Any good to great Age of Sail games?

[PorkyThePaladin]

Looking for something like this:

1. Allows you to sail aboard a ship circa 1500-1800s, whether as a pirate, explorer, navy, whatever....
2. Is played from a first or third person perspective, and the perspective of a person, not a ship, and not overhead.
3. Relatively open world-ish and realistic.

Sid Meier's Pirates are out, since it's too gamey, cartoonish, and and not the right perspective.

Akela's old Seadog lineage games were the most logical option, so I got the latest one on Steam, Sea Dogs: To Each His Own, and wow, the land combat just ruined it for me. I am not looking for Dark Souls level of quality here, but holy shit, in order to engage in melee combat, you HAVE to change game speed once the combat starts (to slow it down so you can actually parry/riposte effectively). I mean if that's what's going on, I have no faith in the game at all.

Any ideas?

 

[Catacombs]

1. Allows you to sail aboard a ship circa 1500-1800s, whether as a pirate, explorer, navy, whatever....
2. Is played from a first or third person perspective, and the perspective of a person, not a ship, and not overhead.
3. Relatively open world-ish and realistic.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, while flawed, fits these criteria.

 

[jebsmoker]

i was going to say sea dogs, but since you ruled that out, i'm gonna suggest this:



also, check out this comedy horror story exp. pack for it:

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Sea of Thieves?
I have a few friends who play it a lot, I remember looking at it and it was similar to your criteria iirc.

 

[gerey]

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, while flawed, fits these criteria.

Yeah, pretty much this. AssCreed 4 is basically the crowned king here, as horrifying as that realization may be.

Frankly, what ruins the game is the shoehorned AssCreed garbage, which really drags the overall experience down and limits what your character can do.

Initially this was not an AssCreed sequel, since the game was supposed to be a stand-alone pirate game.

I really wish someone would take the ship combat and parkour of the game and marry them to some fun combat and good writing. It would be the perfect pirate game.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

.
Akela's old Seadog lineage games were the most logical option, so I got the latest one on Steam, Sea Dogs: To Each His Own, and wow, the land combat just ruined it for me. I am not looking for Dark Souls level of quality here, but holy shit, in order to engage in melee combat, you HAVE to change game speed once the combat starts (to slow it down so you can actually parry/riposte effectively). I mean if that's what's going on, I have no faith in the game at all.

Any ideas?

Nix, you do not require to parry or riposte every move. You need only block most of them and utilize parries/ripostes for when your opponent winds up for a big hit

 

[Excommunicator]

Raven's Cry

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

.
Akela's old Seadog lineage games were the most logical option, so I got the latest one on Steam, Sea Dogs: To Each His Own, and wow, the land combat just ruined it for me. I am not looking for Dark Souls level of quality here, but holy shit, in order to engage in melee combat, you HAVE to change game speed once the combat starts (to slow it down so you can actually parry/riposte effectively). I mean if that's what's going on, I have no faith in the game at all.

Any ideas?

Nix, you do not require to parry or riposte every move. You need only block most of them and utilize parries/ripostes for when your opponent winds up for a big hit

Don't think that's the case as most competent enemies will have a skill that lets regular attacks bypass simple block, but regardless, this would make the combat system even worse. Hold down the space key and watch paint dry?

I really don't get what these modders or Akella are thinking with Sea Dogs type games. Presumably they spend a lot of time and resources on creating a complex game, with tons of ship related stuff, and THEN they create the most dumbass melee combat system in the history of video games (with possible competition from Morrowind/Two Worlds). It's like spending 20 years to build a castle and then making the front gate out of fecal matter.

I am not buying the low budget argument either. Look at how nice the melee combat is in Mount & Blade, and those guys did it with like 2 people. Akella and their modders have had like 10 games now to improve this shit, and their animations are still so bad that every guide advises to slow down combat time in order to see when to parry. Yes, that's not a joke. How is this a thing?

