A Lovecraftian fishing game is too good of an idea to squander, which makes me happy to report that a team as talented as Black Salt was behind it. Featuring an extremely solid art direction, straightforward but enjoyable progression, and a rich atmosphere packed into a 9~ hour package, it's probably in my top 10 or so for 2023. There's a good bit of busy work here and there but it genuinely enhances the narrative by immersing you into the tedium of being a fisherman. Spending 15 minutes fishing up normal critters and hearing that dissonant piano chord when getting an abomination always creeped me out, and without that tedium, it wouldn't strike as hard. The sailing was great, the areas were diverse and fun to explore, and filling out the encyclopedia tickles the same part of my brain as reading all the Piklopedia entries in Pikmin. My only complain is that I wish there was even more creepy shit, I think it just barely doesn't go far enough in making you afraid of what lurks beneath the water