Tortuga: A Pirate's Tale

About

Tortuga: A Pirate's Tale is a single player tactical role playing game with fantasy and historical themes. It was developed by Gaming Minds Studios and was released on January 19, 2023. It received neutral reviews from players.

Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale is a strategy role-playing game that transports players to the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy. Assemble a crew, build and upgrade your ship, and embark on a quest for treasure and fame. Engage in naval combat, trade, and diplomacy while navigating the political waters of the pirate world. Your decisions will shape the story and outcome of your pirate adventure.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

59%

Audience ScoreBased on 73 reviews

story6 positive mentions

grinding5 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and immersive environments, with stunning visuals of the Caribbean and realistic water effects.
The turn-based combat system allows for strategic gameplay, and players can save at any time to manage difficult battles more effectively.
There is a decent amount of customization for ships and characters, providing players with a variety of options to enhance their gameplay experience.

The combat system can feel repetitive and frustrating, with many battles relying heavily on RNG, leading to unrealistic outcomes and a lack of tactical depth.
The game suffers from numerous bugs and design flaws, including issues with character skill points not being saved and a clunky user interface.
Many players find the gameplay to be monotonous, with a lack of engaging storylines and missions, making it feel like a grind rather than an adventure.

story
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
64%
12%
The game's story is described as lacking depth and coherence, often overshadowed by the abundance of side missions and trading activities. While players can enjoy the game without focusing on the main narrative, which is considered optional, many find the missions repetitive and the overall storytelling uninspired. The beautiful Caribbean setting and numerous quests provide some enjoyment, but the mechanics and mission structure leave much to be desired, making the experience feel more like a sandbox than a compelling story-driven adventure.
- “The main story of the game and even the grind can still be pretty fun and enjoyed even alongside all of the bugs, missing calculations, and unfinished game mechanics.”
- “You can still enjoy the game regardless of what missions you choose to complete or ignore.”
- “The graphics are good and the Caribbean does look beautiful; there are numerous upgrades available to your character and ships, as well as many quests that can be taken to improve your status/experience and continue the storyline.”
- “The story is boring, the tasks are repetitive, and most of the time you're just sailing from A to B.”
- “It has little character, missions are presented in an unorganized and random 'slop', combat is repetitive and lacks any nuance whatsoever, which makes it utterly boring.”
- “However, I still don't really know what that storyline is other than - raid the Spanish treasure ships.”
gameplay
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
53%
20%
Gameplay in the game offers a mix of enjoyable mechanics and frustrating elements, with players appreciating the fun of the loot-splitting system and improved graphics, but criticizing the combat system and some stale mechanics. While the story lacks drive and the boarding combat remains unclear, the game provides a solid foundation for early access, with potential for deeper gameplay and replay value. Overall, it presents a blend of engaging and tedious experiences, particularly in combat, but retains a beautiful environment to explore.
- “The gameplay is very similar but with more depth, and the map is extremely beautiful - just look down into those clear waters as you glide across the Caribbean!”
- “The 'split your loot often to keep your crew happy, but they don’t quit on you, they just want to know what you’ll do next' mechanic is genuinely a lot of fun and inspired.”
- “Your main pirate character, as well as additional captains you select, all gain experience which can be used to upgrade many different skills, allowing for very different advantages in combat and other mechanics of the game.”
- “It takes about 12 hours of gameplay to realize how bad the combat system is.”
- “If you are used to the pirate games, you will see improvements in graphics and gameplay, but the turn-based battles are appallingly tedious and take forever to have a battle.”
- “Horrible game mechanic.”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful visuals and scenery that enhance the overall experience. However, some players note inconsistencies between the graphics and promotional materials, as well as a lack of detail in naval combat. While improvements are acknowledged compared to previous titles, there are still concerns about performance and graphical fidelity on high-end systems.
- “Visuals and pretty sceneries just make you want to stop and enjoy it all.”
- “Beautiful graphics and the look is awesome.”
- “The graphics are good and the Caribbean does look beautiful, with numerous upgrades available to your character and ships, as well as many quests that can improve your status and continue the storyline.”
