Recent reviews by Komrade Kai

Edit: Took a long break since my initial review - as of 5/26 they've undone some of the changes. It's a fun game, but it's going through a great amount of change in a short amount of time for better and sometimes for worse.

As of 5/12 they've made significant balance changes to the game, and if you're looking to purchase this because of the glowing reviews you've read by gaming publications about how the game rewards risks and aggression - these balance changes have since discouraged that.

Their recent changes have slowed down the pacing significantly, and in fact it now encourages creeping slowly and spending turns hunkering down. I'd encourage waiting to see if they rebalance the game again, but it's rather disconcerting to see a developer make large sweeping balance changes to the detriment of a singleplayer game.

I'm surprised how little attention this game has received and how few reviews it has because, honestly, it's a really fun solid game. And while it's Early Access, it feels very complete.

I bought the game on a whim because it reminded me of Sid Meier's Pirates. And in a way it's similar - it's a pirating game with some questing and trading mechanics, but it really isn't Sid Meier's Pirates either.

The game has very solid combat mechanics and RPG-like elements to it. Ships can be upgraded through switching out different materials (your crew, your cannons, your sails etc) and because they're not permanent, you can switch it out depending on your whims.

Naval combat is somewhat automated - cannons fire automatically within range - but you have custom attacks that you can trigger manually. So far I've only unlocked volley shots and chain shots but the videos show that there are significantly more.

Trading is simpler but still rewarding. If you've explored the towns, they'll tell you which area provides the cargo they would want to buy. There's less planning involved and it feels more like a fetch quest but it's still satisfying to sail across the virtual seas.

There are pirates that roam the seas and other factions as well. You can bribe the pirates and you can capture the cities/towns that the pirates have control of too.

You can level up and unlock skills as well, and I believe your crew and captain rank and level up too - albeit at a different rate. But at any time you'd like you can switch to a different captain or crew (they essentially act as passive items) too.

I'll admit I wasn't entirely convinced of the graphics on the screenshots - they looked a tad jagged and oversaturated and the waters looked dull. But rest be assured, it looks much better animated. It's a beautiful indiegame.

For $14.99, it's a wonderful game.

Pros
- Beautiful graphics
- Solid trading, questing and combat mechanics
- Lightweight game
- Solo or co-op gameplay

Cons
- I hope the trading and questing mechanics is developed upon a little more
- The difficulty from "Challenge 3" to "Challenge 4" is akin to the leap from racing a car in Need For Speed Underground to racing a car in Grand Turismo 5, there's a sudden difficulty climb that can feel overwhelming.