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King of Seas

Fun, cartoonish pirating, which makes you feel cheeky rather than evil.
61%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, replayability
58% User Score Based on 620 reviews
Critic Score 65%Based on 20 reviews

Platforms

PCPCXboxPlaystation 5Playstation 4WindowsWindowsPlayStationNintendo SwitchXbox OneTabletSteam Deck
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About

"King of Seas" is an action-packed pirate-themed game where you navigate the open waters, battling enemies and building your reputation. The game features a dynamic world with ever-changing weather conditions and a day-night cycle that affects gameplay. Engage in thrilling sea battles, upgrade your ship, and make alliances or enemies as you advance through the ranks and become the ultimate pirate king.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
King of Seas screenshot
+11

58%
Audience ScoreBased on 620 reviews
story32 positive mentions
grinding84 negative mentions
  • The game features a charming art style and engaging ship-to-ship combat that can be fun and rewarding.
  • It offers a variety of ship upgrades and abilities, allowing for customization and strategic gameplay.
  • The game provides a relaxing experience with a simple RPG progression system, making it accessible for casual players.
  • The game suffers from a lack of depth and variety in missions, leading to repetitive gameplay and grinding.
  • There is no mouse support for PC, which limits control options and makes navigation cumbersome.
  • The story and character development are weak, with generic dialogue and a lack of engaging narrative.
  • story
    366 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "King of Seas" is generally viewed as simplistic and clichéd, often revolving around a routine revenge plot that lacks depth and originality. Players note that while the narrative starts with some intrigue, it quickly devolves into repetitive fetch quests and uninspired missions, which detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, many reviewers express frustration with bugs and pacing issues that hinder story progression, making it feel tedious and unengaging.

    • “Going into this, I was expecting a trading game where you get richer over time and buy bigger and better ships and continue this loop until you finish the story. What I was not expecting is everything this game offered; it had loot, loot rarity, abilities, different ships with unique designs, boss fights, a talent tree, and an amazing immersive atmosphere.”
    • “A story that is nothing special but entertainingly told, thanks to the peculiar character design.”
    • “King of Seas gets off to a pretty decent start with a promising story and combat mechanics that are initially fun to engage with.”
    • “The story is pretty forgettable, a routine revenge plot that you've probably already seen 1000 times over by now.”
    • “The storytelling is for kids, the missions are grindy, the zoom is way too far in on my 32:9 screen.”
    • “The story itself feels like an unnecessary & rushed addition.”
  • gameplay
    154 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay in "King of Seas" is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying the ship combat and exploration mechanics, while others criticize the repetitive nature of combat and the lack of depth in trading and crew systems. Many reviews highlight the game's initial limitations and frustrating mechanics, such as tedious navigation and unskippable cutscenes, which detract from the overall experience. While some find the gameplay enjoyable and straightforward, others feel it lacks the complexity and polish needed to keep players engaged long-term.

    • “Combat is not the easiest at the beginning when you lack a decent-sized ship and special powers, but late game with better ships, more fun magic (where would we be without haunted ships?) and a better understanding of the mechanics make it worthwhile.”
    • “It doesn't try to hook you with a sunken cost fallacy and rewards from the daily grind; it just gives you gameplay, a framework within which you use that gameplay, a bit of story, and there you go.”
    • “I bought this game for barely more than a coffee to go during a sale; the full price might be a bit steep for the content it has to offer, but the game more than makes up for it by being pure, raw, enjoyably fun gameplay.”
    • “Really lifeless cutscenes with no voice acting, boring plot, terrible gameplay mechanics that are really poorly explained, combat is repetitive and dull, and trading mechanics are so utterly lifeless.”
    • “Limited ship combat mechanics: cannons only aim in a straight line, tried and true tactic from start to finish is circling around enemy ships, the only way to win is by destroying the enemy's hull, no boarding mechanic, no ship incapacitation by ruining sails or crew (they can always escape even with a dead crew and ruined sails).”
    • “After playing it a couple of hours, I can say that the gameplay itself is pretty repetitive, mainly for the unbalanced gameplay that forces you to hit-and-run when facing basically every enemy, since the health of every type of ship (even the galleon, which should be the tankiest among them) is very low; the story is pretty meh, not very interesting nor something never seen before and the soundtrack is pretty good but gets repetitive very fast since it's formed by only one track.”
  • graphics
    91 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are generally praised for their charming and vibrant art style, which is both colorful and easy on the eyes, making it visually appealing. While some users noted that the graphics are decent and stylized, others pointed out that they are not particularly demanding on hardware, as they utilize a 2D design. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the gameplay experience, despite some mixed opinions on character art and the absence of a photo mode.

