The look of the game is just insanely cool. Hits a perfect balance between nostalgia and modern. I'm a huge lover of the ocean. I dive a lot, and Subnautica is one of my favorite games of all time. I saw one of the streamers play this and was instantly like, why the fuck haven't I played this yet. Which leads to my main criticism: the capsule art was indecipherable to me before I know that it was a little submarine. I get now that the "In the Drink" is a phrase for being in the ocean. But I am basically your exact target for this game, and I completely missed this one. My point being, when you put this on Steam, it feels like it should be a lot more clear (from the capsule art alone) that this is an Ocean/Submarine game. Make it crystal clear for dummies like me.
The game is really charming, and movement and all that feels good. I do think the story could use a little more room to breathe, but that depends on what you're going for in terms of speed I guess. It just felt a bit hurried, "Hmm, there might be life out there", to "Hi, I'm an alien life". The game made me want to immerse myself in this world, explore the submarine, "dive" into the world. Instead it kind of grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and shoved me in. In the first 10 minutes of the game you already create a bunch of cool moments, let those moments shine. Discovering alien life underwater is cool, give it the space to be a cool thing, not just a rapid push into the next objective.
I also wish there was a bit more of a thematic connection to picking up the chits. By itself, it doesn't really do much, just kind of standard video game hokum. But what is your role as a submarine person? What is your mission? Research? Let the chits be research data or something. It's another instance of this world begging me to be immersed with the visuals and sound and movement. And then rebuking me for it.
Anyway, very cool, glad I ended up checking this one out.