Subnautica 2 players aren't content with diving into immortal fish

Some Subnautica 2 players are not happy with the indestructible fish in the game, as they have said in recent online discussions. While complaints about the immortal fauna seem to come from a minority of early adopters, the vocal part Subnautica 2 however, the community insists that not being able to kill the fish breaks the dive with little benefit.

Although Subnautica the games were never short on terrifying creatures, they were always designed as primarily pacifist experiences. Small fish could be caught for food and craft, but larger predators and leviathans mostly functioned as environmental hazards. Killing them was technically possible, but with no direct reward and extremely limited lethal tools, most players were encouraged to avoid combat rather than seek it out. For that reason or another, Unknown Worlds Entertainment has completely removed the ability to kill faunus Subnautica 2.

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Subnautica 2 early access players are annoyed by the unkillable fauna

Just days after Subnautica 2After its May 14th release, some players already seem frustrated with the developer's decision to make the larger fauna indestructible. Reddit user DinosAndBearsOhMy argued that this change makes the game world feel less believable, saying that while they never tried to kill fish in the original Subnauticathe sequel's immortal creatures continue to undermine immersion. The post received more than 2,600 upvotes and made the front page of r/Subnautica on May 15, indicating that a vocal segment of the community shares this sentiment.

Subnautica 2 May never get Thermoblade

Several fans elaborated on the immersion complaint in the following discussion, arguing that playing as a complete pacifist who only kills for food is somewhat at odds with the premise of surviving on a hostile alien planet. “I don't exactly like the process of being eaten alive,” one player wrote, adding that their character should at least be able to go down. Another fan suggested that if the fauna were indestructible, the probability could also be reduced Subnautica 2 by adding Thermoblade. In the original Subnautica and Below zeroThis upgrade to the knife allowed players to instantly kill and cook small fish with one hit, while also doubling as an extra effective weapon against larger aquatic creatures. With damage no longer a factor, the need is less obvious Subnautica 2 to include this fan-favorite utility.

While the indestructible fauna turns out to be a somewhat questionable design decision, Unknown Worlds Entertainment hasn't exactly brought this change to fans. The developer has long confirmed that Leviathans and other larger creatures will be unkillable Subnautica 2. Although they have yet to really dive into their thought process behind this design change, one clear effect is that the immortal fauna makes the enemy ecology less “solvable” in a sense, forcing the player to adapt rather than simply eliminate threats. This consideration may be particularly relevant given that Subnautica 2's built-in co-op that could make it easier for groups to cheesy main predators like Reaper-style Leviathans, most of which have AI that can only track one target at a time.

The current complaints about immortal fish still seem to come from a minority of players. Looking at the bigger picture, Subnautica 2The Early Access launch was very successful, with Unknown Worlds Entertainment reporting 2 million sales in the first 12 hours, despite the game also being available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers on the first day.