    • “With an absolutely charming art style, excellent visuals and soundtrack - it's a great game for when you want to switch off and chill a little.”
    • “The graphics are gorgeous, particularly when docking on islands and using the camera zoom feature to bring you closer to the action.”
    • “The art style is vibrant, colourful, and cartoony.”
    • “Port Royale, but with cut content and simplified graphics.”
    • “Graphics are not good, especially not the character art which has a really weak art style.”
    • “One wonders if those developers ever developed or even played games before as this game has nothing to offer in terms of diversion, ingenuity, verve, creativity, freedom of choice, consistency, or any other quality you'd want from a computer game... oh, sorry, neat graphics... I'll give you that.”
  • grinding
    84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews indicate that the game features significant grinding, often described as tedious and repetitive, with many players feeling that it detracts from the overall experience. While some enjoy the grind as part of the gameplay loop, others find it excessive, leading to frustration and halting story progression. Overall, the grinding aspect is a major point of contention, with calls for improvements to make it less burdensome.

    • “A feeling of missing content from the storyline that leads to level gaps that require hours of mindless grinding, lackluster variety in ships and items, odd enemy AI, sparse enemy spawns making hunting during downtime or for side quests difficult and time-consuming, distinct rarity of commanders to kill for rare loot (I only encountered 2 on my 11-hour save outside of the quest ones), and more.”
    • “Great combat and upgrade systems don’t outweigh the shallow trading, repetitive side quests, tediousness of tasks, and most of all, the grind and gating of content behind it.”
    • “This is a game that's seriously lacking in any sort of depth, jettisoning much of its early promise in favor of a bog-standard narrative, hugely repetitive side quests, overly punitive combat that thinks nothing of wasting your time and a constant, mind-numbing grind that very quickly becomes a tedious waste of effort.”
  • music
    40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally described as good and suitably nautical, with a pleasant acoustic guitar track that evokes a relaxed atmosphere. However, many players find the soundtrack repetitive and limited, consisting of only a few tracks that do not loop well, leading to boredom after extended play. While the music enhances the game's charm, it falls short of expectations, particularly for a pirate-themed title where more dynamic and varied compositions would have been appreciated.

    • “With an absolutely charming art style, excellent visuals and soundtrack - it's a great game for when you want to switch off and chill a little.”
    • “But when I opened the main menu for King of Seas, I was pleasantly surprised by a light acoustic guitar track that reminded me a lot of the music I’ve enjoyed in games like Alba: A Wildlife Adventure.”
    • “Don’t get me wrong, there are occasions when the theme turns moodier and more daunting, specifically as you sail through enemy territory or in uncharted waters, but overall, the tone and themes of the soundtrack are pleasant and satisfying, like the music you might hear as you sip your ale in the port tavern.”
    • “The music doesn't loop well, becomes repetitive, and times out too often.”
    • “I got very bored of the music after a few hours, because it only changes based on the situation and it's always the same tracks for the same situations.”
    • “The music could use much improvement.”
  • humor
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by a decent sense of self-awareness and comic value, particularly through funny character interactions and quirky inventory management. Players appreciate the amusing dialogues during ship encounters and the humorous contrasts in gear stats, though some feel it may not reach the hilarity of classics like Sid Meier's Pirates. Overall, it is recommended for its cute and funny pirate-themed elements.

