Is the game still any fun? I wrote a short teaser in March, just about my initial thoughts on the game. I still agree with most of them, but sadly, my predictions about the potential to mess with other players turned out to be correct as well.
I’d like to start with the fact that the game is still loads of fun. It doesn’t matter if I’m playing alone, with friends, or with random people, I always close the game with a sense of satisfaction.
The sailing mechanic is still a lot of fun, and the achievements make me come back to the game as well. I’m never going to get the top faction-related achievements, but a guy can dream.
Not that I’m saying that I play a lot. I think I put on my peg leg two or three times every week, at most. I’m not high level, because when I’m playing alone, which is mostly how I play I tend to be distracted by the islands, or even with the sailing. It’s so much fun. Even if I try to complete quests, I go for the merchant ones, because sometimes fighting all those skeletons alone can be tough.
A lot of people complain that sometimes it’s unnecessarily hard to fight the animal you need for these quests. At first, I was annoyed as well, but I started to watch Netflix or something, while I’m looking, and it never bothered me again.
With others, I’m mostly looking for chests or skulls, with maybe raiding the occasional fort here and there. Obviously, the game is the best with three friends, but most of the time I have fun with random strangers as well. Most people I met in the game use headsets, and since the multiplayer works across multiple platforms, with the Xbox App for Windows 10 I can join party chats fairly easily. Unfortunately, it always turns to raiding other players and stealing their stuff, which is great at the moment, but after thinking about it, I always feel bad.
I’ve heard many stories about the uncertainty of playing with strangers. They can vote for you to be locked up in the brig, and you have no option to get out of the prison. Only they can release you. Luckily, it’s easy to jump from a crew to the main menu, and from there to a new ship, but I see how it can be a bit annoying, especially if it happens more than once.
The lack of content in the was a huge issue for people in the beginning, but Rare, the developing studio, has announced its roadmap for the year. It promises free updates throughout the year, each with their own specific events and rewards, as well as adding new mechanics for the game. They are planning on adding new AI opponents, a new ship type, and even new areas to the map.
They have been supporting the game since day one, mostly with bug fixes, but it’s nice to see that a developer responds to and learns from constructive feedback from reviewers and the players alike.
I think this is a game I’ll return to every now and again, to see what’s new. Or just to have some fun. Now, where did I leave my eyepatch?
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