Subanutica 2. The unkown, linear map and progression

This has been on my mind for a while and i hope the developers see this. I would like to start this off with the OG subnautica.

The beauty of the og Subnautica was the exploration. The map felt never ending, there was so much to explore. You had no idea what you were getting into and some areas just go deeper and deeper. Should i really be going this deep? What could be down there? That is the beauty of the og Subnautica. And the game never tells you where to go, you had to figure everything out yourself, all we had was our PDA which gave us slight clues.

Below Zero didnt do that. Instead it told you exactly where to go. Below Zeros map also feels small and linear. Which didnt have the same “never ending” feeling as the first game. There was no big open space. Everything felt closed together, for example the crystal caves where the shadow leviathan was. There was no “afraid of the unknown” feeling.

Subnautica 2 seems to be going down the same path, it feels pretty linear. The game tells you where to go. There is no “never ending” feeling or “afraid of the unknown”.

The og subnautica used silence and ambient noise to create dread. When the music stopped you heard nothing at all, only occasional leviathan and creature sounds. Subnautica 2’s waypoints and markers break that atmospheric loop entirely. you’re looking at a ui element instead of the ocean.

Another thing. In the og subnautica finding the lost river or the lava zone felt very massive, nobody sent you there, you found this all by yourself and it goes even deeper. Subnautica 2 points you somewhere, the wonder is gone. You dont feel accomplished for anything. If you expect it already, you cant be excited.

The map in Subnautica 2 also feels very small (early access i know). The map layout feels like a corridor, the story mostly goes in only one direction. In the og subnautica there was biomes in EVERY direction, all the biomes felt important and alive. Og subnautica made you go everywhere: the Aurora, QEP, The floating islands, etc. In the og subnautica the sense of scale also came from DEPTH not just width. Going from the safe shallows to insanely deep areas felt like another world. Subnautica 2 doesnt have that. It doesnt feel like anything is below what you already see, no caves nothing below the surface.

I’m not saying Subnautica 2 is ruined, its early access after all. But please pull back on the waypoints. Let the map breathe in every direction. Give players a reason to swim somewhere the story didnt send them. That sense of the unknown is what made the og so good. I love subnautica its one of my favorite games of all time. Thats why im writing this, i want the sequel to be amazing.

Yeah, there is too much linearity in Sn 2 now and the focus on explorations feels much less. the linearity is a lot pushed by the one way map progression from the starting point in the east then always moving towards the east without ever returning.

In Sn 1 the map felt bigger because we travelled from one edge to the other quite a bit unlike the linear design we have in 2.

i had similar observation with a suggestion what to do about it: https://subnautica2.nolt.io/12658 (more special places to discover and more importantly make them more then just a one time experience; something worth revisiting)

Curious about the waypoints though. Subnautica 1 had the same system - only that it wasn’t as fast paced and you weren’t as persistently reminded about it.

Fully agreed abou the linearity of the map. It’s painfully obvious how the story progresses mostly in one geographical direction, very stringently so. This really needs to change over the course of EA.

I feel like this critique is noticeable mostly because the game so far is telling a story on an incomplete map. We’re investigating a previous colony of humans who started in one place, went on a journey, and now we’re following their path. Seems like pretty classic storytelling in my book, and I’ve been enjoying studying the databank and taking notes. I believe the map isn’t even halfway complete yet, so this definitely feels like a small price to pay for early access which should definitely be resolved.