Worried about reviews

[Phoenix]

I am interested in this game but there seem to be a lot of reviews from steam users rank 0 with 2.5 hrs on record with private profiles. It has made me hold off buying. Can anyone calm my fears?

[Marcin_89]

this game is unfair and it's cheating... You are going to be very angry if you will buy it

[Phoenix]

Originally posted by Marcin_89:

this game is unfair and it's cheating... You are going to be very angry if you will buy it

Thank you for the heads up and at 116hrs in you would know :)

[Marcin_89]

yeah and im very f*cking angry playing it... unfair like hell
if you want you can buy it and after two hours you can claim a refund if you dont like it

[alex6672010]

Hehe, I didn't know about the reviews. Made me laugh. Yeah, that's pretty shady.
As for the game itself, it's definitely worth buying. The problem is, it... is not suitable for everyone.
Here's an opinion from a person who LOVES this game and the series as a whole. Let me describe some major minuses first, so you can decide for yourself.
-This game is buggy, because the game engine is basically from the early 2000s. It's not buggy for everyone, though. On some systems, it works fine, on some, it doesn't. If you're unlucky, crashes will be an issue.
-This game is demanding. There will be moments where the game will be clearly unfair to you. There will be moments where you will have to go back to previous saves because you didn't have/know/do something important to progress further. There will be moments where the game will throw you into action without time to properly prepare.
-This game is grindy. Sometimes you will have to abuse s/l in order to get random to work in your favor. There are lvl/exp requirements for some quests you will have to meet.
-This game has no proper tutorial/beginner stage. After a short tutorial, you will be left out in a world that will screw you hard. Funny enough, the beginning is the most difficult part. The further you are into the game, the easier it gets.
The pluses... It's a freaking RPG/ship captain simulator about the Caribbean, what other pluses do you need? If you played City of Abandoned Ships before, you should know what this game is.
So, as I said, this game is frustrating at times (like everything from/in Russia:) ), but it's enjoyable in the end. If you're not afraid of that, go ahead and buy the main game. DLCs, on the other hand...
-The Caleuche: basically, it's a pack of the best ship and equipment in the game, complemented with average storyline.
-The Final Lesson: a pack of small hard quests for the beginning of of the game (as if the start wasn't hard enough). But completing them gives a significant boost in experience and finances to play further. Also, this is where you find the hardest boss fight in the entire game.
-Flying the Jolly Roger: decent storyline, but VERY grindy. There are basically moments where you will need to have this, this and that in your inventory to progress. And time limits. Lots of them.
-Hero of the Nation: didn't get to play it yet, but people say it's repetitive.

[LHookins]

Check out older reviews. Look through the Guides section. Read walkthroughs of various parts of the game both in the guides and in the forums.

My own review starts off that I have a love/hate relationship with the game. :) But if I hated it, I wouldn't have over 1700 hours playing it, and the same goes for everyone else: no one plays a game they hate for very long.

The sandbox portion of the game is truly excellent. I don't care for the main quests and haven't been tempted to buy any of the DLC. Read walkthroughs to get an idea of what various quests are like. All but a very few hours I've played have been sandbox.

There is no manual, but I did my best to make one in the Guides section. If you can find the City of Abandoned Ships manual online, it will serve well as the games are very similar.

Don't take any one person's opinion, even mine.

Hook

[davidontariocanada]

I am thinking you are seeing 2.5 hrs on record because they have a blocked profile. Not because they haven't played.

[Helgart]

As an option - buy at a discount the base game only to check it out

[davidontariocanada]

Originally posted by Marcin_89:

yeah and im very f*cking angry playing it... unfair like hell
if you want you can buy it and after two hours you can claim a refund if you dont like it

I enjoy PVP and it most often does not seem fair. Knowing this and understanding the question: What did you think would happen the first game you played? Kind of makes sence one would expect a beating while they were learning and not be so upset that the expected happened.

[Phoenix]

Som fair and balenced comments here. Thank you all for taking the time :) I will mull over what has been said here.

[Alstack]

Yes, this game can be a pain to play at times. Look at the mods for better game play.They help in many ways without being cheats.

