TA Playlist Wrap-Up – Nonetheless Wakes the Deep

I’m by no means swimming once more after this.
~Cameron McLeary

Welcome to the TA Playlist Wrap-Up for June 2025. Having performed some beautiful giant video games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Mass Impact during the last few months, we concept it could be great to take slightly of a damage in June, by way of providing up 4 shorter Sport Cross stories that may be knocked out over a weekend, fairly than taking the entire month.

Our nominees integrated quick-but-great video games like Highway 96, Citizen Sleeper, and Jusant, yet fairly than hiking mountains, hitchhiking on barren region roads, or exploring area stations, our electorate determined to take a commute out to sea within the adventure-horror sport, Nonetheless Wakes The Deep.

Set in 1975 aboard the Beira D, an oil rig within the North Sea off the coast of Scotland, Nonetheless Wakes The Deep made waves when it introduced immediately into Sport Cross in June 2024, bringing a singular atmosphere to the horror-adventure style. The sport has a tendency to get categorised as a “strolling simulator,” although in my view, I feel that there are sufficient different gameplay parts (operating, hiking, leaping, stealth, and many others.) that it doesn’t rather have compatibility that class.
RumbleFish10 mentioned:

Surely a fascinating Journey Horror sport, and I did experience it for the only playthrough. I have a tendency to love taking part in via most of these video games now and again, and it was once fortunately excess of only a strolling simulator. General advisable, particularly since it is on Sport Cross.

Nonetheless, the affiliation is there, thank you largely to the previous paintings of the developer, The Chinese language Room, which almost invented the strolling sim with video games like Expensive Esther: Landmark Version and Everyone’s Long gone to the Rapture. The developer’s earlier frame of labor coloured the preliminary impressions of lots of our discussion board commenters, incessantly for the more severe:
Mo Hito Pint mentioned:

The one different Chinese language Room sport I have performed was once Expensive Esther which is entire crap, so I feel I will give this one a omit, despite the fact that it does glance as though it’s going to be a lot better than that was once

ShakeableLeek06 mentioned:

I have by no means performed this, nor am I ever prone to, yet I will ascertain what a couple of different posters right here have mentioned already, that Expensive Esther is a humdrum load of outdated garbage, so if it is the rest like that, it would not be one thing very stress-free. It appears a lot better than Expensive Esther in equity, albeit that may as neatly be a textbook definition of damning with faint reward, yet it is not in reality one thing that evokes a lot pastime from me anyway [Shrug emoji which we don’t have on TA]

No longer everybody hated Expensive Esther, after all:
tranceformer81 mentioned:

I would performed Expensive Esther and Everyone’s Long gone to the Rapture on PlayStation a couple of years prior to made by way of the similar devs so was once assured I’d experience this and I did.

However even for individuals who didn’t like The Chinese language Room’s earlier paintings, some discovered that Nonetheless Wakes the Deep was once an overly other enjoy:
EJW611 mentioned:

This don’t have typically been my cup of tea, particularly taking into account the one different sport I would performed by way of the Chinese language Room was once Expensive Esther, yet my god was once I satisfied I would performed it. A fully brilliantly disturbing play.

So, we’ve established that Nonetheless Wakes the Deep isn’t Expensive Esther, yet what precisely is it? The sport drew comparisons to a number of different works over the month-long dialogue:
EarthboundX mentioned:

It is nearer to one thing like Amnesia: The Darkish Descent or Soma than Expensive Esther. I do not even know If I would classify Expensive Esther as a online game. That is miles forward higher than Expensive Esther.

BigBanjo Okay mentioned:

I described Nonetheless Wakes the Deep as “Alien Isolation, yet on an Oil Rig.” You get to understand your folks or Staff, you Run from the Creatures/ Extraterrestrial beings seeking to clear up puzzles and some way off the Rig or Send. Can not in reality hurt or kill them out of doors of cutscenes. Most effective actual distinction is Deep does not have Minor enemies like Alien had the androids and different People.

Guitar LInc0ln mentioned:

Highest approach to describe this sport (with out spoilers after all) is that it is an excellent mixture of “The Factor” and “Deepwater Horizon”. Should you admire any of those films, you must give this sport a move!

