I didn't expect to stick with this game for so long, but evening by evening it took more than 150 hours. Why so? It is relaxing. I really enjoy the music, so sometimes I just put it on pause while doing some chores, and the music plays... So every time I was tired after a working day and not in a mood to play something rushing and competitive - I used to launch Port Royale. The graphics is pretty, unless you zoom in too close - it gets pixelated, but still looks nice. You start as a trader (or a pirate, if you wish), and at first it looks like buy/voyage/sell, whack-a-pirate game. But then you start encountering some characters in taverns, that tell you pieces of your story. And gradually this trading game turns out to become a story of family vendetta between you and a notorious pirate, Axesmith. And this story is going to follow you as you gain levels, wealth and fame. There are a number of repetitive quests, but also there are some rare and unique ones, which I only encountered once or twice per game. Like, looking for a witch or solving tavern riddles. Battles are not that complicated after you get used to them - though, at the beginning, steering more than 3 ships at once can be challenging, later you get used to handle up to 10. It is a bit difficult if they are at a different corners of the battlefield, but manageable. Different kinds of gunshots have different range, contrary to what some other reviewers say - so if you load grapeshots for a close combat and the enemy ship gets further away, you'll probably have to reload to a long-range shots, or do some manoeuvring to cut the distance. Regarding drawbacks - the game is not historically accurate in regards to which towns belong to which nations in a particular starting year. It does not really affect gameplay, but I have to mention it. PS There is a funny but annoying bug - the game doesn't see save files created in 2024, so now I have to set the system time to 2023 to be able to play.
This game is simple enough for a pre-school kid to play it, and yet touching enough for a parent to spill a tear. The way it is drawn, the music, the atmosphere... It's just beautiful. If you are looking for a game to play with a child, it is definitely a good one. Most puzzles are easy to solve, and have a drawn explanation of what has to be done. No need to read, just combine some colors, collect some items hidden in plain sight, connect some strings, etc.
