Abyssal Trench

I think there are some strong ideas in this game, especially the atmosphere and psychological horror elements, but I can't in good conscience leave a positive review. The game is playable but feels unfinished and lacking a lot of polish. If things improve, I'd be happy to change my review at a future date. [h2] Things that worked well [/h2] [list] [*] The [spoiler] live map in the base[/spoiler] is a great feature. [*] Water atmosphere is convincing. [*] The sound / noise is good, but needs refinement [*] [spoiler]Screen crack effect[/spoiler] is effective. [*] [spoiler]Cliffside shark encounters[/spoiler] are genuinely scary. They get me every time even when I know they're coming [*] Psychological horror elements are strong. [*] The [spoiler]large pulsing crack in the sky[/spoiler] is great, almost creepy. I do wish it had some kind of explanation though [*] The [spoiler] hallucination room's effects are an amazing idea, I like them a lot [/spoiler] but they do have problems though, as I mention below. [/list] [h2] Things that need work + bugs [/h2] (in no particular order) [list] [*] Overall the UI and HUD need a lot of polish. They're very c…

Abyssal Trench is a first-person psychological horror adventure that plunges players into the crushing darkness of the ocean floor, where isolation, uncertainty, and the unknown become far more terrifying than any conventional threat. Designed as a single-player narrative experience, the game places you in the role of a lone explorer who awakens from cryogenic sleep to discover that everything has gone terribly wrong. The mission that once seemed routine has ended in disaster, your crew has vanished without explanation, and your escape options are severely limited. Trapped in the depths with only fragments of information and an enigmatic artificial intelligence guiding your actions, you must venture deeper into the abyss to uncover the truth. The story begins with a sense of confusion and vulnerability. After awakening from cryo-sleep, you quickly learn that three years have passed under mysterious circumstances. Your escape pod lacks the fuel needed to return to safety, and every attempt to understand the situation only raises additional questions. The only source of direction comes from a strange AI voice that instructs you to investigate a series of abandoned drilling facilitie…

just played for the first time. the sound design is great and definitely immersive. i like the mechanisms and the overall idea of the game. i think this game has so much potential and is well executed considering it’s been created by a solo dev. i do have a few notes regarding aspects that could be altered/improved over time: - a mini map would be fab as it is a little tricky to navigate based solely on the map provided - the sea creatures seem to be able to get to you even when you are inside, and there is a bit of a delay when you die - perhaps more variation of sea creatures? i understand this may be difficult as a solo dev but would love to see a bit more variety, including non hostile creatures - long term, i think it would be fun if you could collect items/plants on the sea floor which could then be used to create consumables that benefit the player and offer more ways for players to escape/avoid/hide from predators i think the game is fab overall and can definitely see this progressing further. i hope dev continues to update!!!

This game does a great job with creating a scary underwater atmosphere. I really liked the sound design and creepy fish monsters. A little jank at times, but worth the few dollars for a spooky experience. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves in Ep2. couple suggestions for that: - Add more variation in the spooky fish sounds and jumpscares. The ones in game are good and effective, but they get a bit repetitive. - A mini map. I had a hard time figuring out where I was just using the base map. - Have some way to escape the monsters when they spot you. I felt like I was dying more than I should have been. Check out my playthru here: https://youtu.be/tOjf9PuU0uU

What an absolutely terrible game. I got it for like $.99, so I don't really care, but I hate playing it and 10 minutes in I already realize it's absolutely awful. I wouldn't recommend this until the dev has more experience and maybe does something with the other 2 chapters, because you only get 1 of 3.

Not Recommended As someone who loves underwater horror, I really wanted to enjoy this game. Unfortunately, it convinced me otherwise very quickly. The first thing I noticed was the sense of scale. Apparently my character is about 1 meter tall. Every door control panel feels like it's mounted above my head. The closer I get to interact with one, the shorter I seem to become. The underwater movement is awful. Instead of feeling like you're moving through water, it feels like you're trying to skate on ice underwater. You're constantly drifting, making even something as simple as lining up a door control panel to press E frustrating. This becomes a much bigger problem because exploration is constantly interrupted by giant angler fish and sharks patrolling the area. You can't really stop and look around because they'll spot you and instantly force you to run back to the nearest underwater station. The problem? Entering those stations requires pressing the door control panel... which is incredibly awkward because the movement never lets you stand still. To make matters worse, after dying once my character started walking forward automatically after respawning, forcing me to fight…