Cameron “Caz” McLeary has been having a gorgeous tough move of it in recent years, ever since he were given in a bar battle and put Billy Cunningham in health facility. Fearing he would move to prison, Caz signed up for a four-month stint as an electrician aboard the Beira D, an offshore oil rig the place his best possible pal Roy is a cook dinner, hoping that he may keep away from the police lengthy sufficient for the warmth to die down. This didn’t sit down too neatly with McLeary’s spouse, Susan, who’s disenchanted that Caz would go away her and their two younger women over the vacations, and is going as far as to threaten divorce if he doesn’t get the placement resolved. Sadly for Caz, the police aren’t keen to let the subject move, despite the fact that they’ve to trace him down out in the midst of the North Sea, and when Caz’s boss, David Rennick, is knowledgeable that the police will probably be coming to his oil rig if he doesn’t flip McLeary over, Caz is fired at the spot.

Fired from his process and going through imaginable jail time and divorce — no query, it’s been a foul day for Caz, yet issues are about to get even worse. Simply as he prepares to board a helicopter again to the mainland, the drill group hits one thing that reasons the entire rig to shake, pitching Caz off the helipad and into the icy waters of the North Sea.

Thankfully, Caz is pulled from the water by way of the group, and he wakes up a little while later to search out the oil rig is in chaos… the platform is damaged, programs are failing, and lots of of his crewmates are useless. The lifeboats malfunction and the helicopter crashes, chopping off any street for break out. However as Caz quickly reveals out, there’s a better risk lurking at the oil rig than easy mechanical disasters. The Beira D’s drill unleashed… one thing… from the depths of the ocean, an eldritch organism this is infesting the rig, feeding at the group and reworking them into gruesome, bloodthirsty monsters.

With the assistance of a handful of survivors, Caz makes his means across the damaged oil rig, repairing programs to stay the platform afloat in hopes {that a} rescue is at the means from the mainland. Because the monstrous entity from the depths grows more potent, alternatively, and the selection of surviving group contributors dwindles, is there the rest Caz can do to prevent the creature and get house to his circle of relatives?

Nonetheless Wakes the Deep launched to usually certain opinions, recently sitting at a Metacritic rating of 83 for the Xbox model, and a TA Person ranking of three.95/5.00. Typically, our commenters indexed the sport’s design and environment amongst its more potent issues, in conjunction with the stellar voice paintings from the principle solid.
JohnnyInterfnk mentioned:

SWtD shines in 3 sides: it has you spend time with the group prior to the twist of fate, although it successfully makes use of this time, so the beginning does not really feel adore it drags. This makes you care whilst you pay attention from them over the telephone or stumble upon them later at the rig. As neatly, there’s a actual sense of time and position with the rig, adore it’s a real position fairly than a suite of online game ranges. The sensation of being at the North Sea within the 1970’s is in reality palpable. In spite of everything, the “antagonist” design has (to this point) been incredible.

Stevo6483 mentioned:

I performed this a couple of months in the past and liked it. Good atmosphere and environment. No longer too lengthy so it does not outstay it is welcome. I assumed the voice performing specifically was once in reality excellent – the entire characters gave the impression unique and spoke like actual folks would of their everyday lives with each and every different as an alternative of sounding like caricatures.

EarthboundX mentioned:

Wow simply appeared it up and Alec Newman received an award for his VA within the sport, deserved I would say.

Newman (Caz) received for Highest Performer in a Main Function on the twenty first British Academy (BAFTA) Video games Awards, whilst Karen Dunbar (Finlay) received for Highest Performer in a Supporting Function. Nonetheless Wakes the Deep additionally received the BAFTA for best possible New Highbrow Belongings, in addition to receiving nominations at different awards ceremonies in classes like Audio Design, Ensemble Forged Efficiency, and Creative Success.

