Tempest

55%
Game Brain Score Based on 752 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Tempest Game Cover
Tempest is available for just $15 and it scratches an itch few other games do. It’s a capable, if somewhat buggy, pirate adventure that offers up challenging combat and an open world to explore. Customization and late-game challenges courtesy of legendary ships and mythical monsters help round out the title, making it worthwhile if a little frayed around the edges.
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"Tempest" is a mystery-filled open world game set in a society trapped in a time loop, where the inhabitants' overflowing memories are causing the world to deteriorate. As the player, you must explore and uncover the past to resolve the future in this atmospheric walking simulator/interactive fiction game. It offers good game mechanics, visuals, and stellar music, but be prepared for grinding and some bugs in this 20-30 minute single-player or cooperative experience.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

55%
Audience ScoreBased on 752 reviews
graphics58 positive mentions
story31 negative mentions
  • The game offers enjoyable ship battles and a decent level of customization for ships.
  • The graphics are appealing, especially for a game of its size, and the atmosphere is immersive.
  • The game has a lot of potential with its open-world exploration and various quests.
  • There are significant bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including issues with quests not completing.
  • The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making navigation and management frustrating.
  • The boarding mechanics are poorly designed, leading to tedious and unbalanced combat experiences.
  • story248 mentions

    The game's story is often criticized for being shallow and repetitive, primarily consisting of fetch quests and missions that lack depth and variety. While some players appreciate the open-world exploration and the sense of adventure provided by faction missions, many find the quest system poorly organized, leading to confusion and frustration due to bugs and unclear objectives. Overall, the narrative experience is seen as lacking, with a need for more engaging storytelling and character development to enhance the gameplay.

    • “There's a great many quests and challenges, and it is open world despite what some say. You can sail on the water for the entire map; it does have sections that you need to load for, but they're far from small areas to play. It is slower than 'fast traveling' using the map but much more enjoyable.”
    • “I also like the story and faction missions; it gives the player a sense of adventure and not knowing what will happen next in the story.”
    • “Tempest is a great pirate action RPG that brings you into a world with a quest-filled adventure with ships lurking on the ocean floor.”
    • “Graphically and story delivery wise it is a poor game.”
    • “The story is bad, and is effectively a series of fetch quests.”
    • “There are a few storylines you pursue, but there is no feeling of a centralized story that is driving to a climax or some type of ending.”
  • graphics120 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful visuals and well-designed characters, while others criticize them as outdated or lacking polish. Many players note that while the water effects are impressive, the overall graphical presentation can feel clunky and inconsistent, particularly in menus and land interactions. Overall, the game offers decent graphics for its size and requirements, but there is a consensus that improvements are needed to enhance the visual experience.

    • “The graphics are stunning and the characters are very well designed.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful and believable.”
    • “Tempest has pleasantly surprised with realistic graphics and lovely music.”
    • “In the end, the graphics are simple, there's no flow to the gameplay, everything is a confusing mess and navigating it is clunky.”
    • “Tempest is an awful pirate game, starting with outdated graphics and finishing with the poorest content (including sea fights, arena battles, and so on).”
    • “The graphics are not as the pictures show on the Tempest store page; they could be way better, but the developers decided they no longer wanted to work on improving the graphics.”
  • gameplay120 mentions

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with players enjoying the ship management, sailing, and combat mechanics, but criticizing the overall lack of depth and polish. Many found the tutorial inadequate, leading to confusion with the mechanics, while others noted that the game feels simplistic and reminiscent of mobile games. Despite its potential and fun elements, issues like clunky controls, repetitive gameplay, and poor boarding mechanics detract from the overall experience.

    • “Great fun, enjoyable story and mechanics.”
    • “Fun pirating game with good sailing and fighting mechanics.”
    • “The actual gameplay is fun-- ship combat is good and tolerably well balanced, upgrades, loot, and crew management add difficulty and nuance without bogging things down too much.”
    • “In the end, the graphics are simple, there's no flow to the gameplay, everything is a confusing mess and navigating it is clunky.”
    • “The game is buggy at start and is really boring with bad gaming mechanics.”
    • “The tutorial was okay, but the gameplay and battle system was off and on.”
  • stability41 mentions

    The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and crashes that detract from the overall experience. While some players find moments of enjoyment, particularly in naval combat, the persistent technical issues—including broken quests and unresponsive mechanics—make it difficult to recommend without reservations. Overall, the game shows potential but remains plagued by stability problems that need urgent attention from the developers.

    • “At least it isn't buggy.”
    • “Almost bug-free (one flotsam in deep sea is still not functioning).”
    • “In general, great graphics, no glitches, fun maneuvers.”
    • “Game has too many crashes and glitches.”
    • “The game is buggy as shit, system crashes, can't resume original plot/position, re-install won't waste my time.”
    • “The rest of the game carries off the feel of a sailing adventure rather well, but turns tedious quickly due to repetitiveness, buggy movement, and unrefined programming.”
  • grinding24 mentions

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and frustrating, often requiring repetitive tasks to earn enough currency for upgrades or new ships. Many reviews highlight an imbalance in the game's economy, where the time investment needed to progress feels disproportionate to the rewards, leading to a tedious experience. While some enjoy the ship management and lore, the overall sentiment is that the grinding detracts significantly from the enjoyment of the game.

