King of Seas

Fun, cartoonish pirating, which makes you feel cheeky rather than evil.

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"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

Reviews

58%

Audience ScoreBased on 518 reviews

story26 positive mentions

grinding72 negative mentions

The game offers a fun and engaging pirate experience reminiscent of classic titles like Sid Meier's Pirates.
The graphics and art style are appealing, creating an immersive atmosphere for players.
The ship customization and upgrade mechanics provide a satisfying sense of progression.

The UI and controls are poorly designed, making navigation and combat frustrating.
The game suffers from a repetitive grind, with many quests feeling generic and uninspired.
There is a lack of mouse support and key remapping options, limiting gameplay flexibility on PC.

story
262 mentions
10 % positive mentions
82 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered forgettable and clichéd, often revolving around a routine revenge plot with uninspired quest design that includes repetitive fetch quests and minimal character development. While some players appreciate the art style and find the narrative entertaining in a light-hearted way, many criticize the lack of depth, voice acting, and engaging storytelling, leading to a feeling of tedium and frustration as they grind through missions. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to gameplay rather than a compelling narrative experience.
- “A story that is nothing special but entertainingly told, thanks to the peculiar character design.”
- “The story is well plotted and the ship fights are super fun!”
- “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 story is extremely generic, I wonder if any effort went into its telling at all, to be honest.”
- “This game is just a glorified mobile fetch quest that has no value by its story due to no voice acting or interesting storytelling, which would be excusable if the other parts of the game weren't also lackluster.”
gameplay
108 mentions
20 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
16 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "King of Seas" is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying the simple and intuitive mechanics, particularly in sailing and combat, while others criticize it for being repetitive, poorly explained, and lacking depth. Many reviews highlight issues such as tedious navigation, lifeless trading mechanics, and unskippable cutscenes that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game offers a basic framework that may appeal to fans of the genre, but it suffers from significant flaws that prevent it from being truly engaging.
- “It doesn't try to hook you up with 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 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.”
- “Gameplay is fairly intuitive and doesn't take itself too seriously.”
- “Really lifeless cutscenes with no voice acting, boring plot, terrible gameplay mechanics that are poorly explained, combat is repetitive and dull, and trading mechanics are utterly lifeless.”
- “The gameplay and sailing is boring, with very little complexity or depth.”
- “King of Seas ultimately suffers from a lack of visual polish, some frustrating gameplay mechanics, and dull pacing and sequences, which when combined create a thoroughly unremarkable experience that doesn't hold its own against even some of the most average pirate games on the market.”
grinding
72 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it excessively tedious and repetitive, often halting story progression and leading to hours of mindless tasks. While some players enjoy the grind and find it manageable, others criticize the lack of variety in quests and the slow pace of movement, making exploration feel laborious. Overall, the consensus suggests that the game could benefit from improvements to reduce the grind and enhance the gameplay experience.
- “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 sidequests 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.”
- “Yes, it's expected to have some grinding to it, but there is such a thing as 'too much', and considering other reviewers echoing the same, I'm clearly not alone.”
- “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.”
graphics
59 mentions
36 % positive mentions
59 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as decent and stylized, with a charming art style that is colorful and appealing, particularly in its 2D presentation. While some users appreciate the visuals and find them engaging, others criticize certain aspects, such as character art, as lacking depth. Overall, the game runs smoothly and offers good graphical options, making it accessible even on less powerful hardware.
- “I love the art style and graphics.”
- “Graphics are nice in this game and very colorful at times.”
- “Great visuals, smooth, runs very well, no crashes for me.”
- “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.”
- “Art style is horrid, writing is horrid, but shoot me if this isn't fun.”
music
14 mentions
57 % positive mentions
21 % neutral mentions
21 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players enjoy it and appreciate its integration with the art style, others feel it falls short compared to the trailer music and becomes repetitive during gameplay. Additionally, the abrupt stop of music when opening the map detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the music is seen as decent but not exceptional.
- “Fun to play, love the music and art style.”
- “It's graphics and sounds (plus music) are really amazing.”
- “Having more of the trailer's music would've been much appreciated.”
- “Boring missions, errands, characters, music, etc. I would probably not even purchase this title on a discount, let alone the full price.”
- “Every time the map opens, the music stops.”
humor
10 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is appreciated for its comic value, particularly through amusing NPC dialogues and ship customization interactions, though it may not reach the hilarity of Sid Meier's Pirates. Players find the characters and story entertaining, making it a cute and funny pirate-themed experience overall.
- “And there is a story with funny characters!”
- “Nonetheless, I recommend this cute, funny pirate game!”
- “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
8 mentions
13 % positive mentions
38 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is highly polarized among players; some appreciate the numerous unlockable ships, abilities, and exploration opportunities, leading to multiple playthroughs, while others find it lacking, citing minimal incentive to replay after completing the game. Overall, opinions vary significantly, with some players eager for a second run and others feeling the experience does not warrant revisiting.
- “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.”
optimization
7 mentions
43 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is generally praised, with no significant performance issues reported by most users. However, some players on the Switch have noted glaring performance problems, alongside frustrations related to repetitive gameplay and a lack of fast travel, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “It's optimized specifically for them after all.”
- “Performance: no issues”
- “Performance is smooth and well-optimized for a seamless experience.”
- “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.”
atmosphere
6 mentions
67 % positive mentions
17 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is described as immersive and engaging, with a playful pirate theme that contrasts with darker, more serious settings. Players appreciate the blend of visuals and sound, which enhances the overall experience, making it feel vibrant and lively rather than grim. The inclusion of diverse elements like unique ship designs and boss fights further enriches this captivating atmosphere.
- “It had loot, loot rarity, abilities, different ships with unique designs, boss fights, talent tree and an amazing immersive atmosphere.”
- “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'.”
character development
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is viewed as lacking depth, with a story that is considered unremarkable yet engaging due to its unique character design. However, opinions on the character design itself are polarized, with some finding it appealing while others deem it poor.
- “The character design is horrible.”
- “A story that is nothing special but entertainingly told, thanks to the peculiar character design.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
Players express a preference for fully completed games at launch rather than those that feel unfinished and rely on a roadmap for future content. This sentiment highlights a desire for a more traditional release model over ongoing monetization strategies that may leave the game feeling incomplete.
- “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.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, as it seems like the developers are more focused on making money than providing a complete gaming experience.”
- “It’s frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
stability
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The stability of the menu system has been widely criticized, with users reporting significant issues with the rotary-style category selection, particularly when using an Xbox Elite controller, leading to a frustrating and inaccurate navigation experience.
- “The menu system is atrocious and the rotary-style category selection is buggy and inaccurate with an Xbox Elite controller.”
emotional
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely overshadowed by a lackluster story, with players noting that while the combat is engaging, it fails to evoke a strong emotional response. Overall, the game's narrative shortcomings detract from its potential emotional impact.