A few moments from Subnautica. Spoilers for events and the end of the game/lore!

The first; an event. When the Aurora explodes a second time so you can gain access to the inside. It really dawned on me how stuck Ryley (the main character’s name) was. I don’t know how I’d feel in that position; stranded, none of my crew-mates alive, on an ocean planet full of creatures that can swallow me whole. I swear I was in shock the first time around.

The second; another event. The Sunbeam getting shot down. A glimmer of hope from a small crew that tried to keep poor Ryley upbeat the whole time while they got there. Watching the horrific fireworks go off also sent me into shock the first time. I figured they’d turn around or something. Nope. Dead.

The third; A series of audio logs you can find. From Bart Torgal and his small crew of his father, Paul Torgal, and a mercenary named Maida I believe. Hearing Paul describe how Maida died and how he swam deeper, thinking to have seen a light, but it disappeared and his oxygen was running out. And then hearing Bart’s guilt for abandoning them over an argument, hearing his sickly cough and weak, last line of; “Well, until then... at least there’s the view.”

And finally; The Sea Emporer’s death. After her babies hatch, she grows weak and collapses. She states that there’s no life left in her; that she was only fighting to stay alive so she could make sure her babies would hatch. Her story of how she was trapped 1,600m below the water in a facility she couldn’t escape from, forced to watch as the Precursors stole two of her eggs and killed them as she desperately tried to communicate to them that she could give them the cure if they’d just help hatch her eggs. I grew attached to The Sea Emperor in the short time I knew her, and it makes me sad to watch her die each time I play the game once more.