    • “The only thing to do in this game is to roam around the map, repeating the same missions over and over again, constantly grinding to build reputation for a faction.”
    • “While I do realize the game was first made for mobile devices, after being out for almost three years it still feels a lot like a grindy mobile game, and thus feels really unbalanced and unfinished.”
    • “There is not enough content to justify the purchase as of yet, and the game itself highly consists of grinding, then dying, losing a lot of stuff, and grinding again.”
  • music22 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the soundtrack as epic and fitting for the game's atmosphere, while others feel it lacks the expected sea shanties typical of pirate themes. Overall, the soundtrack is described as decent and enjoyable, though not universally acclaimed enough to warrant a standalone release. Some players highlight the music's ability to enhance gameplay, particularly during battles, while others express disappointment in its inconsistency with promotional materials.

    • “The music is epic, and very much not like the music they used in the trailer video.”
    • “Tempest has pleasantly surprised with realistic graphics and lovely music.”
    • “The game complements the excellent soundtrack, which is not boring and 2 hours of active play.”
    • “The music is decent, though I wouldn't say it justifies a soundtrack release, unfortunately.”
    • “- no sea shanties dammit, there's music yes but what's a pirate game without sea shanties?”
    • “I could probably rant about what went wrong with Tempest so far while listening to the Tempest soundtrack from Vadim Krakhmal that is available on Steam and on SoundCloud too, which is one of the highlights of the game.”
  • atmosphere12 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive pirate-themed environment, featuring dynamic elements like sea battles, storms, and a variety of factions and quests. While some mechanics feel more suited to mobile gaming, the overall ambiance, enhanced by fitting music and sound effects, effectively brings the world to life. Despite minor criticisms regarding camera angles and combat mechanics, players find the atmosphere engaging and evocative of the pirate era.

    • “What really shines is atmosphere - there are lots of factions, quests, many ships and upgrades you can use, some big monsters in the ocean attacking you... artifacts are a nice addition - and what is most important, the developers are constantly working on adding more content.”
    • “It has a sense of atmosphere that brings the world to life; in my opinion, it's one of the best pirate games out there.”
    • “You can zoom all the way in to standing behind the ship's wheel; the rough ocean and the stormy sky give it great atmosphere.”
    • “The entire atmosphere, mechanics, and handling of the game are comparable to a mobile game, rather than a PC game.”
    • “The removal of the over-the-shoulder camera for in-person play doesn't feel natural and ruins the atmosphere, along with making in-person battles ridiculously harder than they should be.”
    • “This game will immerse you in a gloomy atmosphere of pirate times where you have to participate in sea battles and drink rum.”
  • optimization5 mentions

    The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report excellent stability and graphics, others experience significant issues with multiplayer functionality and manual saving, leading to potential data loss. Overall, the optimization appears to be effective for single-player experiences, but multiplayer aspects need improvement.

    • “This game has good optimization, very stable and has excellent graphics!”
    • “+good optimization”
    • “Ships are purchasable and upgradable by hull, deck, and sails, with a variety of strategic customizable items. The ability to command elements and summon the livid squid enhances the gameplay experience.”
    • “The manual saving can still lead to losing all your progress, and I don't want to go down with the ship or up with the powder monkey!”
    • “I understand that maybe they still want the performance since the items can be acquired elsewhere.”
  • humor5 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag; while some players find it genuinely entertaining and capable of eliciting laughter through amusing missions, others feel that the comedic elements are limited and overshadowed by frustrating gameplay issues. Overall, the game has moments of humor that can be enjoyable, but these are often marred by technical problems that detract from the experience.

    • “First: this game is really funny and entertaining.”
    • “It's a very funny game (=.”
    • “Some of the missions were just funny and made me giggle like a small girl.”
  • monetization4 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized for relying heavily on advertisements, detracting from the overall experience and making it feel like a cash grab. While some players find it enjoyable initially, they note that the lack of new content and the disparity between promotional graphics and actual gameplay diminish its value.

    • “As with many Steam games, following this the last few years has just been an avenue for the publisher to post advertisements.”
    • “There's nothing new to this game, but only advertisements for other games.”
    • “Actual graphics are much duller (cheaper) than in its ads, 2560x1600 max all.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    Users highlight the strong replayability of the game, noting its extensive content and multiplayer options, especially considering its low price. Overall, it has received a solid replayability rating of 8/10.

    • “Replayability 8/10”
    • “The amount of content and replayability, not to mention multiplayer, for such a low price is ridiculous.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is lacking, as players report a deficiency in well-developed characters, making it difficult to form any meaningful emotional connections.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

65% average critic score

Buy Tempest

Play time

7hMedian play time
15hAverage play time
5-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs

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