Like every sport, although, Nonetheless Wakes the Deep additionally has its downsides, receiving grievance for being too linear and following a reasonably same old horror plot, particularly when compared to a few different video games within the style:
Spa1h mentioned:

JohnnyInterfnk mentioned:

Nonetheless Wakes the Deep in reality appears like SOMA, even though with the complete opposite problems. SOMA was once a masterpiece in storytelling and thought-provoking narrative yet had a tacked on “monster” gadget to check out to make it really feel extra of a “online game” (the sport is superb general, yet you’ll by no means shake the sensation that the SOMA creatures had been quite perfunctory). Right here in Nonetheless Wakes the Deep, the “antagonist” gadget is a lot more fleshed out and fascinating, yet I want the plot had extra though-provoking sides or horror-based possible choices/repercussions to it. Up to now (and granted I am only one/2 of the best way via), the plot itself is slightly paint-by-numbers, despite the fact that the gameplay itself is amusing. (I want you need to by some means mesh Nonetheless Wakes the Deep and SOMA by some means, construction off the strengths of each and every…)
General, I am taking part in the sport. The query I’ve although is how a lot I can take into accout about SWiD years from now. I nonetheless elevate SOMA and Amnesia: the Darkish Descent with me in my thoughts, will this in finding area as neatly?

In spite of those legitimate criticisms, the full vibe within the boards amongst individuals who performed the sport was once certain, and led to some respectable stats for the month:

All the way through June, 3,175 tracked avid gamers performed alongside by way of unlocking no less than one fulfillment in Nonetheless Wakes the Deep, with a complete of one,489 gamers beginning the sport for the primary time, and 320 avid gamers earned their ultimate fulfillment all through the month. The TA group in general unlocked 41,008 achievements within the sport all through June, incomes 813,366 Gamerscore and 1,759,860 TrueAchievement Rating – a ~2.16 ratio for the month.

Probably the most-unlocked fulfillment all through June was once “All Beans and Forgiveness”, an unmissable story-related fulfillment that takes position early within the first bankruptcy, which was once unlocked 1,474 instances within the month. On the different finish of the spectrum, the least-unlocked fulfillment in June was once “Finlay Vacation spot”, with most effective 246 tracked avid gamers discovering the entire other ways to die aboard the Beira D.

General, the achievements for Nonetheless Wakes the Deep make for a fascinating record, with some suave names and distinctive necessities. One fulfillment, “McLeery” was once most effective unlocked by way of 480 folks all through the month, even if it’s the primary imaginable fulfillment to get all through the sport. The fulfillment asks you to spend 5 mins staring on the bottom of considered one of your crewmates whilst he’s having a shower, which earned “McLeery” a place on Tom’s record of probably the most embarrassing Xbox achievements remaining yr.

JayPsych47 mentioned:

McLeery now not profitable within the fulfillment awards was once an absolute crime, maximum suave fulfillment I have come throughout in ages

Any other fulfillment that drew rather slightly of consideration was once “Bheir an cuan a chuid fhèin a-mach”, (translation: “The sea will give its personal” or “The sea brings out its personal”) which asks you to finish the sport the use of the Scottish Gaelic language possibility for the subtitles and sport menu.
CiphriusKane mentioned:

There is one fulfillment on this that calls for taking part in in some other language. If ye’re that averse to nae having English be the centre of the universe for one playthrough, do me a favour and simply skip the fulfillment and depart it at 36/37. I will most effective bring to mind 3 video games that experience Gaelic language beef up (two by way of the similar dev), and it in reality sucks seeing folks play Gaelophobe Bingo as a result of they dinna wish to do a 2nd playthrough

Consistent with CiphriusKane (who additionally gave us this superb publish outlining one of the crucial historic and political context surrounding the sport’s atmosphere and characters), there have been a large number of damaging feedback concerning the Scottish Gaelic fulfillment when the sport first launched, the worst of that have since been got rid of. Within the Playlist boards this month, although, maximum of our commenters’ reactions to this fulfillment had been rather certain:
MorseyBaby mentioned:

I used to be so shocked in probably the most welcome means with the beef up for Gaelic within the sport and the truth that it makes the realities of the language, its fashionable plight within the towns and its ancient gaps (most commonly lacking within the east) transparent. I would really like to look one thing identical accomplished with Welsh in a long run sport. So excellent to look, and now not one thing it could be tricky for others to do too.

tranceformer81 mentioned:

The second one playthrough with the Scottish Gaelic was once a brand new and delightful enjoy for me. I have watched international TV presentations prior to, and I am used to the audio being international, yet I will apply what is going on from subtitles. The sport flips this, with the audio final in English and the subtitles and sport activates being in Gaelic. Simply needed to get used to that, and the remainder of the playthrough was once effective.

