Who has never dreamed of being a pirate and living a thousand and one adventures on the high seas? A life that has always called us, for freedom, the sea breeze on our faces, looting and rum … And that now we can experience as we please thanks to beautiful proposals. A good example is undoubtedly Sea of Thieves, but it is not the only game. In another profile, an ARPG, we find King of Seas, the new 3D Cloud game published by Team 17.
A title with an impeccable and colorful visual appearance, which presents us with a story which, although it is not a panacea or revolutionizes the world of disputes, is effective. Because stories of conspiracies, heirs betrayed and left for dead, and stories of redemption and victory still work. And that’s what we find on King of Seas.
The 3D Cloud game puts us in the shoes of Marylou or Luky (it depends on whether we choose to play with a man or a woman), heir to the throne. One day, while carrying out our first maneuvers as Commander of the Royal Navy, our father is assassinated and we are accused of his death and sentenced to death. However, in a dramatic turn of events, we are the only survivors of our ship. But fate still had a surprise in store for us, because we are picked up by a group of good-natured pirates who appoint us captain of a small sailboat and entrust us with the task of finding our father’s killer and restoring order in the seas.
Under this premise, a procedurally created world opens up to us, which makes each game unique. Even though, as we’ll walk you through, all that glitters isn’t gold and we find some elements that don’t quite fit the title or are too repetitive.
Technical section
King of Seas is a game that enters through the eyes, attractive and well-groomed. With a good use of the color palette, where blue predominates for obvious reasons, we find a world that feels alive. In addition, the game runs flawlessly on Xbox Series X, the console we played it on, where we had no issues or drops in fps, running in 4K at all times.
It is true that the game does not have an optimization for new generation consoles, so we cannot take advantage of features like Quick Resume, but we do notice some pretty fast loading times. On the other hand, we have to mention that there are times when textures, such as sea waves, take a while to load. It appears several times suddenly in the middle of the trip. Of course, it should be noted that the direction of the waves will be different depending on the direction of the wind, a point to underline.
On the other hand, we find a game in which the different ships that we can handle and face are well designed and different. It is true that we only have a small variety of ships and the difference between the factions will be the sails and the predominant colors in each hull. But we have a good fleet, from sailboats, to real bricks, to different types of merchant ships.
Additionally, the islands and ports all follow the same styling, with the same structures and the aforementioned stylistic and chromatic variations to differentiate each of the factions. There is not much originality, but it is effective and above all clear. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a great design, even if it’s unique, which doesn’t detract from its value.
Playability
King of Seas is a simple, dynamic and easy to control ARPG. Especially when it comes to movement, where the study resulted in a great solution for the most basic element of a ship: the sails. In this case, we find that with just two buttons we can manipulate the sails at will and unfold and fold them at will. With this we can control the speed of the ship and decide whether we want more top speed or greater maneuverability.
On the other hand, it will be essential to have the factor come. On this occasion, we have a very clear compass rose on the screen which indicates at all times in which direction it is blowing, so we will only have to adjust our position in relation to the wind to make the most of it. This way we cannot manipulate the sails or move them out of position, but rather we have to position the boat in the best possible direction.
For combat we also have two action buttons, the two remote control triggers, with which we fire each section of cannons. That is to say, with the left trigger, we shoot with the port cannons and the starboard cannons with the correct ones. These have a cooldown, which would be time to reload, before they’re ready for the next burst. In addition, to each of the four main buttons on the remote we can assign a special ability or power, such as a frontal flamethrower. Powerful skills that can turn the tide of a fight in our favor if we use them at the right time.
Of course, we can configure these powers and choose the one that best suits our playstyle. On the other hand, another RPG touch of the game is a complete skill tree where we can improve the statistics of the three main elements of our game. ship: crew (health, number of crew members, …), attributes of the ship itself, such as your health or stamina, and your firepower. In addition, throughout our travels we will find different pieces of equipment with which to improve our ship, weapons and crew. You can select them as if it was a new sword or a new bow in other games, offering new attributes, damage levels or special bonuses. And, of course, with unique and high level pieces with unparalleled effects.
Duration
Completing the main story of King of Seas will take us roughly 20 hours, although as always it will depend on the difficulty level chosen and our skills at the helm. In addition, we have an infinite number of side missions distributed by each port of the game. But where is the catch? It is that these are quite repetitive.
The vast majority of these side missions are the same, with the same title, but with different delivery sites. This is why it is easy for us to bring together two or three missions with the same name and the same objective. It has its good side, yes, since you kill two birds with one stone, but there is a great lack of variety. Almost all of them have to transport the X element to this port, sinking a certain number of ships of a specific faction. Originality shines through its absence.
In addition, and as another important negative point, certain story missions are defined and chosen to artificially extend the duration of the adventure. For example, there are missions to collect 100,000 gold coins, which takes a lot of time and, obviously, lengthens the adventure.
In short, although it has a good playable basis, the choice of side missions and certain parts of the main story is not quite correct. This artificial lengthening is something unnecessary, which obscures the experience, which, on the other hand, is quite good. Yes, it starts with a simple argument, but it’s effective and with hints of humor that make it quite entertaining and entertaining.
conclusion
King of Seas is an interesting proposition. Mixing up the idea of a devil-style aerial view ARPG mixed in with pirate ships, cannons, and a procedural world sounds good. But the execution remains at half-throttle, or at least that’s the feeling that it leaves us in control.
It is true that the control of our vessel is well implemented and has good solutions for the challenges it poses. Yes, we cannot wield the sails at will, but the playable proposition is satisfactory and compliant. And the same goes with the combat system which, while not as dizzying as other games in the genre, is well done and fun, besides offering different solutions for each type of player.
However, where it fails the most is in the construction of the story and especially in the choice of missions. Many of them are purely filler to lengthen the main story and add nothing. In addition, high schools contribute little, beyond money or experience, as they do not present great challenges and are always the same. We find very little variety and it feels more like a last minute tool to give the game more depth than something predefined and thought to contribute to the game.
In short, King of Seas is a good game, with a good playable basis, but which adds water to the choice of certain missions.
