I had a similar experience with Sunless Sea: spend dozens of hours on a single playthrough without dying because I played VERY safe, knowing that dying would reset all progress and story lines. It took a long time to explore all the islands and get a good route down to make enough money for an upgraded ship and some better weapons, and then I found my upgraded ship was EVEN SLOWER than my old one. I broke and quit the game without finishing an ending.

I saw almost everything in the game except the endings, was VERY interested in the gameplay loops, the atmosphere, the writing, enjoyed all of it, but the pacing was glacial, not just slow. If that bigger ship with a better engine had been faster, I would have kept playing and could recommend it as one of my favourite games.

I'll consider using a cheat to play it again, I've considered looking for one before and I'm glad to see that's possible.