Age of Sail is such an amazing potential setting for games that it's fucking unforgivable that the best shit we have in it in 2021 is some shitty Ubisoft spin-off and the Akella garbage bin offerings.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

.
Akela's old Seadog lineage games were the most logical option, so I got the latest one on Steam, Sea Dogs: To Each His Own, and wow, the land combat just ruined it for me. I am not looking for Dark Souls level of quality here, but holy shit, in order to engage in melee combat, you HAVE to change game speed once the combat starts (to slow it down so you can actually parry/riposte effectively). I mean if that's what's going on, I have no faith in the game at all.

Any ideas?

Nix, you do not require to parry or riposte every move. You need only block most of them and utilize parries/ripostes for when your opponent winds up for a big hit

Don't think that's the case as most competent enemies will have a skill that lets regular attacks bypass simple block, but regardless, this would make the combat system even worse. Hold down the space key and watch paint dry?

I really don't get what these modders or Akella are thinking with Sea Dogs type games. Presumably they spend a lot of time and resources on creating a complex game, with tons of ship related stuff, and THEN they create the most dumbass melee combat system in the history of video games (with possible competition from Morrowind/Two Worlds). It's like spending 20 years to build a castle and then making the front gate out of fecal matter.

I am not buying the low budget argument either. Look at how nice the melee combat is in Mount & Blade, and those guys did it with like 2 people. Akella and their modders have had like 10 games now to improve this shit, and their animations are still so bad that every guide advises to slow down combat time in order to see when to parry. Yes, that's not a joke. How is this a thing?

Age of Sail is such an amazing potential setting for games that it's fucking unforgivable that the best shit we have in it in 2021 is some shitty Ubisoft spin-off and the Akella garbage bin offerings.

Not age of sail but but maybe you want to fuck around in Man O' War : Corsair.

 

[Lady Error]

Uncharted Waters (KOEI) is still my favorite, even though it is from 1990.

The Japanese version is on Steam, but you can find the English one easily on abandonware sites.

 

[Nutria]

Uncharted Waters is remarkably good at getting some of the details about actual exploration. Like if you just try going down the coast of west Africa, you'll hit a patch where there's extreme storms so you've got to either get a good ship or take a detour past Brazil.

I doubt we'll get any decent game about that era in the near future. Nobody outside Russia is going to have the guts to make one since woke whities consider exploration to be racist.

 

[wishbonetail]

There's a sequel called Uncharted Waters New Horizons, which is arguably the best privateer game. As much as I love Sea Dogs but couple of Carribean islands doesn't hold a candle to whole Earth map with its currents, winds, climate zones and hundred ports.
Level of life simulation is really remarkable: Once i approched some trading ship, asked where's he headin. He said he is going to make an investment in some port. Ok, i decided to tail him to check it out. Landed in a port, went to tavern and there he is sittin chillin. So, now he tells me he's done with his business and going home. Ok, I think, I went to a market and , who would've thought, an investment has been made thus making this port an ally to his country. How cool is that?

 

[Lady Error]

Doesn't the first Uncharted Waters also have the full world map? If not, then yeah, the sequel Uncharted Waters New Horizons is also a good one. What I dislike about it is that they added JRPG style sprites walking in the ports, which is kind of lame. In the first one you just click on wherever you want to go to with no infantile sprites breaking the immersion.

I think the main difference is that in the first one you can play only the Portuguese guy and in the second you can choose from 4 different starting characters in different countries.

 

[wishbonetail]

Well, sequel considered to be the best in the series with highest number of features (as sequels usually do) and six different characters with interwoven plotlines. Also, I'm not familiar with PC version (which has better interface), but it seems like its graphics and sound are generation lower than Genesis (which is the fastest) or SNES (has best sound) one. There's superior PSX version but no one bothered to translate it.

 

[Nutria]

I think on PC they only released the sequel but they just called it "Uncharted Waters". What I played had multiple characters to choose from.

 

[wishbonetail]

I think on PC they only released the sequel but they just called it "Uncharted Waters". What I played had multiple characters to choose from.

The one on the screnshots above is clearly original on PC in sequel you can saunter around towns with you character.
By the way. There's actually a new game called Horizon's Gate from Alvora/Voidspire Tactics developer. It is like a 70% copy of New Horizons but less inclined toward naval/economy simulations and more about party tactical combat. It seems it went annoticed here on Codex.

