I finally picked up Subnautica Below Zero. For some reason I had it in my head that it was an expansion or 1.5 type release rather than a full sequel, so I had put it off longer than I would have otherwise.

I've played a handful of survival/crafting games since completing the first Subnautica a couple years ago, and nothing I've seen or played does what Subnautica does so well: the progression path is perfectly tuned and focused to keep you obtaining new things at just the right pace while enabling further and further exploration. There's a really addictive feeling of empowerment that comes with each accomplishment, going from bare swimming to zooming with the seaglide, to building a better tank to stay underwater longer, to eventually having massive vehicles and scanning equipment and defensive weapons. Mix it all together with the excitement from finally reaching and exploring new spaces you could only glimpse before, finding new supplies and equipment, and it's just an incredibly fun and rewarding time.

I think a common complaint with Below Zero was that it didn't do enough differently, but that doesn't bother me at all. I think the biggest problem I have with other survival/crafting games is that they all seem designed for perpetual play (e.g., No Man's Sky). Both Subnautica games are single-player at their core, with the attendant intentional elegance, and Below Zero strikes that near-perfect balance as well as its predecessor (so far).