Sea of Thieves Review Update :A Voyage Finally Worth Taking (Gamespot) 8/10

Well its not typical to re-review games but it seems like Gamespot saw a need to.

Review

THE GOOD

Rare has spent two years building on the game's strong foundation with features, tools, and systems that improve the core gameplay

The newly added emissary system is a brilliant solution that incentivizes various play styles in smart waysShips of every size feel great to control, whether you're coordinating a galleon with three friends or soloing a sloop

Unlike at launch, there are now countless things to do, whether you want to fight other players, engage with "Tall Tale" story missions, hunt skeleton fleets, or have any number of other adventures

The tension created by the possibility of being attacked at any moment has been enhanced by various new systems

THE BAD

Despite new tools that alleviate some grind, the level of investment required for certain ranks and unlocks can feel exploitative still

At high levels, short sessions feel unrewarding, creating the need to play for long stretches without breaks

Some bugs and balance issues have persisted for a long time

Did Sea of Thieves.... Unflop?😂

But then again, who takes Gamespot reviews seriously anyway.

Yet another thing for soulless corporations to point to and say; "our shitty live service game will turn good eventually, just be patient," while continuing to launch broken half-finished garbage.

Good on Rare, I suppose, but - and this is nothing personally against them - I just kind of wish their game along with others like No Man's Sky and R6: Siege didn't exist the way they did.

8-10

It’s official S0T is off the flop list and into the very good game bracket

You live by the scores,you die by the scores

HaH

I had fun at the beginning. I think I’ll DL the updates and give it another visit. Thanks for the reminder! A few people on my friend’s list are constantly playing this game.

Nice to see them turn things around for the game. I really liked the look of the game graphically but it just didn’t seem like there was enough to interest me in it at first. I am tempted to give it a go now. Really wish they would bring out these type of games out when they are more ready and up to snuff. I really can’t imagine these things are any more financially beneficial then having a better product coming out from the get go.

It finally has a price that might be worthy of admission as well. The 60 dollars they originally launched it at was outrageous for the content included.

"Sea of Thieves. It's good now... we swear!"

SoT has been pretty solid for a while now. Still need friends for the full expirence. Easily the best game to grief in currently.

It's good that they are fulfilling some promises, but is way too wrong that they expect us to buy an unfinished product in hopes they will make it right along the way.

I've been playing the game on and off since launch and I can say with complete confidence that the vast majority of the game additions and updates were made due to in-game feedback and gameplay dynamics that can only come from the game actually being out in the wild.. As a result, this is a hand-crafted sandbox that is a direct result of player input..

That's good and all, but honestly, that's what the Game Preview program is for.. I felt like the game had a really solid foundation at launch but in hindsight, the $60 asking price was too much.. It should have launched at $30 like State of Decay 2 or it should have stayed in Game Preview until it was at least to the point of the Anniversary Update in terms of content in order to justify a full price tag..

The game is still really fun, the community is packed thanks to Game Pass, and the re-reviews by both IGN and GameSpot officially illustrate a great game at 8/10.. Congratulations to Rare for their continued support and Sea of Theives looks to be a longterm pillar of Game Pass.. But things could have (and should have) been handled better on the front-end..

I play it for free when it was on Gamepass during its launch. Even MS knew $60 was outrages, so it was nice they included towards Gamepass.

Its been awhile since I played Sea of Thieves, might dive into the seas again before TLOU2 release.

I had fun with it before they piled on even more stuff, might have to go see what's new.

Congrats , SOT went from shi*Ty, to just OKay.

Played it on and off since launch, and Rare have done a good job with the updates. Has always been gorgeous to look at, and good its finally done enough to get the credit it deserves...

Its a lot better than it was. if you have a few friends to play with its a blast.

IMO its more fun to dick around and attack other players/deal with AI ships than to do the actual quests though.

@daredevils2k: It was never shitty, just lacked content at the beginning. There was still a lot of fun with friends . But same could be said with most online games and good friends.

Cows sure are quite up in here lol.

I've never played the game and still don't have any interest in it.

This is Obviously a new thing they're doing. There plenty of Sony games that got better too. So be careful how you talk in here lems lol

I remember when yall complained that death stranding had its own page only to realize that it what they are doing with every big game release now

NO.

You know, it's OK to enjoy more than just one brand's games. I know, I'm wasting my time here.

of course that is why I have a Switch. too bad one of the games I played was Xenoblade 2, bad game.

called it...

Yeah nah

GS Street Fighter 5 review in 2016 it got a 7/10

&

GS Street Fighter Arcade Edition review 2018 it got a 9/10

You cows have such bad memories.

Launches empty. Takes 2 years to have okay content. This is just like Destiny, f those games.

Same. I liked it, it just was not good enough to pull me away from whatever I was playing at the time.

Should give it another spin though, and I think I will.

@i_p_daily: nah i remember. a new consistent thing is what I meant to say. We will see

I wish they would’ve waited for it to be an actual game before releasing it as a game. It’s 2 years later snd we all moved on.

GaaS. Only fun with friends. This was a big ol' yikes to begin with. It looks beautiful, though.

Just so ya know.

