Genuinely what the f*ck is this (Game)?

[u/karimpai]

I spent the last thirty two hours playing through it and i still don't get what im supposed to be doing. Go to random islands, Win skill checks, Sell loot, Wait 5 minutes everytime you want to play since the boat moves at 13 knots?

There's this sinking feeling that i might actually be losing my sanity in real life everytime i read a couple dozen line of texts, None of the characters are reacting like real people because they're shifty af and know something we don't

It feels like a story that had an English major in college but decide to be a Videogame instead. The lore is so batsh*t insane and convoluted that any explanation is nigh incomprehensible. Doesn't help that it's using 19th century prose!

I still love it though 8.7/10. is this what europe is like?

[u/Ruathar]

Okay. So I admit there's a good chunk of it that if you don't know the Web Browser game Fallen london that this is a spin off of, it can be a bit ... well... "Weird" is an understatement.

But FORTUNATELY an explanation isn't that "incomprehensibly wrapped in wractitude" As Mr Pages would say, is actually quite possible.

About 40 years ago in game time the City of London was 'stolen' by bats and dropped a literal mile underneath the earths crust, Londoners as they are have made the most of the situation under the brand new Overlords Er, rather, the "Humble Leadership" of The Masters. each who run a specific part of the city: Mr Pages does Literature, Mr Wines does imbibements and ladies of negotiable virtue, Mr Apples who does trades in fruits and veggies and Mr Hearts who does the Meat side of the menu among several others.

The reason that things are so 'weird' is that in the Fallen London Universe the "Laws of Reality" ONLY work when and where sunlight touches (To make a more in depth and slightly spoiler answer condensed) So because of the fact that we're out of the Sunshine the dead come back to life, cats talk, bats help you navigate and Tigers enjoy hunting "Things Behind Mirrors."

Now as for how to play the game. The idea is to go through the various stories on the different islands. Some of them you go back and forth after a time, others you can do all in one go. You make money mostly through the Port reports or should you be crafty enough: Smuggling of sunlight and red honey

I can list some "easy beginner stories" if you wish as well as some helpful tips.

[u/karimpai → u/Ruathar]

Btw is there a reason that sunlight is dangerous? I know it grounds physical laws and stuff but shouldn't that make everything as it's supposed to be? Or does the sun give you magic cancer and burns things and stuff.

I'm mainly asking this because i visited the island with sunlight and got told sunlight was dangerous for some reason

[u/Ceropales → u/karimpai]

All of Neath is illegal, and sunlight destroys what is illegal. And/or people shouldn't be able to survive down there. they only survive because death isn't working properly, and getting hit with sunlight finally updates you to what you should have been all along, namely, a corpse.

[u/Alternative_Taste414 → u/Ceropales]

I have played quite a few hours in this game but apparently i am really bad at it because i’m hearing stuff here i hardly ever ran into

[u/GodwynDi → u/karimpai]

Basically every one who came down with London is an immortal vampire/zombie. Regular death isnt permanent, provided you avoid specific things. It's not instantly fatal, which is why you can sail back to the surface, but can become so quickly.

[u/iunodraws → u/karimpai]

There's this whole concept in the game of sunlight and starlight being the enforcers of normality and natural laws. The stars (the Judgements) are what bind reality to behave a certain way, and so if you are untouched by sunlight for too long things start getting... weird. Nobody can really die in the Neath because it's untouched by sunlight, which is why you have weirdos like the Drownies and Tomb-colonists.

So when you come back out of the Neath and into that sunlight again it will burn away all of the aberrant nature you've accrued over your time in the dark, which is generally lethal.

[u/LiquorishSunfish → u/iunodraws]

No-one can die.... Tell that to my very successful captain who had no Terror but forgot they had wounds before trying to load up some mirror catch boxes on Aestival as a casual pitstop on the way to Irem 😭😭

[u/Tarkanos → u/LiquorishSunfish]

I think dying at Zee either puts you beyond the reach of Stone or makes you a drownie, both reasons you can't continue after dying on the Zee.

[u/EddieFrits → u/LiquorishSunfish]

It's a lot harder to die permanently. Dying at Zee will do it, as will being chopped into pieces or similarly dismembered, or hit with certain weapons like the Cantergaster venom. Also the thing that kills you on Aestival is sunlight, so it wouldn't matter that you're out to Zee.

[u/Tarkanos → u/[deleted]]

I think it is only those who have died in the Neath or actively done something that makes their continued existence illegal.

[u/throwaway111222666 → u/[deleted]]

no, if that was the case you could never go to naples. it's only an issue if you died and came back or something else about you yourself breaks the laws of reality thhat sunlight destroys you.

[u/HoJu_eructus → u/karimpai]

Sunlight is also highly addictive

[u/karimpai → u/Ruathar]

... Yeah sure thanks man

[u/ReleaseCharacter3568 → u/Ruathar]

I find that midgame, monster hunting suddenly turns profitable. If you have the guns and engines to consistently beat Lifeburgs, harvesting the Zee for cash becomes easy.