Subnautica and Solitude: The Degasi
Both of the two main sub-plots of Subnautica also play an important role in hammering home this sense of utter loneliness on the hostile planet. The ‘Degasi’ sub-plot involves the discovery of a series of wrecked and rusted habitat bases as the player explores the ocean. Again, as with everything else the player discovers, the habitats have been long-abandoned, and the only things left are the discarded audio logs of the trio who once encountered them. Maida, Paul and Bart Torgal were the unlucky crew of the Degasi, another space ship which was destroyed while passing the planet, in the same way that the Aurora was, an indeterminate amount of time before the game’s events take place. As the player uncovers their logs, we discover their story, cleverly written to uncomfortably mimic that of the player themselves.
The crew started by salvaging what was left of their destroyed ship, and using it to build their first base. The trio were arguably luckier than the player, as they happened to find a surface island - one of only two on the planet - to build this first outpost, and at first seem to have lived comfortably there. However, the resources of the ship inevitably began to run out, and this, combined with a series of storms, drove the crew underwater in search of more resources and a safer place to build a habitat.
A screenshot of one of the Degasi crew’s habitat bases, abandoned in the ‘Grand Reef’ area of the game.
The player follows the Degasi crew's slow journey deeper in search of resources and answers to the mysterious secrets of the planet, and to do so the player must make the exact same journey – gradually going from their base above sea level to their final outpost, over 500 meters deep, on the outskirts of the playable map. But even for the player, the crew’s fate is a foregone conclusion: within the observatory at the top of the Degasi’s island base, the first one the player discovers, is the log of Bart Torgal, who tells us that Maida and his father are dead, and that he has fallen ill, and will soon be dead too.
In Bart’s last log entry, he describes his illness, and the knowledge of his inevitable death. His only point of solace: the beautiful view of the planet, from his island observatory.
Therefore, the Degasi’s story does not just instill within the player loneliness, but also renders the deeper exploration, beyond the ruin of the Degasi crew’s final base, more uncomfortable and tense - we have now experienced how this story plays out through the Degasi’s logs and bases, and know that the path we now tread down has only led to death, disease and turmoil.
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