Who would have imagined that immediately after finishing (the now formerly previous version of) The Sinking City, that the remaster would suddenly release the next day? It’s hard to believe, but it couldn’t have been better times. After playing through all of the awkward jankiness of the original, I couldn’t wait to see how the remaster may have updated the combat and visuals. And all thanks to an initial Old God/Cosmic Horror fixation flame sparked by playing Dredge a while back.

I love using the photo mode, even just looking out to sea is so pretty.

For those unfamiliar, The Sinking City is like LA Noire, but instead of a serial killer, the main issue is Cthulhu. That said, the same amount of racism and classism still exists, so apparently even giant octopus gods from space can’t fix humanity. You visit an island called Oakmont in Massachusetts, where visions have been leading not just you, but various other people as well.

None of those people seem to ever return, but thankfully you’re a private investigator, so maybe you can solve the mystery lurking through the place. Once on the island though, you realise there’s a lot more going on, with areas filled with some crazy monsters, tons of flooded roads as if you’ve travelled to Venice, and no one seems to think anything weird about it. Especially considering the fact a lot of them, y’know, look like fish mutants and all that.

Any game you can be a plague doctor in immediately gets bonus points!

One of the first differences I noted was how much clearer the remaster was graphically. Originally, I felt like you could maybe see 30 feet in anything but clear daytime weather, whereas now you have a lot more visibility rain or shine. The combat is still a bit iffy, especially in a game that’s mostly reliant on melee combat, but that being said it is still more comfortable now than it ever was originally, so that at the very least is an improvement. The voice acting appears to all be the same, but luckily there was never an issue there.

In the original version, you can’t even see to the end of this road.

Unfortunately, the remaster doesn’t come with the DLC packs inherently, which sucks because as good as the original investigations are through the whole game, the DLC has the best investigations in the whole game and gives a lot more understanding into what’s happening and why. Now playable in the full Unreal Engine 5 4K experience, and what’s a better way to experience it than that? Maybe if we add handheld to that with a Switch 2 release at launch!

Yes, but on one condition, please move back from the camera.

The Sinking City Remastered does a lot to upgrade the original experience while maintaining its original structure. While the combat can be a bit uncomfortable in parts, it’s massively improved overall, but the real improvements come with the graphics. It’s almost shocking how much better this looks, especially right after playing the original version only the day prior. If you enjoyed The Sinking City, it is absolutely worth revisiting the game in The Sinking City Remastered. If you’ve never played The Sinking City, this is the perfect opportunity.

The Sinking City Remastered is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.

A copy of The Sinking City Remastered was provided by the publisher.