The Sinking City 2: Sequel or Standalone Arkham Story?

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Standalone. The Sinking City 2 is a numbered sequel in the same Lovecraftian 1920s universe, not a direct continuation of Charles Reed's Oakmont campaign. You do not need to play the first game. New protagonist, new city, new plot. Reed's story ended in the first game on purpose with multiple moral endings and no single canon.

1What Is Actually New

Protagonist

Calvin Rafferty, occult adventurer. Not Charles Reed.

City

Flooded Arkham, not Oakmont. More contained and hand-crafted than Oakmont's larger, emptier open world.

Plot

A Dreamlands ritual goes wrong. Calvin's partner Faye is left in a supernatural coma. He stays in the dying city to get her back.

Genre shift

Survival horror first (scarce ammo, inventory, combat, shortcuts), optional investigation second. People who loved Reed's open-world deduction are the ones most surprised.

Community comparison: "Resident Evil 2 remake energy in a fedora," not "Sinking City 1 but wetter." Same decade, same mythos (cults, Dreamlands, Miskatonic, floods), different city, different lead, different tone.

2How to Decide and Start Without Getting Tripped Up

1
Decide if you want any Oakmont context at all.
Skip the first game if you want a clean survival-horror start. Play or watch a recap of The Sinking City only if you enjoy Frogwares detective games and want extra smiles at easter eggs. Returning players report a regional map early on that shows both Oakmont and Arkham on the same New England coast, plus unexpected mentions of Reed. Those are flavor, not plot locks.
2
Treat it as a new book in the same setting.
Same decade, same mythos. Different city, different lead, different tone. Arkham is more contained and hand-crafted than Oakmont's larger, more empty open world.
3
Start the game knowing the only required backstory.
Calvin and Faye performed a dreaming ritual. Faye is trapped. The flood and the Slither (bodies possessed by something that can jump hosts) are already happening. Your job is survive, scavenge, and push toward whatever can wake her. Optional cases and puzzles give extra loot, lore, and inventory space, they are not required to finish the story.
4
Expect the genre change on hour one.
If you came for Reed-style clue boards and open-world cases, lower that expectation immediately. Investigation still exists, but it is optional and sits beside combat and resource management. Players who went in expecting a detective sequel are the ones posting "I miss the first game's mysteries." Players who went in expecting tense third-person horror are the ones recommending it.

3Play 1 First or Jump to 2?

You want...	Do this
A self-contained horror story you can start tonight	Jump straight into The Sinking City 2.
Maximum easter eggs and "I know that name" moments	Play or recap The Sinking City first. Reed gets mentioned, cities share a map. Nothing story-critical.
The original's open-world deduction	Play 1 for that. 2 will feel like a different genre.
Best current version of the series	Most recent player posts call 2 the tighter, better-playing game even if they miss the investigation.

Common Mistakes

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Assuming "2" means you must finish Reed's campaign. You don't. The first game's endings were left non-canonical on purpose.
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Expecting the same loop (psychic visions, big open Oakmont, case-driven structure). That loop was deliberately scaled back.
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Thinking Arkham is just Oakmont with a new coat of paint. Community posts treat them as neighboring flooded New England cities in the same mythos, not the same place.
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Waiting for a "true sequel" to Reed. This is not that game. It is a new story in the same universe.

Bottom line: start The Sinking City 2 as a standalone Arkham survival-horror story about Calvin and Faye. Oakmont and Charles Reed are background flavor for people who already lived there.