    • “Also in the inventory management is selection of your gear, and it always looks funny when you have some starting gear that seems to offer better overall stats compared to more rare gear, until you learn to actually scrutinize the smaller details involving each piece of equipment.”
    • “And there is a story with funny characters!”
    • “For example, huge possibilities of ship customization, dialogues of NPCs when you ram/attack them, even funny ones when it's a friendly ship.”
  • replayability
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews present a divided perspective on replayability; some players appreciate the numerous unlockable ships, abilities, and exploration opportunities, leading to multiple playthroughs, while others criticize the game for having minimal to no replay value, ultimately affecting their recommendation.

    • “Personally, I think it offers quite a bit of replay value with all the unlockable ships, the abilities, and the sheer amount of exploration and treasures to be found—I've just beat the game a few days ago and I'm already on my second playthrough.”
    • “No real replay value.”
    • “The replayability is pretty much non-existent.”
    • “Although I did enjoy some of my time with the game, there were a lot of times when I didn't, and this coupled with the lack of replayability means I can't recommend this game.”
  • atmosphere
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive quality, blending engaging visuals and sound to create a vibrant pirate-themed experience. Reviewers appreciate the unique ship designs and the overall tone, which leans towards a lighthearted, adventurous vibe rather than a darker, more gothic setting. The developers are commended for crafting an environment that enhances gameplay beyond initial expectations.

    • “The devs did great with the atmosphere.”
    • “The difficulty is far more forgiving, and the atmosphere is more 'yar-har let's be pirates' and less 'Victorian Lovecraft town.'”
    • “Looks and sounds blend to make a nice atmosphere.”
    • “The difficulty is far more forgiving, and the atmosphere is more 'yar-har let's be pirates' and less 'Victorian Lovecraft town'.”
  • optimization
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's optimization is generally praised, with users reporting no significant performance issues on most platforms. However, the Nintendo Switch version experiences some glaring performance problems, which detract from the overall experience. Additionally, players note that the game's design leads to repetitive gameplay and frustration due to a lack of fast travel options.

    • “It's optimized specifically for them after all.”
    • “Performance: no issues”
    • “Performance: no issues”
    • “Quickly descends into a repetitive grind, feels overly punitive, and the lack of fast travel makes for a ton of time wasted and frustration. The narrative promise dies out early, side quests are extremely basic, and the world's economy is simplistic. There are some glaring performance issues on the Switch.”
  • character development
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is criticized for its lack of originality, with many characters sharing similar designs that detract from the overall experience. While the storytelling is deemed entertaining, the repetitive character design undermines the potential for deeper character exploration.

    • “The character designs are basically reuses of the exact same likenesses, with no variation.”
    • “(I have offline hours, by the way) and the character design is horrible.”
    • “A story that is nothing special but entertainingly told, thanks to the peculiar character design.”
  • emotional
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is largely overshadowed by a lackluster story, with players feeling that while the combat mechanics are engaging, they do not evoke strong emotional responses. Overall, the game fails to create a meaningful emotional connection, leaving players more focused on gameplay than narrative depth.

  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players express a preference for fully completed games at launch rather than those that are partially finished with future content planned through updates. This sentiment highlights a desire for a more complete gaming experience upfront, rather than relying on a roadmap for additional content.

    • “Advertising a game with an update roadmap is understandable, but I would rather have a fully released game with planned content to add, rather than a somewhat finished game with the rest of the content planned out.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of the menu system has been criticized for being poorly designed, with users reporting that the rotary-style category selection is buggy and inaccurate, particularly when using an Xbox Elite controller.

    • “The menu system is atrocious, and the rotary-style category selection is buggy and inaccurate with an Xbox Elite controller.”

65%Critics’ scoreBased on 20 critic reviews

Buy King of Seas

11h Median play time
14h Average play time
4-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 14 analyzed playthroughs

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