 

[KateMicucci]

i was going to say sea dogs, but since you ruled that out, i'm gonna suggest this:



also, check out this comedy horror story exp. pack for it:

don't recommend this cash grab, unfinished mod garbage

 

[jebsmoker]

i would say The Zombiest Adventures worth it at least, it's actually fun

 

[Young_Hollow]

The Sea Dogs series is a jumbled mess and I don't know if any of them yet released are worth getting but there is a remaster / legendary edition coming in 2022: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1456830/Sea_Dogs_Legendary_Edition/?utm_source=SteamPeek

 

[wishbonetail]

Among 3D naval privateer games Sea Dogs1 is the most solid one. Its doesn't have land combat and exploration but seeing as as it turned out in sequels, i consider it a plus.
Second, the Disney One, called Pirates of the Carribean, usually ignored at it wasn't there. It introduced a lot of new feature and I think it's pretty polished and fun for what it is, a game with age rating 3+.
Third one, Age of Pirates, was ambitious but unfinished and should be considered a template for later far better mods (like Fallout3 for NewVegas).
Then we got mods. Sea Dogs: Return of the Legend and second mod Age of Pirates2 City of Abandoned Ships I played extensively. Overland combat is anoying and there are skeleton enemies in dungeons but other than that it is a top notch naval RPG/simulation. There are just no other games in this niche.
I did not play To Each His Own but it had some not very good reviews so I passed.
I 'm still rooting for SeaDogs1, though.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Among 3D naval privateer games Sea Dogs1 is the most solid one. Its doesn't have land combat and exploration but seeing as as it turned out in sequels, i consider it a plus.
Second, the Disney One, called Pirates of the Carribean, usually ignored at it wasn't there. It introduced a lot of new feature and I think it's pretty polished and fun for what it is, a game with age rating 3+.
Third one, Age of Pirates, was ambitious but unfinished and should be considered a template for later far better mods (like Fallout3 for NewVegas).
Then we got mods. Sea Dogs: Return of the Legend and second mod Age of Pirates2 City of Abandoned Ships I played extensively. Overland combat is anoying and there are skeleton enemies in dungeons but other than that it is a top notch naval RPG/simulation. There are just no other games in this niche.
I did not play To Each His Own but it had some not very good reviews so I passed.
I 'm still rooting for SeaDogs1, though.

POTC has a super mod (New Horizons) that improves it quite a bit.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Eh, without good land combat (fencing, etc), it's not a real pirate/age of sail game. It's the combination of sailing and fighting that makes this genre, and it's beyond shocking that in the last 20 years, the Akela shitfest and Ubisoft are the only ones that have tried to make a game in this genre. Mountains of money just sitting there, waiting to be collected... Who doesn't like a good pirate/age of exploration movie/game/book?

 

[Acrux]

I think on PC they only released the sequel but they just called it "Uncharted Waters". What I played had multiple characters to choose from.

The one on the screnshots above is clearly original on PC in sequel you can saunter around towns with you character.
By the way. There's actually a new game called Horizon's Gate from Alvora/Voidspire Tactics developer. It is like a 70% copy of New Horizons but less inclined toward naval/economy simulations and more about party tactical combat. It seems it went annoticed here on Codex.

I second Horizon's Gate.

I know it doesn't exactly match your criteria, but it is a good sailing + adventuring tactical game.

 

[Jason Liang]

The third classic of the genre (along with Pirates! and Uncharted Waters: New Horizons):



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Prince

One could also play 7th Sea CCG on OCTGN or whatever.

 

[Nutria]

Merchant Prince (especially in the Machiavelli edition) has got be one of my favorite games of all. I must be several hundred hours into it at least. That and Darklands are so evocative of a much more interesting setting than any fiction could ever be, they got me going to the library and looking up names of people mentioned in them. Randomly generating a world and then giving you a map that's a distorted version of that world (like Ptolmey's map) is one of the best ideas anyone has ever had in the history of games.