Turn-Based Tactics Rogue Waters - tactical turn-based pirate roguelite from Hard West 2 developers

[Infinitron]

https://roguewatersgame.com

Spoiler

Rogue Waters is a tactical, turn-based rogue-lite set in a pirate world overtaken by a terrible curse. Gather your ragtag crew of rogues and grow them into fierce pirates. Befriend and call upon legendary creatures of sailors' myths. Chart your course through an ever-changing game world, and turn the tides of battle on land or sea in a fresh take on tactical turn-based combat. The crew and the Kraken await your command–will ye heed the call?

BECOME THE CAPTAIN​

Embrace the chaos of the pirate life as you chart your course through the ever-changing world and plan your naval and melee combat strategy; slowly becoming a master tactician with each subsequent run.

ASSEMBLE YOUR CREW​

Recruit new members to your crew to discover their potential. Then foster that potential by sending them into battle! It's your responsibility to grow them into the legendary pirates they were always meant to be.

EVER-CHANGING LAND AND SEA​

Tackle fresh new challenges as the game world shifts procedurally with each run. With every playthrough comes a brand new set of secrets, combat scenarios, and treasures to discover.

TURN THE TIDES​

Customize your encounters with your cannons! Unleash your ship’s artillery during naval combat to destroy enemy ship modules, giving your crew a strategic advantage during shipdeck combat.

TACTICS EN GARDE!​

Experience a fresh new take on turn-based tactical combat, designed to replicate the violent dance of visceral cloak-and-dagger duels, using the environment to gain an advantage like never before.

SUMMON CREATURES FROM THE DEEP​

Creatures thought only to exist in legend can be found roaming the oceans of Rogue Waters, but are being cruelly held in captivity. Send their captors to Davy Jones' locker and gain their trust to earn the ability to call upon them in battle.

 

[CyberWhale]

Everyone seems to be getting on that sinking ship Mimimi Games boarded a year ago.

 

[Lemming42]

Yeah that's insane, if I saw a screenshot of this without context I would literally just assume it was Shadow Gambit.

It does sound like an entirely different game with nothing in common with Shadow Gambit gameplay-wise and is a totally different genre, but its visual identity and tone are indistinguishable from Shadow Gambit, wtf.

Still, sounds good, there's been a lot of nice surprises set to release in the next few months.

 

[thesheeep]

Everyone seems to be getting on that sinking ship Mimimi Games boarded a year ago.

This is pretty obviously a VERY different kind of game.

Only the setting seems quite similar. And the art style seems almost copied
But I doubt it was the setting or the art style that spelled failure for Mimimi. It was the genre.

I mean, there isn't much that is more boring than zombies at this point, but zombie-setting games STILL do quite well.

 

[CyberWhale]

I mean, there isn't much that is more boring than zombies at this point, but zombie-setting games STILL do quite well.

Dunno, most of the pirate themed games didn't do even remotely as good as the zombie games since like late 80s and early 90s.
But anyway, best of luck to both them and the guys behind Flint: Treasure of Oblivion, they will need it.

 

[spectre]

Yeah that's insane, if I saw a screenshot of this without context I would literally just assume it was Shadow Gambit.

Same, almost got me there.
Not a big fan of the whole pirates, zombies and krakens, oh my... approach, but at lest the ships don't look like they're taken from warcraft. Just might give it a go.

But I doubt it was the setting or the art style that spelled failure for Mimimi. It was the genre.
I mean, there isn't much that is more boring than zombies at this point, but zombie-setting games STILL do quite well.

Yeah, it looked like they they single-handedly managed to oversaturate a niche market.
A lot of folks (me included) weren't even done with Desperados 3 when Shadow Tictacs dropped. Not because it's a long game, but some time needs to pass before you get cravings for another commandos clone.

 

[Strange Fellow]

I've wanted to see a game like this for a very long time, so I'll be keeping an eye on it.

But why do they have to make it so unserious and ugly? It's not like this Pixar pastel garbage sells, just look at Lamplighter's League and Shadow Gambit. It can't possibly be the dream of their artist to make a game that looks like this.

 

[Hellraiser]

This looks interesting, pirates, turn- based tactical and rogue lite. I'm boarding the




Also if this ever has a sequel, will it be called Roguer Waters?

 

[thesheeep]

Also if this ever has a sequel, will it be called Roguer Waters?

I'd vote for Rogue Space.
Ghost zombie pirates .... IN SPACE!!!!!

 

[ArchAngel]

I enjoyed Hard West 2, this might also be good.

 

[Optimist]

Even the worst pirate games (e.g. Vendetta) I played were oddly enjoyable. This feels like it might be something akin to Sunless Sea, but with much more focus on tactical combat.

 

[Hellraiser]

This feels like it might be something akin to Sunless Sea, but with actual gameplay and far less obnoxious writing.

FTFY.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.gamespress.com/Tripwire-Presents-Brings-Newly-Revealed-Rogue-Waters-and-The-Stone-of-

Turn-based tactics title Rogue Waters will be anchoring first in Seattle, WA at PAX West 2024 in the ‘Games from Poland’ Booth, #1125 from Aug. 30 - Sept. 2, where attendees can get their hands on this swashbuckling rogue-lite, complete with pirate-themed booty for attendees to plunder. Developers Ice Code Games will also be present at the Mix Seattle event on Aug. 30, a short trip from the Seattle Convention Center for a more intimate hands-on demo alongside a treasure trove of fantastic indie titles. The final stop for Rogue Waters world tour will land the title on the distant shores of Japan for Tokyo Game Show from Sept. 26-29, where it will be playable in the ‘Games from Poland’ booth in the Indie Game Area. Rogue Waters is scheduled for release on Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Game Store on Sept. 30.

