Caribbean Legend
- February 15, 2024
- BlackMark Studio
- 35h median play time
Get on Steam"Caribbean Legend" is a Metroidvania action-adventure game set in the Caribbean during 1654 AD, inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates! and based on the Sea Dogs series. As Charles de Maure, you'll navigate a 200-hour journey, complete hundreds of quests, and experience a lifelong adventure filled with riches, power, and romance. The game allows for freeplay, story-focused, or a mix of both, ensuring an engaging and personalized experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game captures the essence of the naval combat really well, providing a highly immersive age of sail simulator with piracy, smuggling, and exploration.
- There is a vast amount of content to explore, including trading, treasure hunting, and engaging in naval battles, making it a rewarding experience for players.
- The developers are actively working on updates and improvements, showing dedication to enhancing the game and addressing player feedback.
- The controls and mechanics are clunky and outdated, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences, especially during combat and navigation.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt progress, including issues with quests and character interactions.
- The tutorial and quest instructions are vague, making it difficult for new players to understand objectives and navigate the game effectively.
- story324 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 82 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players praising its depth and engaging quests, while others criticize its convoluted design and poor execution. Many reviews highlight the need for better quest tracking and clearer objectives, as players often find themselves lost or locked out of quests due to bugs or unclear instructions. Overall, while the narrative has potential and offers a significant amount of content, it suffers from frustrating mechanics and translation issues that detract from the experience.
“The story of Charles de Maure is really engaging, and I liked it even more than the sandbox mode.”
“The most beautiful part of it is the storyline which is easily one of the best out there.”
“The storyline is perfectly blended into the sandbox mode which creates a perfect balance of the sense of freedom but with a story to follow so it is not boring as the majority of other sandbox games.”
“The story is brutal to follow and you have no idea where anything is for quests or just general shopping as your world map is useless.”
“The story is just broken English text.”
“At least 60 if not 75 percent of my time playing is just dealing with quest bugs, resetting saves; 30 dollars is very overpriced for this game.”
- gameplay166 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this title is a mixed bag, with many players noting its outdated mechanics, graphics, and controls reminiscent of early 2000s games. While the game offers a deep and immersive pirate experience with extensive freedom and a lengthy campaign, it suffers from janky controls, frustrating design choices, and a lack of modern polish. Despite these issues, fans of the genre may find enjoyment in its nostalgic elements and the sheer volume of content available, provided they are willing to navigate its quirks and challenges.
“It's addicting to play and fun despite the jank in the gameplay like the movement, dodging, and fighting.”
“The gameplay is very fun and very in-depth with lots of things to do from piracy to working for nations and everything in between. If you are a pirate fan, then I would 100% recommend picking this up and giving it a go!”
“However, the ability to have almost total freedom in gameplay and a long and fascinating story is one of the main reasons why this game has so much potential and is liked by those who played the Sea Dogs series before.”
“Unfortunately, the gameplay is still dull, and the game files are still tightly locked, leaving no room for customization or tweaks.”
“This is hot garbage.. UX is awful.. gameplay is awful.. not even worth the $15 spent on it.”
“The gameplay is unforgiving (you can be easily killed in one hit) and I agree, sometimes it can be rather frustrating, even for experienced players.”
- graphics156 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 28 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have been widely criticized for being outdated, with many reviewers noting that they resemble those from the early 2000s, leading to a janky visual experience. While some players appreciate the nostalgic charm and improved textures, the overall consensus is that the visuals are poor by modern standards, often detracting from the gameplay experience. Despite some minor upgrades, many feel that the graphics remain a significant drawback, especially for new players expecting contemporary visuals.
“Graphically, the game is basically a 100% remaster with all new higher fidelity textures and more graphics options.”
“The graphics, music, and voices are very high quality, so it's really taking the best out of old and new.”
“Nice old-school graphics, improved controls, a bunch of different gameplay improvements - now I'm ready to immerse myself in the pirate world as in childhood and youth.”
“Like others said: the graphics, controls, UI, and game mechanics are all from the early 2000s.”
“Graphics are hilariously outdated.”
“The graphics look like this game came out in 2001 - in case you didn't know, it's 2024.”
- stability38 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its stability issues, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes that detract from the overall experience. Many players note that it feels outdated and clunky, often leading to frustrating gameplay, especially for newcomers. Despite these flaws, some fans appreciate the game's nostalgic charm and hope for future improvements.
