King of Seas has a lovely whimsical art style and some interesting gameplay mechanics, but flat writing and a lack of longevity need to be fixed.
King of Seas is a procedurally generated open-world pirate RPG from indie studio 3DClouds with the potential to bring some high seas hijinks to computers and consoles next year. Although pirates are big enough in stature across literature, films, and television, high-quality pirate video games are scarcer than one might suspect. King of Seas aims to rectify that with a whimsical action RPG that has real potential if it can work out its flaws before its 2021 release.
King of Seas puts players in the role of a prince or princess wrongly accused of murdering their father and washing up in the pirate haven of Eagle's Rock. The player gains control of one of five completely customizable ships and travels around a procedurally generated world, finding new settlements to conquer and ports to trade. While not as in-depth as another pirate-themed trading game, weather effects and changing naval routes keep the player on their toes as every journey will require a little planning ahead to be successful.
While games like Assassin's Creed: Black Flag succeeded with a more realistic portrayal of historical pirates, King of Seas takes after Sea of Thieves with a whimsical, cartoony low-poly look that's pleasing to the eye. Many of the ship and building designs are clever and creative, incorporating the nautical theme throughout. The painted portraits of the characters are also a wonderful touch that feels pulled out of a picture book. Unfortunately, the writing struggles to match the visuals. Run-on sentences are common while solid laughs are scarce. The uninspiring text does bog down what could a delightful pirate world.
Ship-to-ship combat is solid, but not revolutionary. While the game provides a set of skills to use beyond firing broadsides from either side of the ship, the isometric combat could be underwhelming when compared to the more immersive battles of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag or Sea of Thieves. With Ubisoft's pirate multiplayer game Skull & Bones going through a complete reboot after development issues, King of Seas might benefit from no new competition for some time, and use that to help refine combat to become even more engaging.
A potential worry that was unable to be answered during the short preview is the game's longevity. While the procedurally generated world is supposed to add replayability, the lack of a hand-crafted touch might mean the world could end up feeling stiff or repetitive. The customization options and joy of exploration will entice gamers and pirate fans alike, but it's still too early to say for how long, especially when the writing will struggle to hold people's attention. Luckily, 3DStudios has time to perfect the formula and add onto it, as the once-disappointing Sea of Thieves has proven through constant updates since its release. Until then, pirate fans can keep an eye out for King of Seas as it sails into an early 2021 release.
King of Seas is releasing some time in 2021 for Windows, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. Screen Rant was given a Steam key for the purposes of this preview.