 

[Hellraiser]

in the ‘Games from Poland’ Booth

 

[sebas]

Why the fuck do I keep reading this as Roger Waters

 

[Hellraiser]

Why the fuck do I keep reading this as Roger Waters

Because his bleeding heart helped make some classic tunes?

 

[luj1]

Idk but there is a bunch of stuff to not like,

- they went overboard with FX, every move looks like some shit from Naruto
- disgustingly plastic mobile interface, reminds me of Phoenix Point in a bad way
- pirates done in an annoying, childish way (as usual)
- seeing plenty of feature bloat, shallow subsystems that detract from core gameplay (these devs never learn)
- squares instead of hexes is a shame but I can forgive that

The other pirate game from the front page looked more interesting tbh

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[ArchAngel]

Uhh, with that gimick and ability to just undo moves this plays more like a puzzle game.. bah

 

[Nortar]

There's a demo which is weirdly only available at some particular times, but I had a chance to take a look at it.

There are 15 (fifteen!) difficulty levels.
I was playing on the highest available at the start Heroic-I (4 of out 15) - and I got my ass handed to me at the end of the first raid. Twice.

The gameplay loop is pretty standard for what nowdays goes for rogue-likes.
You select 1 of 3 raids. One advances the story, the other 2 can be used for grinding.

The route trees can look more complicated than they actualy are.
Sometimes (often) picking the first node locks you into a single way through.

After a raid you get some XP and resouces to upgrade your Crew and your Ship.

Crew
The crew includes the main character - Captain Cutter,
up to 5 named Specialists and a number of nameless redshirts called Mates.
The mates can only use basic attacks, but provide the bodies for the meatgrinder.

The specialists have 3 separate class-branches each with 4 levels.
The base classes are fixed, like Spearmaiden (why not Harpooner to add a bit of flavor?) or Brawler; the other 2 are selected randomly.

Effectively, the specialists only have 1 special attack and a couple of passive or conditional bonuses.
The whole progression feels pretty shallow.

In addition to levels the "priviliged classes" can carry Equipment.
I've only had access to 2 slots, maybe there's more futher into the game.
Items can provide either a passive effects (most with tradeoffs like +1 Attack, -1 Defense) or new attacks (like a pistol with a ranged attack).


Ship
The ship can be upgraded with extra guns, more action points for naval battles and additional equipment slots.

Ship equipment provides significant upgrades to your crew during Boarding.
Bonuses can be game changing, like immunity to pushbacks or auto-attack in melee range.

A separate tab allows you to summon and upgrade "sea monsters".
At the beginning you can only call for Kraken to slap it's tentacle with AOE damage.
It can really turn the tide of battle.

Naval Combat
Mosf of the battles have 2 phases - naval phase and boarding.
The sea battle while kinda simplistic greatly affects the boarding phase.

There are 3 turns during which your can use from 2 to 5 action points to shoot your guns.
The "ships" (in quotes, coz this incluses enemy forts) have 3 targetings areas - guns, equipment, crew.
Chosing the right targets makes up a significant portion of your tactic for the boarding phase.

Sometimes disabling enemy guns in crucial so that you wont lose your own equipment or crew.
At the same time it might be better to destroy enemy equipment that gives the opposing team huge buffs.
Or you can just focus down the enemy crew itself.

Boaring
After 3 turns of volley exchange, the boarding starts.
The basics can be seen in the vid already in the thread.
Combat is not very complex, just as everything else in this game.

You can only field 4 characters, the enemies are all present at once.
But if some of your crew get downed, on the next turn you can swing in a replacement.

This part does have a puzzle-like feel, as you can rewind all your actions in a single turn.
So it is possible to "test drive" it before commiting to the best outcome.

Positioning and collisions are more than just a gimmick.
Proper maneuvering and angle of attack are essential for winning.

Still, while each of the game elemets is far from being complex or novel, overall I got a pleasant impression.
The hook "ok, just one more raid" works.

PS: Oh yes, and the writing is pretty shit, the story did not catch my interest at all.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Hydro]

idk how somebody can have a “pleasant” impression from a game that looks like vomit

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

idk how somebody can have a “pleasant” impression from a game that looks like vomit

Not everyone is a graphics whore.

 

[Hydro]

idk how somebody can have a “pleasant” impression from a game that looks like vomit

Not everyone is a graphics whore.

It’s not about graphics, but the amount of creativity and imagination put into designing the visual side of the game. I have doubts though an imbecile like you will ever grasp the difference.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

idk how somebody can have a “pleasant” impression from a game that looks like vomit

Not everyone is a graphics whore.

It’s not about graphics, but the amount of creativity and imagination put into designing the visual side of the game. I have doubts though an imbecile like you will ever grasp the difference.

Probably. Pretty pictures are too high brow for me.
I dismissed this title for it being apparent puzzle game disguised as tactics.