Allgorhythm mentioned:

As any individual who enjoys finding out languages now not my very own, I admire what The Chinese language Room has accomplished. The remoted atmosphere of the sport, with few folks concerned, as a result of many of the group is on vacation depart, supplies the canvas for a personality drama. The Scottish nature supplies intensity to the characters in that drama—including a mystique for non-Scottish gamers and an extraordinary in-group taste for Scots.
What higher approach to underscore the sport’s far off locale than to make use of a language this is spoken by way of a fairly make a selection few? The sport’s audio and visuals toughen the ambience yet it’s the cultural undertones of language that give the atmosphere its visceral punch.

Attitudes about this fulfillment will have stepped forward in contemporary months, as the sport initially introduced with none type of bankruptcy make a selection, which supposed both doing all of your first complete playthrough with Gaelic subtitles and menu textual content, or doing a complete playthrough in English after which a 2nd playthrough with the language modified. With the addition of a bankruptcy make a selection possibility a couple of months in the past, you need to set the language originally of a brand new sport after which skip proper to the remaining bankruptcy to unencumber the fulfillment.

Even with the bankruptcy make a selection technique to make the of completion slightly more straightforward, we most effective had 28 avid gamers make it onto the June 2025 Shout-Out Record for beginning and completing the sport inside the month. Of those who did, SDC DrkNxo clocked the quickest of completion time, barreling during the sport and DLC in simply 12 hours and 51 mins on June 20. Congrats to the entire avid gamers who made the record this month!

My bet is that we’d have had rather a couple of avid gamers at the Shout-Out record if now not for the Siren’s Leisure DLC that dropped on June 18, after a few of our Playlisters would have already finished the principle sport in Sport Cross and may now not have come again for a paid DLC. At first of June, greater than 5,000 tracked TA Customers had finished Nonetheless Wakes the Deep, yet that quantity dropped to 0 when the DLC got here out, and by way of the tip of the month, most effective about 300 avid gamers had unlocked all 59 of the sport’s general achievements with the DLC integrated. This marks the primary time in Playlist historical past that the selection of customers who’ve finished a sport has dropped all through the month the sport was once featured!

Siren’s Leisure is ready in 1986, 11 years after the Beira D sank to the ocean ground, as a staff of saturation divers embarks on a project to determine what came about aboard the oil rig. Whilst there are indubitably other folks who had been disenchanted about dropping a of completion because of new DLC (see the feedback on this newsletter, which incorporates a concept that we made this the TA Playlist sport to trick folks into beginning it simply prior to the DLC was once introduced – imagine me, we want we had that type of clout! ), a number of of our Playlisters had been satisfied to shop for the discounted DLC after taking part in the principle tale with their Sport Cross subscriptions.
Lurking Attorney mentioned:

SWTD is some other of the ones tremendous indie video games that I performed and in reality loved, yet almost certainly don’t have performed if it hadn’t been on Sport Cross. Or if I did, I would have waited for it to hit a sale. No as a result of I would not purchase it yet extra as a result of it could much more likely than now not simply long past below the radar.
I loved it greater than sufficient to drop money at the DLC, to beef up the devs. I nonetheless have not were given round to going again to mop up ignored collectibles so I would possibly neatly finally end up purchasing the principle sport too if it finally ends up being time-limited on GP and backlogs and dependable distractions with different new stuff stay me from returning.

FF Sq. Enix mentioned:

This was once a gamepass GEM for me, a kind of video games that I didn’t know the rest about until it hit Sport Cross, then I watched the video and immediately downloaded and performed it, and boy am I satisfied I did. I liked the whole lot concerning the sport and loved my time with it the entire means via. Simply picked up the DLC and having a look ahead to leaping in to that quickly. So thrilling in an effort to return to the rig after the loopy occasions of the principle sport.

We are hoping you loved your dive into Nonetheless Wakes the Deep! The wrap-up for the July 2025 TA Playlist sport, Dishonored, is recently within the works, so search for that quickly. Within the period in-between, we invite you to try the featured TA Playlist sport for August, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and provides your ideas at the sport on this month’s Spoiler-Unfastened and Spoiler Dialogue Threads. See you there!