I had the original long time ago but never finished it, I remember vaguely having problems running it. This version is loyal to the original but moving around is smoother and easier. The good: the various locations are interesting and perfectly sized. So you don't get too fed up running around despite some back-and-forth quests. Also, no handholding, just a logbook that saves the important things from discussions. I wish all games had this instead of quest logs written for simple people. The story is interesting and gives motivation to play. Writing is very good with an occasional joke and varied NPC's. The game ends before stretching the plot unnecessarily. Also, you can manually save which is a big plus for me in every game. Dead enemies stay dead without respawning, another big plus. The bad: few bugs like alt-tabbing made spacebar not work anymore in the game. It's possible but rare to get stuck in environment. Also, looking for quest items on the ground may be a bit difficult. And lack of manual or tooltips in inventory is bad because you don't know how to use (or why use) some items that are already part of the starting kit. But you don't need them all. Only 3 manual save slots. Overall, this is a good example of a remake done well, and the epic plot kept me interested through the journey.
This game hits the spot for me. You build a base for 1-4 hours and then it's over for this time. Randomly generated maps to uncover each time. No enemies to watch out for, only random threats you uncover yourself. No need to uncover the last spot on the map with the rest already under control. The 'timer' stops the play just at the right time before it gets boring. You would think that it is not worth repeating this same exercise over and over again, but you gain XP and choose perks so that the next time is a little bit easier. Or, it would be, if you would not be forced to eventually increase the difficulty level to progress. But you can choose when, and at that time you know the game so well that you can take it. The variety of random elements is great, no game is exactly the same, but samey enough that you learn to play. The in-game encyclopedia is a great help and nicely compact. It is a complex game but easy to get into, especially if you stick to the lowest difficulty in the beginning. Also, the game in early access (August 2023) is more polished than most of the titles after release. I haven't had a single crash or a stuck character or menu in the game. And it looks nice and on the default zoom level you immediately see what is what. What I love: the possibility to pause and execute game actions. What is not to my taste: the fact that you seem to need four/five/six or so wins in a row to get a change to get a seal (a major progress element). Fortunately you keep the XP and level so not all is wasted on a loss. Not many games keep me stuck to the screen so I forget everything else. This does.
Let's start with the good: the ship responds to controls OK, and a snail-speed fight against the wind is not an issue like in some more realistic games. Dialogues can be sped up, cutscenes not. The extra abilities are creatively made. Fishing is well done - you don't have to waste too much time, same with repairs. No annoying minigames. Then the less attractive aspects: The art style is horrible. To prevent a good rating it has some massive mistakes: the name of the hero: directly one star off. The comment about the gamepad in the beginning of the game: directly one star off - matey, I have played similar pirate games on a computer when Pirates! did not have the word Gold at the end yet, and this is no Monkey Island, so no bonus for you for insulting. It could use mouse support. There was a bug in the main plot, preventing me from getting more than one pirate friend. Trading is pretty much unnecessary, because you can get money much faster pirating and selling upgrades - also, gains from trade are small. Overall, it could use more content, but as a first game I don't see this as a hopeless effort - I did play it till the end.
