Abandon Ship

Ok finally a gritty survival ship management game that is actually good. I've played a TON of garbage, i've played so much garbage that i've learned to love garbage. THIS is not garbage, this is what a good ship game should be.

BEFORE I GET INTO IT: THE GAME IS FRIGGEN HARD! It gets much easier as you go, the snowball is really really nice and slow but starting out is very difficult, the cult hunts you down on a timer which is easy to evade if you are watching but sometimes you get caught out, but you can clear this timer after you defeat the kraken which is actually more a mechanics fight akin more to an MMO than it is a power level fight. I beat it at a point where my boat was in the red health because i was broke, i couldn't fix it, i was missing some men, and i just said screw it and once i realized it was rotation based i knew i could beat it.

The game has a lot going for it. Save Points are actually a recourse you get either from saving someone or missions. I actually really like it because it's a great way to get yourself into a save point when you are doing really well and then you can go do risky stuff and revert to your save.

Another thing is navigation is really fun, you instance into a zone, clear the zone, and can go N E S W to the next part of the map, at first i didn't think i'd like this but it's actually quite nice. You can go back to these places and they will have more events occasionally but you mostly go back if there is a port you like there with items you want to buy.

It's a slow game, so far i haven't found an efficient way to farm gold or abuse mechanics, you have to go out and get lucky in a series of events in order to go over in gold, it's tough to save but once you do and upgrade your ship, you really feel a difference, every enhancement swaps over to a new ship you buy so you dont' just lose progress.

Combat is varied, you can specialize in many different ways to fight such as ramming into boarding, close range shotgun like weapons, long range bombardment, sinking their ship through water intake, going for high damage and ripping them up, setting fire for them to deal with so they can't man their equipment, killing the crew from afar, etc etc. It's so cool and your play style is probably here.

Over all 9/10 game.

I wish in the earlier ships i could buy a couple more crew per ship, sometimes i felt really understaffed and it was annoying. Also I played on normal to learn the game and while I ended up fine, i did experience some serious frustrations early that might push some people away who would other whys love the game. The difficulty might be a little much for normal. I can't imagine higher difficulties but i'm pretty excited to try them. Also i'd like some abilities in the over world, something to boost you faster at times to help you escape persuers or something.

Very nostalgic as i played this as a kid but didnt appreciate the incredible storytelling and talented writing that came with it. gameplay is very fun but gets old after 3rd play though

It's like FTL. But in water. You set out over various ocean maps to escape(and defeat) a cult that worships Cthullhu esque creatures. Ship combat isn't the best and sufferes from becoming repetitive pretty early. But the story is well done, lots of customizing options, and a nice soundtrack.

The mechanics are very solid, the battles are fun and if you got the itch for a pirate themed game this is the one,
crew system is cool, it doesnt lock you with anything you can replace any idiot with another and easy to manage, rename, and check their stats.

the story telling wasnt something I was expecting, nor I cared about, but play the story, it is enjoyable,

The ship battles at first will confuse you (it should) but once you get that 1 extra crew member it'll become a lot more chill, and I would say too easy, I dont remember the last time I worried about a ship battle (should be a negative) but I'm playing a legendary pirate character in my head, so it doesnt bother me.

the game will throw some shitty/unlucky situations at you in some locations, which is fun to deal with, not all smooth sailing,

my biggest issue with the game is the lack of crew classes, once you lock your desired plan, thats it, there's no reason to hire anyone except to replace a dead crewmate or replace an extremely mentally and physically impaired one, other than that its not really worth it to hire anyone new if you gained XP with the current crew for a map or two, its basic and dont expect it to be that deep.

give it a shot, it got me the right dose of ARRR!

Good game!
A bit similar to the FTL in terms of playstyle. It seems it is long enough (haven'f finished yet after 12 hours of gameplay) and it's quite enjoyable, although fights get a bit repetetive. The story is interesting; if you like pirates and crew-management game, this game might be for you.

Great game!
I enjoy exploring the map, managing the crew, and upgrading ships.
Yes, battles can get repetitive but there is some variability.
The goal is always to minimize the damage you take, balancing repairs and upgrades

I've enjoyed this a lot not quite the pirate game I was after, but a gem for sure.
A fair amount of events and story are like a text adventure with over world exploration similar to mount and blade.
The naval combat is, but isn't turn based I personally enjoyed being super aggressive and trying to board ships to kill the crew as quickly as possible or picking off the crew, otherwise I was scrambling to keep my ship barely floating or in a near stalemate trading hits.
It's also kind of a set rogue like with sorta set item shops, most have direct upgrades or the same equipment.
If you're not the biggest on clearing zones and text adventures with skill checks it might not be the thing for you