A GS 8.0 for a Xbox game and especially this game, Sea of mofo Thieves, is equivalent to them scoring it 15/10. :D

Mighty Rare, their gonna rock the socks off SuperMighty XseX MonsterBox..... Yeah baby!!!

Don't wait, get your preorder in yesterday if you can. lol :P

lmao I give you props for admitting that an Xbox game scoring an 8 is considered a big deal. 😇

:) Even the most ardent MS Xbox smear artists like GS won't be able to refute the masterpiece in the works...

Like I said, get that XseX preorder in now whilst you can. lololol :P

If MS knew it was outrageous, it wouldn't have been 60 dollars. :P

MS counts on people that sign up for game pass and stay signed up, either by accident or just because it is a pretty decent value.

same with no man sky. its good these company's do this but wish they hold on to there games and get it right the first time.

sea of thieves always looked good to me but the mass was saying it was a empty open world.

I skipped no man sky but i might give it shot in vr.

Hmmm... might as well check it out again some day.

I was bored to tears while playing it but I do admit the sailing is top notch. The water physics and boats are just amazing. But it felt more like a tech demo than a game.

I’m hoping we can get a SoT2 with some more meat on the bones.

I doubt it. These types of games just evolve.

@Pedro: well hopefully it evolves in a way that keeps the awesome sailing and just improves everything else.

its already made it a lot of the way there, worth another shot if you haven't played it since launch

Do we have any metric for games that have bad launches that get fixed down the line? Do these games get boosts in sales or what? I know No Man's Sky followed a similar path, but I'm unaware how games perform after being fixed.

That would be an interesting study if the information was readily available.

At the end of the day, a developer best hopes to never land in this situation in the first place by releasing completed and bug-free games, but it will inevitably happen on the rare few we've seen and will see, and they will tank critically and likely financially as well.

We don't have much data yet on dev's going out of their ways to try to fix a game, but we have a handful now that fits this description. We can start to see if trying to fix games after bad launches is even worthwhile for business.

This has happened with several games this gen, SWB2 and No Mans Sky being other great examples.

Is this the new industry trend? Release a broken game and fix it over the next year? I hate this as a consumer, as I don't know what kind of product I'm going to get. I don't want 3/4 finished games!

They need to start delaying some of these games and finishing them! But corporate interests wouldnt like that. Like how the Battlefront games needed to release close to the movies, even though they still needed work!

And some games never get better! Like fallout 76 and Anthem.

Good on devs for continuing to make the games better, but damn do it in the first place!

Certainly feels like a trend, and it's comeback stories like NMS and Sea of Thieves that let them get away with it.

@with_teeth26: just tried it for a couple hours. Still not there, still needs a ton in my opinion. But fortunately for all of the fans, my opinion is worthless.

So, good for everyone enjoying it.

what do you think it could use as improvements?

granted I haven't played it a ton myself since all the updates. i got the impression that ship to ship combat is more interesting now with multiple ammo types, but combat between pirates or pirates/skeletons is still very simplistic with limited weapons.

@with_teeth26: I think there have been a ton of improvements, don’t get me wrong. But, the core game of increasing rep for cosmetics is still the fundamental backbone which I felt was lacking meat.

I love the addition of Tall Tales but they are hit and miss. Naval combat is better but that’s never been an issue for me really, neither has the sailing. The new islands and forts are cool, but the character combat is still blah. I still found myself asking myself, what is the point? Legend? Pass.

I realize this is a sandbox but I think it needs more tools. Give us AI ships we can attack and loot for the different factions. Which in turn gives bounties to other players to get revenge. Pirate controlled islands and forts, bigger islands, more things to discover, some fun crafting mechanic, more customization, etc.

The thing is, maybe it’s just not the game for me. I’ve loved sandboxes in the past, just not this one because it feels like a sandbox-lite. Which is why I’m hoping for a SoT2 which overhauls some stuff and evolves what works.

just as an fyi, there are indeed AI ships in the game (both lone Skeleton ships that randomly spawn and entire Skeleton Fleets) that you can attack for various loot, reputation, and commendations.. Also the new Emissary system for the various factions encourage PVP by a "risk vs reward" dynamic that allows higher rewards for voyages but there's a clear visual indicator on your ship indicating you have loot (which is dangerous for obvious reasons).. this is coupled with a new Reaper faction that is designed to gain rewards and reputation from attacking and sinking those player ships on the Emissary voyages.. and in addition to the cooking mechanic, crafting is apparently on the way..

One thing is for sure, Sea of Thieves just isn't a game for everyone.. no matter how much they add to the game, it just won't appeal to every gamer.. and really, that can be said for nearly any game..

fair enough, I can agree with a lot of that.

@Antwan3K already pointed out some of the new stuff you missed so I won't retread that ground. I will say that getting involved in a battle with several AI ships was the most fun moment i've had coming back to the game.

but I agree with you about the Tall Tales being a mixed bag and character combat not being great. I don't personally mind the more cosmetic driven progression since it means you can play with friends who are just starting and they wont feel like they are totally useless.

so, the game released on Steam a few days ago, and has 34k concurrent players on that platform alone.

meaning, between Steam, Xbox PC and console players, the game is pretty dang popular

NMS, SoT....how about these games don't get released until they have adequate content in the first place.