King of Seas

A pirate's life for me.

But ultimately, King of Seas succeeds in most of its goals. It offers an enjoyable top-down pirate ship experience, with an engaging battle system, pleasant worlds, an interesting RPG skill tree and a pleasant story. On paper, it doesn’t do anything innovative or new, and yet the end result is an original and fun experience with a clear identity, one that we hope the developers can expand upon with updates or a sequel.

While King of Seas is a slow-burning pirate adventure with some finicky combat, it ultimately makes for a fine journey across the Seven Seas.

Think of King of Seas as yet another spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Pirates! It has all the tools needed to keep you entertained for many hours. Unfortunately, it's also lacking in certain departments, leading to a more streamlined approach that can't compare to the classic.

The podcast where I talk about King of Seas will not be live yet when this review goes live. When the podcast is live, you'll hear me talking about Sid Meier's Pirates! and how much I enjoyed that game. I came into King of Seas hoping for a game like that of the aforementioned Clive Barker's Raiders!. While this has some similarities, such as the arcade style, there are differences. But you haven't come to this review wanting to read about Tom Clancy's Marauders!, you're hopefully here to find out about King of Seas and if it's the pirate game that you want to play.

While the cheerful island graphics and pirate themes are fun, King of Seas' over reliance on grinding quickly stifles the enjoyment. Exploration is highly enjoyable, but after you've seen everything, the story is the only thing left to pursue. Artificial barriers to extend the experience frustrate, as there is little satisfaction in grinding to victory.

The ship combat and looting might carry King of Seas' piratical adventure for some, just beware that there's grinding through a bunch of stretched out story missions to get to the heart of the game. It's a game to break out when you're feeling extra piratey, but it has enough flaws that you should weigh them up before getting your cutlass out.