“It's not buggy for me at least, but it's very difficult and old-school hard, and I love it.”
“Very nice game, a bit buggy and a bunch of crashes.”
“Horribly buggy and missing countless quality of life features thanks to running on an ancient engine.”
“Can't recommend this game, sadly it's one of the few pirate RPGs around but man this thing is frustrating... buggy, pricey and unbelievably grindy for a singleplayer game.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, particularly in naval combat and exploration, which often involves long, repetitive encounters and vague navigation instructions. The need to constantly search for specific officers or ships adds to the grind, with many resorting to save-scumming to expedite progress. Overall, the outdated mechanics and lack of innovation contribute to a sense of annoyance and dissatisfaction with the game's grinding elements.
“Naval combat is tedious, long, and becomes boring after a few encounters.”
“Can't recommend this game, sadly it's one of the few pirate RPGs around, but man this thing is frustrating... buggy, pricey, and unbelievably grindy for a single-player game.”
“I also find looking for a specific officer or ship extremely grindy as well, since the most efficient way is to save scum.”
- optimization12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is criticized for its numerous performance issues, including significant frame drops, bugs, and crashes, particularly during loading screens. While some players note improvements compared to older titles in the series, the overall experience is marred by unintuitive controls and frustrating ambient sounds. Despite these challenges, those willing to overlook the rough edges may find a rewarding sandbox pirate experience.
“Compared to the older Sea Dogs games, it has definitely become more comfortable and optimized.”
“Not for the impatient, this game is optimized for the insane reward for growth in the game; you start out weak, but you can grow to command an unstoppable armada.”
“If you're willing to ignore its rough edges, its weird performance issues, unique takes on voice acting, its delightfully byzantine skill system, and very confusing pricing scheme, you'll get one of the best sandbox pirate games available on the open market.”
“In the game, control is quite specific, not intuitive, difficult to master, and there are quite a lot of bugs, especially in the main menu with game loading. A couple of times there were crashes and infinite black screens during loading, as well as strange performance issues, with frame drops from 120 to 40 just standing in place. Additionally, the ambient sounds, depending on the location, such as the captain's cabin or any shop, include constant sighs and groans, which are quite distracting.”
“Bugs and optimization: 6/10.”
“Combat is much more nuanced, but it's also not fun or rewarding, and the optimization here is abysmal. You need three hands to play comfortably; what was the thought process here?!”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it grating and feeling that it lacks the orchestral quality of previous titles in the series, particularly the work of Yuri Poteyenko. However, others appreciate the music as great and commend the overall aesthetic and writing of the game.
“Looks nice, the music is great, the writing is phenomenal.”
“The music is grating.”
“The creators of this game failed to realize the value of Yuri Poteyenko's orchestral music and its indispensable contribution to the older titles in the series.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised as exceptional, with multiple reviewers giving it a perfect score of 10/10. Despite some criticisms regarding clunky combat, the immersive and captivating environment stands out as a significant strength.
“Atmosphere 10/10”
“The combat is still clunky, but the atmosphere is unmatched.”
“The other advantage of it is the atmosphere.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is often derived from its outdated graphics and poor translation, which users find amusingly bad. Additionally, the absurdity of certain in-game situations, such as a moderator's reaction to criticism, adds to the comedic experience. Overall, the humor is characterized by a mix of unintentional comedy and ironic situations.
“The translation is hilariously awful, and barely any tutorials.”
“I do find it funny that he couldn't even give a 'reason' for the ban, because his feelings got hurt that someone dared to complain in a thread people were praising him for more model and texture changes.”
“Graphics are hilariously outdated.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a "cash grab," with users expressing frustration over the high initial price and the presence of numerous bugs. Additionally, players feel that expansion missions are offered at a more reasonable price, suggesting that the base game does not provide adequate value.
“If you like that, then you can get the expansion missions piecemeal at a much more reasonable price than this deceptive cash grab.”
“Refunded - another cash grab remake introducing another slew of bugs - right from the start, completely unable to change dialog options, can only proceed using the first one.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers commend the developers for successfully enhancing the replayability of an older game despite limited resources, and they express optimism for further improvements in this aspect in the future.
“The developers have done a great job at making an old game replayable with the limited resources they've had.”
“The game is set to offer even more replayability in the near future.”
“The developers have successfully enhanced the replayability of this classic title despite their limited resources.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is polarizing, with some players expressing feelings of discomfort and nausea, suggesting that the gameplay may be overwhelming or disorienting.