Sea Dogs: To Each His Own > Guides > ✪ 1337Skrjabin's Guides

[Hude/Papaya]

If you get through the start you will be fine. The first 30 hours of the game are pretty brutal though which is why you see a lot of people with 2-10 hours. After that it is still pretty challenging but also incredibly fun and it gets easier (in my opinion at least) the more you advance in the game.

I can only recommend you to buy it and if you need help there are a couple of guides which will help you or you can ask the community for further advice. Normally you get an answer pretty quickly. It's all manageable but be prepared for a lot of setbacks.

[DarkEternis]

save. save often. save in multiple slots.
I just bought this game a few days ago and its a lot of fun, but yes it is difficult. It is on steam sale now so worth a buy for sure. Wish they had hired someone who spoke english to do the localization lol. "After you sink the tens pelvis!"

As far as the game cheating, yeah it seems like sometimes the engine deliberately screws you, and if you need proof of that you just need to do the gambling mini-game a few times. If you witnessed someone you were gambling against getting the cards/dice rolls the computer gets you'd probably just shoot them in the face. They are worse than Matt Cauthon. You roll a full house, they reroll all their dice and get all 6's. Or they get 21 8 hands in a row, and I've seen them bust like twice in about 200 games. It is less like a real card game and more like the game rolls against your luck skill and you just lose, and the game automatically gives them the winning roll/hand. So like all the skills in the game you start out with crap luck so you have like a 10% cance to win at gambling at first. If you choose the gunner this seems better cause you start with 20 luck. (but the gunner gets the least perks and ranks in the game)

Follow a walkthrough. As far as I can tell you can pretty much fail at the tutorial quests and end up having to start over if you don't get enough money quickly enough.

Really though if you enjoy a challenging game and the pirates theme this is a really decent game. It has all the classic Sid Meiers: Pirates! aspects. Just hunt down a good cannon officers ASAP and ship battle will go better =P.

[Helgart]

Originally posted by DarkEternis:

save. save often. save in multiple slots.
I just bought this game a few days ago and its a lot of fun, but yes it is difficult. It is on steam sale now so worth a buy for sure. Wish they had hired someone who spoke english to do the localization lol. "After you sink the tens pelvis!"

As far as the game cheating, yeah it seems like sometimes the engine deliberately screws you, and if you need proof of that you just need to do the gambling mini-game a few times. If you witnessed someone you were gambling against getting the cards/dice rolls the computer gets you'd probably just shoot them in the face. They are worse than Matt Cauthon. You roll a full house, they reroll all their dice and get all 6's. Or they get 21 8 hands in a row, and I've seen them bust like twice in about 200 games. It is less like a real card game and more like the game rolls against your luck skill and you just lose, and the game automatically gives them the winning roll/hand. So like all the skills in the game you start out with crap luck so you have like a 10% cance to win at gambling at first. If you choose the gunner this seems better cause you start with 20 luck. (but the gunner gets the least perks and ranks in the game)

Follow a walkthrough. As far as I can tell you can pretty much fail at the tutorial quests and end up having to start over if you don't get enough money quickly enough.

Really though if you enjoy a challenging game and the pirates theme this is a really decent game. It has all the classic Sid Meiers: Pirates! aspects. Just hunt down a good cannon officers ASAP and ship battle will go better =P.

I'm not sure whether it's true or not, but when you see that your opponent is cheating in a card/dice game (and it's clear), don't start the next round, make save in a new slot and talk to him. There will be an option "Flames!!! You were cheating!". This may lead to a duel.
Edit: Yeah it's true. Even works ouside town gate. You have a chance to shoot them in the face :)
Edit2 Omg they say it still buggy

[MinenSpecht]

I just started playing it again after a few years after I played through Elex and am totally enjoying it.

I would highly recommend playing it with Hooks MOD as it takes out a lot of stress and pressure and makes the whole experience more enjoyable.

This is a game you have to get used to. I gave up my first try a few years ago but now I took my time getting used to game mechanics and read a few guides before starting again.

The most important hints are: Slow down time in ground combat and get used to the brutal RNG

[DarkEternis]

holy crap I didn't even know this game had mods, and that one is amazing. thanks