Back in June of 2019, The Sinking City was released for consoles and I reviewed it. Fast forward to about two weeks ago, and developer Frogwares did a short-notice, surprise release of a significantly enhanced version of the game on PS5. I was pleased to get a review code for it, and have been slowly working my way through the soaked streets of Oakmont again, enjoying the differences between this enhanced version and the original. While the core gameplay remains the same, as I detail in my original review, there’s been a lot of polish applied to The Sinking City since its original release. Some issues in the gameplay remain, but this is a far superior version to the original, lets have a closer look as to why.
Starting with the obvious that you would expect from a next-gen re-release, indeed The Sinking City has received some major graphical improvements. The game runs in 4K and maintains a smooth 60fps for the most part, though there are some hiccups from time to time. Still, it’s already a very noticeable improvement from the original. Technical glitching, like pop-ins and clipping, still happen as well, but going off of memory from about a year and a half ago, it doesn’t seem as prominent as it was on PS4.
Textures and lighting have received a lot of treatment as well and the difference is evident in the comparison trailer. With sharper textures and better lighting, everything from the soaking wet buildings and clothing to the sci-fi look of some of the NPCs is much better and provides a significantly more enjoyable experience.
What players typically also expect from a re-release from one gen to another is fast(er) loading times, and this is actually, for me, where this enhanced version of The Sinking City is so much better than the original release. Load times are cut down by as much as six times and this is a beautiful thing and very noticeable in this game. What used to take a minute or so now takes a matter of seconds, keeping players much more engaged and also making those fast-travels to other areas of the large, semi-open world city more enticing. As noted in my original review, this detective story requires a lot of investigation and stringing together clues, which means multiple trips to certain locations in the city to study up on history, etc. With these massively improved and now-snappy load times, doing these tasks (especially for the many side cases/quests) is much, much more enjoyable for someone on a tight schedule like myself.
Two other enhancements that are less noticeable and not as important to this version of The Sinking City are the support for the PS5’s DualSense controllers and also Activities. With DualSense support, you get a pinch more immersion when you’re pulling the trigger on your gun or camera. This is a neat little touch, but I wouldn’t say it makes the game any better or any worse. Activities support is something I have very little experience with, but it allows players to hop into a portion of the game for a specific chunk of gameplay. It’s not a PS5 feature I think I’ll use much at all, but in a one-off test for this game, it worked fine.
Two further additional points I need to make is that the PS5 version has extra DLC, called Merciful Madness, that can be bought separately or you can get it included in the Deluxe Edition. Plus, a digital artbook, at no extra charge, is coming to PS5 owners via DLC at a future date. Players who own the game on PS4 will also want to know is that there is no free upgrade to the PS5 version. However, the cost of the game is $50 or $65, depending on if you get the Standard or Deluxe version, which is less than typical bigger releases. The reason for the inability to do a free upgrade is for the still ongoing legal battle between Frogwares and their original publisher, Nacon. It’s been a major legal mess that spilled onto Steam last week, too. I haven’t read all the details about the legal proceedings that have taken place in France over the last year or so, nor do I have the interest to, but suffice it to say it’s an unfortunate mess for all involved.
What is fortunate though is that The Sinking City is available again, and this freshly enhanced version for the PS5 is by far the best way to play the game. The changes that Frogwares made are impactful and make this a significantly better experience than it was at original release. It still has its quirks, but the positives far outweigh the negatives and it’s easy to recommend this game to anyone who has yet to check it out.
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