Platform: Microsoft Windows
Developer: Ice Code Games
Genres: Strategy video game, Role-playing video game, Adventure game, Action game, Adventure, Strategy
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive
Initial release date: September 30, 2024
Engine: Unity
Yar har fiddle de dee! Grab your cutlass and a bottle of rum as you embark on a tactical pirate adventure in the turn-based roguelike Rogue Waters!
Rogue Waters is a turn-based role-playing game in which the player takes on the role of Cutter, a pirate who becomes mistakenly possessed by an ancient relic. The mysterious relic is known as the goddess’ eye, and it forces itself into Cutter’s eye, giving him unusual powers.
Cutter’s unexpected abilities enrage his captain, Blackbone, who betrays him and abandons him at sea, presumed dead. Cutter reappears 14 years later and rejoins his crew, now immortal and seeks vengeance on Blackbone.
Rogue Waters combat engagements are broken into two stages: the first is a ship battle, and the second is the actual boarding stage. During ship combat, the player’s goal is to destroy the adversary’s cannons, modules, and crew, while the boarding stage is a full-fledged fighting on the enemy ship.
The ship warfare system is quite deep, and if improved, it could easily be a standalone game. It’s quite exciting to be able to eliminate enemies before the action even begins by shooting at the crew, and the system encourages you to make difficult decisions due to the limited ammunition.
The player gets three turns to fire on enemy ships, destroying infrastructure that provide bonuses during combat or aiming straight at the attackers to reduce their numbers during the boarding stage. The adversary can do the same to your ship, so it’s a matter of how much you’re willing to give up for an advantage in the next combat.
When you board a ship, the game turns to a grid-based combat system that functions similarly to Marvel’s Midnight Suns, with the goal of damaging foes by driving them into objects, each other, and off the ship.
Most melee attacks push the adversary back while moving your character forward, so the player is continuously dealing with an ever-changing combat encounter that shifts into different situations with each turn. It’s a dynamic system that complements the game’s protagonists’ swashbuckling fighting style.
The player’s crew consists of a captain and a gang of hired specialists each with their own unique combat skills, such as the ability to hit multiple adversaries at once or backstab enemies that cross paths with them. Rogue Waters excels at turn-based combat, and the game maintains a nice sense of escalation as new enemy kinds with dangerous maneuvers are added on a consistent basis.
The expert pirates you can employ have three randomized talent trees that level up when you take them on missions. Building up and extending your crew as you hunt for pirates with the precise skills you desire is enjoyable, and the talent trees make a significant impact in gameplay.
Each character also has two item slots that can be used to gain stat boosts or active skills, both of which help you make the most of your turns. Typically, your turn ends when you fight, however most items can be utilized freely, allowing you to accomplish heavy damage combos on adversaries in a single round.
Despite being turn-based, the game’s fighting system feels quite active due to the fluid animations and interactions between the characters. It’s easy for turn-based games to seem boring, especially roguelikes, but Rogue Waters manages to keep things interesting by continually adding new features and providing really pleasant visuals and mechanics.
The game has a strange difficulty spike in its non-story missions early on, which don’t appear to be beatable. The player may typically make their way through a raid if they play properly and are lucky enough with cannonball damage during the ship battle phases, but the final encounter will usually wipe out your group in one or two turns.
It’s understandable that death is a part of the game and that you’re expected to die and come back stronger; after all, it’s a roguelike, but being locked into the main story as soon as the game supposedly “opens up” is inconvenient, especially since both the main story and side missions initially available are labeled as simple in difficulty.
This becomes less of an issue after a few failed runs, as you’ll have enough glass to buy upgrades and more crew members, as well as more game knowledge, but it’s worth noting that the game includes some rough encounters for the first hour or so, which feels unnecessary and gives a very different first impression than the rest of the game.
In terms of the game’s characters, Cutter is a likable protagonist, while the specialists he recruits all have unique designs and gameplay styles. The game is almost entirely voice-acted, with plenty of dialogue between story missions and battle confrontations.
The game’s pirates speak like you would expect them to, including cursing, and their speech is typically well-written, if a little quippy at times. Shiv, a demon of unknown alignment who lives inside Cutter’s new eye, works effectively as a chaotic presence throughout the game, opposing the level-headed quartermaster Wilkes.
The tale gradually delves further into darker supernatural themes as Cutter begins to unravel Blackbone’s secrets and frees the gigantic marine animals that have been captured, resulting in a fun escalation of the game’s premise that manages to remain engaging throughout.
Overall, Rogue Waters provides a superb turn-based roguelike experience. The game suffers a little because practically every run has the same structure, but the fundamental fighting mechanics and plot keep the experience going.
Rogue Waters is a decent title for people who appreciate the strangely prevalent overlap between pirates and the otherworldly, as well as those who enjoy a strong Firaxis-style turn-based combat system.
Review Overview
Gameplay: 86%
Controls: 83%
Aesthetics: 88%
Content: 80%
Accessibility: 78%
Value: 84%
Overall: 83%
IMMERSIVE AND EXHILARATING!
Summary:
Rogue Waters encapsulates the thrill of maritime exploration and furious ship battle, providing players with a wonderfully designed world to discover and conquer. The game blends seamless controls with eye-catching graphics, making each journey visually appealing and entertaining. While more quest variation and accessibility options would increase its complexity, Rogue Waters remains a strong and fascinating title. For those who enjoy sea-bound adventures and action-packed confrontations, this game offers an immersive experience that will leave a lasting imprint on the open waves.