Developed by 3DClouds and published by Team17, King of Seas is an action role-playing game where you take the role of a pirate and embark on an adventure to become the king of the pirates. While I say you take the role of a pirate, that statement feels somewhat incorrect, as the gameplay feels more like leading around a ship rather than being able to live out the life of a pirate. The entirety of gameplay is played as a ship, with action being centered around naval combat. While this combat system has its benefits, as you can customize your ship, utilize various unique skills, and follow wind patterns to gain the upper hand in battles, there is always an awkward layer that the combat rarely sheds.
Even as you continue to level up and upgrade your ship, many battles just end up with you continually circling your opponent, clumsily trying to line up your ship for a proper cannon shot. This gameplay loop can become tiring, as despite the number of skills and upgrades you gain throughout the game, you will be repeatedly facing the same types of opponents, in the same type of battles, in nearly identical-looking areas. However, despite its flaws, the combat reaches its peak later into the game, where you are rapidly swapping cannon types, constantly using different skills, swapping out sails, and doing everything in your power to outmaneuver and whittle down your opponent.
Being procedurally generated, the large world of King of Seas is incredibly enthralling to explore at first, but slowly loses its appeal as the game progresses, and you find more places to travel to. While in concept that sounds contradictory, as more places to explore should be more interesting and exciting, but many of these areas look and feel practically identical, taking away all the fun of finding someplace new. In the beginning, it is thrilling to explore sunken ships, find people adrift at sea, go fishing, and discover your first volcano, but that enjoyment is lost after some time, as you will continually run into these same things, just now in different places within the world. It also doesn’t help that much of the game is open water with not much to directly interact with, leading to long stretches of time where you will be traveling without coming across anything eye-catching or truly noteworthy. Many times, a small map filled with more things to interact with and discover can be more interesting and engaging than a large one that feels repetitive and barren. However, while the excitement of exploring is lost over time, it cannot be understated how strong the exploration is within the first few hours of the game, where everything is fresh and special, and you have the desire to interact with each new thing you find.
The story of King of Seas is rather simple. You play as the child of the king, and after being framed for his murder, join up with pirates in order to clear your name. Then, you eventually begin your way to becoming the king of the seas. While the story is nothing to write home about, the characters are. Every character you meet on your journey is wonderfully designed, and all look distinct from one another while still fitting into the pirate theme of the game. They all have their own quirks and unique personalities, making it compelling to try and interact with as many different characters as possible. The drawback, however, is that many of these characters are not directly involved in the story or side quests, making some of them seem more like decorative set pieces than characters that actually inhabit the world. However, the ones that are directly integrated into stories and quests ultimately became one of the strongest aspects of the game, as they make engaging with the story and taking on side quests much more appealing.
The world of King of Seas is stunning, as the game’s art style properly depicts the beauty of the sea, while also letting ports, shipwrecks, and other landmarks pop out of the background. When the art is then coupled with upbeat music, the atmosphere created perfectly fits into and helps strengthen the pirate theme the game is centered around.
In summary, King of Seas opens incredibly well, drawing you in with a simple yet engaging story, giving you complete freedom to explore the seas, and letting you get involved in skirmishes as you wish. However, as the game continues, the gameplay loop can become repetitive, as you will repeatedly face the same type of naval battles and will be constantly making long treks across open bodies of water with not much new to find and discover. While King of Seas takes multiple missteps, it is a game I can recommend, as many may find the naval combat and large world so enthralling and engaging that they keep coming back for more.
Check Out the King of Seas Trailer:
King of Seas releases May 25, 2021 for PC via Steam. You can wishlist the game right now as well as play the Demo.
Video games have been a part of my life since my early childhood, and have always been a major aspect of it. I love video games not only as an outlet for enjoyment, but also as an artistic medium that often gets overlooked.
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