spirit of Mr. X and Nemesis. And Chapter 3 takes you to the Arkham Fish Market, which goes about exactly how you'd expect if you're familiar with the works of Lovecraft. That is to say, very poorly for our boy Calvin in some unpleasantly fish-themed ways. This progression keeps things fresh while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic.
As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to the mechanics, this is an unapologetic tribute to modern, over-the-shoulder Resident Evil. Calvin can amass a small arsenal of guns, but there are never enough bullets to kill everything, leading to tense scrounging through drawers for every last round. Melee is an option, but not a very effective one. Mixing it up with even your basic zombie-like enemies is almost a guarantee of taking some licks yourself, so close quarters combat became a conscious choice to expend my healing items instead of my ammo. Calvin is not as vulnerable as Resident Evil Requiem's Grace, but he's certainly not a Leon S. Kennedy-level action hero, maintaining a good balance between competent and fragile.
The controls are very similar. The inventory system is very similar. The basic enemies are very similar. There are puzzles where you have to find three things to stick into a door to make it open. You can pick up herbs and craft them into healing items. It even has a system of achievements that unlock powerful perks in New Game+ almost identical to the newer Resident Evil games. Again, I'm not complaining. It's not like I'm sick of the modern Resident Evil formula if it's executed well, and Frogwares did a commendable job, so this feels like a free extra course while we wait for Capcom's next big dish.
One exception to the scarce ammo rule is that certain boss fights or big arena battles have infinitely respawning loot pick-ups (explained by an in-game note that lampshades their bizarre physical properties) to keep you from getting softlocked if your magazines run dry. This felt like a little bit of a cop-out that undermines its difficulty – these segments were some of my least favorite anyway, but hey, you know what else is very Resident Evil? Having boss fights that aren't very good.
All that said, The Sinking City 2 isn't just about Frogwares being a Capcom cover band. One way it sets itself apart is with a perk system that lets you unlock and equip powerful runes that do things like increase your damage when your flashlight is off, rewarding you for being able to hit enemies you can't even see. They come in four tiers of increasing power, and you can't really unlock the strongest ones on a single playthrough, creating a compelling incentive to charge headlong into horror all over again.
The other novel bit is the ability to find written clues around every area that can be organized and connected with red strands like your very own wacky conspiracy board. Each belongs to a group, and correctly connecting each group gives you some progression points. Some give hints on plot-critical objectives, while others point to potent, optional treasures. The rewards feel worthwhile, though some require a little bit of backtracking, even if the puzzles themselves aren't exactly brain-busters.
You can set the difficulty of these puzzles independently of the combat difficulty, which is neat, but all the harder option really does is remove highlighted text and icons that tell you which clues belong together. I didn't find it particularly difficult to figure out which hints were related and put together the information in them myself even without those hints, so it felt like increasing the difficulty from Very Easy to Easy. There is one pretty tough optional puzzle that required me to really use my brain later on, but I did end up yearning for more difficult detective work.
Also, there is no sanity mechanic, which seems a little odd for a Cthulhu game. There are some strange moments of reality-bending theatrics, but I was never made to doubt if the things my character was experiencing were even real. And that's a bit of a letdown.