After almost 1k hours (more than 750 hours on Xbox, the rest here on Steam) and reaching lvl 200 on both PvP factions (Servants of the Flame and Guardians of Fortune), i think i can finally write down a review about this game that i love so much.

Sea of Thieves is a open world game with focus on the pirates theme and naval combat. You're free to do anything you want, and as such, you have a lot of options, from PvE to PvP. In the beginning, it may be overwhelmingly vast to a point where it can even be scary. What should i do? Should i go after the giant skull cloud in the skies? The light beacons on the horizon? Should i just stay here on the outpost and wait for something to happen? What if i get attacked by other players? You could go fishing, do an skeleton fort, do a sea fort, you could try naval combat against skeleton ships, or even maybe other player ships. A purple light beacon in middle of the nothingness of the ocean? Why not dive into it? Wait, is that a FRICKING MEGALODON? LET'S KILL IT!! Wait, why is the water all pitch black all of a sudden? Are those... are those KRAKEN TENTACLES??! WHY IS MY SHIP NOT MOVING FFS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH--...
Well, this is, in my opinion, the beauty of Sea of Thieves. You'll always have something new to discover, a new random encounter where you'll learn what to do, and above all, a new cosmetic to unlock, which is the whole point of the game if you ask me.
There's no such thing as an stronger weapon you'll unlock after leveling up, clothing that will give you more armor or health, ships with special abilities or perks. Everyone have the same arsenal to their disposal. What differs a new player a.k.a swabbie from a experienced pirate legend is, in the most pure meaning of the word, experience. Knowing how to gather and use every tool that's available on the arsenal in your favor, how to manage your ship, your supplies, the basics of naval combat, things like that is what puts you above other players and crews. A 4-man galleon can be COMPLETELY wipped out by a solo player on a sloop who knows what he's doing. And knowing this makes you go after knowledge and experience day after day, so you can be a better pirate and a better captain.
There is cosmetics that you can buy with real money, and also a seasonal battle pass with skins and other stuff, but honestly? The better cosmetics are obtained through commendations unlocked by playing the game and reaching milestones. For example, in my opinion, the best curses in the game are the PvP factions curses, which is the Skeleton Curse and the Blessing of Athena, both obtained after reaching lvl 100 in Servants of Flame and Guardians of Fortune, respectively.
About the atmosphere and visual aspects of the game, i'm not overreacting when i say it haves the MOST BEAUTIFUL atmosphere of any game i've ever played. Everything matches, the soundtrack, the graphics, the sounds the ship makes when it's sailing on high seas or when it's docked on the outpost or shore of an island, the biome change when you sail from the cristaline waters of Shores of Plenty to the dark and moody vibe of The Wilds... it's just amazing. You can feel every inch of the atmosphere, almost as if you're playing on VR. Sometimes i just want to get in the game to set sail on Shores of Plenty and hear the water hitting the hull of the ship, the wind howling on my ears... i can't describe how amazing and peaceful that is.

BUT!!! Nothing can be just flowers, right? The dark side of Sea of Thieves are the bugs and glitches, which can be VERY annoying at sometimes, but in my opinion, nothing too much extreme and unusual, but worse than that is finding some toxic pirates who are more than happy to make you and your day miserable. Don't get me wrong, the game is called Sea of Thieves, not Sea of Friends. I'm not talking about losing your loot after getting sunk to another crew, that's the nature of the game, and it's something you'll have to learn to deal with. The treasures you hoard and keep on your ship? They're not truly yours until you get to actually sell them to any of the trading companies. I'm talking about cheaters and griefers who don't even want to sunk you at all, they're just sweaty idiots who live in their grandma's basement eating Hot Cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew. In the beginning of your journey, while you're still learning the mechanics and pace of the game, meeting up with a crew composed by pirates like this, can be VERY frustrating. They'll fill your ships with holes, immobilize your ship by demasting you, then they'll board you, kill you and instead of letting you sunk and proceeding to their next fight, they'll bucket and repair your ship to keep it afloat and then spawn kill you until you rage quit and say "FRICK THIS GAME". As an experienced player, you'll be able to deal with this situation much easier, but when you're new to the game, this can be frustrating at the point where you'll just uninstall the game and never come back, and that would be a shame, because you would be missing on such an amazing game just because some idiots who need to touch grass immediately.

Now, just as the playerbase can be the worst thing, it can be and it is also the best. What would be Sea of Thieves if it weren't for the multiplayer aspect of the game? I mean, why would you play it? Because of the lore? I know i wouldn't, for sure. In my opinion, the lore is empty, it lacks iconics characters, it feels more like a filler than anything else. There are special unique voyages called "Tall Tales", which in theory is the Story Mode of the game, but in reality, it's just boring and repetitive. Well, at least for me it was. The ONLY reason i did Tall Tales was because of the Gold Hoarder Curse, which is a HUGE grind. The actual lore it's the one you create for yourself, for your pirate, for your crew, for your play style. You start the game like an innocent swabby, and hundreds of hours later, what you'll turn into? A mighty and just captain, who thrives through your exploration skills? Or a cruel plunder pirate who steals and sunk everyone you see? Is it possible that you'll still be an good person after being sunk over and over again and losing the treasures you've found with so many effort? Maybe you'll be just as evil as the pirates who once sunk you to steal your beloved treasure chests! That's up to you.
Back to the multiplayer topic, there are some options to find other players so you can sail with. You can join an open crew of any ship size, or you can join LFG (looking for group) Discord servers and Steam groups. Some people would advise against joining an open crew because of many reasons, one of them being the lack of organization, since most players who join open crews are unexperienced, and that nothing good could come out of this. I would advise otherwise, that you SHOULD join open crews from time to time, especially after you turn into an experienced player. The MOST WHOLESOMES and enjoyable journeys i had were while on open crews. I was casually joining an brigantine open crew, and found myself between a three ship alliance doing a Glitterbeard event, which i'm not going to spoil for you guys, but it's DEFINITELY the better experience you'll have on this game, and it SHOULD be on your bucket list as an Sea of Thieves player. The other day, i found another fellow PvP enjoyer on a open crew who also had his Blessing of Athena for reaching lvl 100 on Guardians of Fortune, and then we proceeded to sink the entire server while doing world events and ended up selling almost 1 million worth of loot! So yes, it's worth trying.
But better yet than this, is playing with a friend. The experience of both friends learning about the game and dying on the proccess hahahah it's WONDERFUL. I'd say no other game is that much enjoyable about this learning experience. It's so good when you start to actually get good at the game!
It's a wonderful game and it deserves a try, despite the cons.