- “So, the graphics don't match up with the videos and screenshots; inaccurate ship movement, etc.”
- “I'm running an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 and the graphics are atrocious.”
- “Graphic is smooth, but for naval fights, it could use more love with more details.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players initially enjoy the variety of side missions that make grinding engaging, but many find the combat system to be tedious and unexciting, particularly criticizing the turn-based mechanics for slowing down the experience. While there are improvements in graphics and gameplay, the repetitive nature of battles detracts from the overall enjoyment.
- “But somehow they messed up combat so bad, as well as food consumption, that it's just bland and tedious.”
- “The bad: battles are a bit tedious and get perfunctory.”
- “If you are used to the pirate games, you will see improvements in graphics and gameplay, but the turn-based battles are appallingly tedious and take forever to complete.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The optimization of the game appears to be inconsistent, with some users experiencing terrible performance despite meeting or exceeding the recommended requirements, while others report decent performance and easy gameplay. Additionally, certain design elements may not function well together, affecting the overall user experience.
- “The good: decent performance, easy to understand gameplay, affordable game overall.”
- “Performance is great on my computer.”
- “An optimized flag designer: it's a good base, but some of the background options don't work well with the symbols unless you go for a really colorful flag.”
- “Terrible performance on my machine, which far exceeds the recommended requirements.”
- “The game is poorly optimized, causing frequent frame drops and stuttering.”
- “Even on high-end hardware, the optimization issues make it unplayable at times.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's stability is mixed, with reports of significant bugs affecting controls, particularly when using a controller. However, it performs well on the Steam Deck and Linux PCs, indicating some platforms may offer a smoother experience.
- “It runs great on Steam Deck and on a Linux PC.”
- “But some of these are very buggy.”
- “The controls are generally very buggy.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
33%
Players feel that the game's replayability could be enhanced by incorporating more diverse and randomly generated characters, particularly by featuring a mix of fictional and historic captains. While some users express uncertainty about the overall replay value, they acknowledge that the game offers a few hours of enjoyable gameplay.
- “Having fictional and randomly generated captains as a baseline and then meeting only a few randomly selected historic captains as special top-tier characters during each game would be more interesting, increasing replay value.”
- “I understand that some of these suggestions are work and go beyond the current price - I wouldn't mind paying for them if they add more fun, gameplay, and replay value.”
- “I am not sure about replay value, but it is worth a few hours of pirating fun.”
- “I am not sure about the replay value, but it is worth a few hours of pirating fun.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The music in the game is described as pleasant and contributes positively to the overall experience, enhancing the beautiful environment and engaging gameplay elements.
- “The music in this game creates an immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.”
- “I love how the soundtrack perfectly complements the gameplay, making every moment feel epic.”
- “The beautiful melodies and soundscapes really draw you into the world and make exploration a joy.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game is perceived as a cash grab, aiming to exploit players' interest following Ubisoft's 'Skull and Bones' release.
- “Unfortunately, I think that this game is an ill-fated cash grab to capitalize on players fresh from Ubisoft's 'Skull and Bones' (2024).”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Character development is minimal, with reviewers noting a lack of depth and growth in the characters throughout the game.
- “Character development is barely present.”
- “The characters feel one-dimensional and lack meaningful growth throughout the game.”
- “I was disappointed by how predictable and shallow the character arcs were.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
300%
The game successfully creates an engaging atmosphere that encourages players to keep playing, evoking a compelling "just one more convoy" feeling. However, this is undermined by poor balance and frustrating turn-based combat mechanics.
- “The game definitely has the atmosphere; the 'just one more convoy...' feeling gets to you.”
- “The game definitely has the atmosphere (the 'just one more convoy...' feeling gets to you) but is poorly balanced, sometimes to the point of annoying, and the turn-based combat is something that pulls it down for good.”
- “The atmosphere is intriguing, but it often feels overshadowed by the repetitive gameplay and lack of meaningful interactions.”
- “While the game tries to create a captivating atmosphere, it ultimately falls flat due to uninspired environments and a lack of immersive storytelling.”