Sea of Thieves - Husky Game Review

            Sea of Thieves, a game released all the way back in 2018, offers the user the unforgettable experience of being a pirate. Its expansive open world invites exploration and offers diverse gameplay options, setting it apart in a landscape dominated by linear narratives and traditional multiplayer experiences. The gameplay is truly decided by the player with open world PVP being almost unavoidable whilst going on adventures with your friends or playing alone. This combination provides for a fascinating gameplay experience that is never the same, giving the player options as to how they want to invest their time and effort. Whether that is duking it out with other ship crews or hunting for long lost treasure, there is surely something of interest for everybody.

SoT cover art.

Despite its age, the game has a healthy and dedicated community with developers that constantly provide new content to the expanding world. Filled with in game events such as megalodon attacks, kraken ambushes, and ghost ship attacks, players are meant to be on full alert during their time at sea. There is vast amount of content to play through in the pirate world, with the basic gameplay being involved with completing quests and treasure hunts for different trading companies that if completed, reward the player with in-game currency and reputation with the selected company.

The first trading company, The Gold Hoarders, primarily send players out to retrieve gold and buried treasure, just as the name suggests. The second trading company, The Order of Souls, are much more mysterious and reward players for vanquishing skeleton captains and collecting cursed skulls. There are five other trading companies with unique loot to collect and varying rewards. My personal favorite, The Reaper’s Bones, have their own unique island a player must venture to if they want to sell treasure to them, making it a rather risky endeavor. Furthermore, that specific trading company does not give out any quests, with their main objective being to reward the player for pirating loot from other players sailing through the world. In addition to this, they do accept all other treasure types from different trading companies, making the effort worthwhile. This gives more experienced players an opportunity to up the stakes if they have the guts to do so. Next up, The Hunter’s Call, center around fishing and hunting beasts that lurk in the depths. Despite how thrilling the name sounds, this trading company probably wins the title of “most lengthy reputation grind” in the Sea of Thieves world, being rather long and quite dull.

A skeleton ship ready to sink unsuspecting players.

On the other hand, the same cannot be said about the last two trading companies. The Bilge Rats offer a unique twist on the reputation grind, with the twist being that they completely ditch it. Instead, they offer the player rewards for commendations that are rewarded for actions and milestones the player achieves in the game. The Bilge Rats also have a black market with unique cosmetics and items, worth checking out if you ask me. The final trading company, The Athena’s Fortune, are covered last for a very specific reason. A player must first earn a level 50 reputation in at least three separate companies, making it the ultimate trading company you get access to. They offer voyages, long quest chains, with loot that is specific to that company. They also have other unique adventures that player can undergo but that is content for the player to discover.

The Athena's Fortune awaits for those who are patient.

Another gameplay aspect are emissary flags, showcasing that you have chosen to represent a given trading company. These flags grant bonus gold for handing in treasure to the selected trading company, with leveling the flag to the max unlocks a specials reward quest with a vault for the players to go through and loot. A fitting reward for a large haul of loot, even more loot !. Lastly, there are sunken treasuries, large underwater complexes that offer puzzles and tasks that must be completed before exposing a stash of treasure. They are identifiable with a unique colored glow just above the sea surface.

A vault shortly before being plundered.

On the front of live in game events, there is a lot to choose from. Forts are lengthy enemy encounters that occur on specific islands in the Sea of Thieves world. They are easily identifiable with large skulls floating in the sky, signaling that the fort is active. These encounters feature a mini boss fight at the end, culminating in the player finding a large treasure stash with unique loot that sells for considerably more than ordinary treasure. There are also unique types of forts, such as the fort of the damned, that are unlocked by collecting specific items that will “activate” the fort for the players attempting to clear it. Ashen winds fights are another world event that players can fight through, featuring Ashen Lord bosses that the player must fight in a raid boss like experience. Naturally, they also have their own unique rewards that are significantly more valuable than standard loot. I highly recommend this encounter to newer players, as it will give them a brief taste of how boss fight mechanics within the game without being too difficult to actually complete.

The Ashen Lords that players can encounter.

On the other hand, the PVP aspect of the game is a double-edged sword. The fact that there is open world PVP gives other player opportunities to ambush your pirate crew and sink your ship, losing all that hard earned loot in the process. However, it can also be one of the most fun aspects of the game itself. I was very surprised by how many times I came across other people who were looking for other ships to form alliances on difficult questlines or simply wanted to talk about current political events in the real world. It is something not inherently unique to Sea of Thieves, but is much more prominent than in other games. Social interaction is something that most open games lack nowadays, it is refreshing to see that Sea of Thieves is one of the exceptions to the norm.

Last but not least, Tall Tales are some of the most rewarding quests in the entire game. They are long, story driven quest chains that the player can embark on, providing worldbuilding lore and backstory to certain in game references and locations. They also offer cosmetics and achievements that can only be attained by completing them, giving players an incentive to play through them. There is a fair share of these in the Sea of Thieves world, providing a substantial amount of content to discover and play through. In my eyes, this is some of the best content Sea of Thieves has to offer, being very rich in narrative and gameplay alike. A must for any true pirate.

 

Completing Tall Tales with a group of friends.

I highly recommend playing Sea of Thieves with friends or even random people in the matchmaking system. The game’s biggest drawback is the fact that playing it alone removes a lot of the charm that the game provides, with you as a player having to fill in the roles that your friends or other players that you are in a crew with would usually do. This makes for some tedious and even frustrating gameplay at certain points, where you feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks that you must do as a single person.

On the graphics front, it would be a disservice to say anything else than that the game looks absolutely astonishing. Being aesthetically pleasing with picturesque sunsets and smooth water physics, Rare Ltd. have managed to bring out a polished product that combines a cartoonish feel with a blend of real-world melancholy. This is one aspect where it is almost impossible to actually give real criticism. I was also truly impressed with the soundtrack and audio design that the game executes very well, creating a immersive atmosphere that enhances the experience of being a pirate.

Lastly, Sea of Thieves does have some drawbacks that are worth going over. As stated previously, the game encourages multiplayer and co-op action, sometimes rendering solo gameplay to be tedious and downright boring in comparison. The quest system in the game does include a lot of "fetch" quests, that can get repetitive after a while. As my final observation, the open gameplay design of Sea of Thieves is one of its greatest strenghts, encouraging players to delve into multiple playstyles and approaches to solving problems. However, this is a double edged sword, as a fair amount of players might not enjoy non-linear storytelling in an open world without a set playbook. As a result, a large amount of casual gamers might not find this game to be suited for them.

A screenshot of my character holding a mug of beer.

 

In conclusion, Sea of Thieves is a magnificent option for anyone looking for an open world game. The non-story gameplay that lets players decide what they actually want to do, rather than a given direction is one of the games strongest features. It makes for a pallet of options to choose from, whether an individual enjoys PVP games, grinding for cosmetics and achievements, or simply some story driven gameplay. Despite some of its previous criticisms, the game is at its best when played with others. The exquisite graphics coupled with a charming atmosphere the game provides, is guaranteed to capture the imagination of almost any willing soul. If you want to experience what roaming the seas as pirates feels like, look no further than Sea of Thieves.