What if you could Rule the Sea the way you wanted? Take decisions that you felt were right? And the paths that you seem fit? Rogue Waters lets you do exactly that.
Developed by Ice Code Games and published by Tripwire, Rogue Waters is now available on Steam and has Steam Deck support. Released on September 30, 2024, this rogue lite pirate adventure has had many captains sailing into its call. Here’s how our pirate adventure went.
How did you get an eye patch?
Rogue Waters begins with you being a right-hand man to a captain who is not just a human. While he may talk and think like a human, his body makes him the most feared pirate of the entire sea. More importantly, he now seeks a treasure that is believed to be more of a fairy tale than even a myth. But the captain does not pay heed and chases it with fierce ambition.
To everyone’s surprise, the secret location of the long-lost mythical treasure is now discovered. The captain and his crew make their way into the mysterious location. After defeating a few guardians of the ancient relic, you make your way to acquire the relic, only to realise, your mind has already been possessed by someone else. This is where that narrative shifts entirely. For you, who was once a reliable part of the crew, have now successfully betrayed the captain and the crew.
But this is where things get worse. The mysterious soul controlling your body takes over and forces you to shove the relic in your eye socket. Overcome with immense pain, and the loss of control over your body, you fall into a pit and everything around you crumbles. Everything fades to black, the captain abandons you and years pass.
You suddenly wake up in a magical underwater tavern, with a few known faces. You now discover that you have gained immortality, and will be revived along with your ship each time you die. This is where your story begins. You are now a captain of your crew and will write your journey the way you want.
The Tactical Approach of Piracy
Being a pirate means breaking rules. There are no norms, agreements, or honor. Only one goal – Plunder. But how can one be a mischievous and cheating pirate in a turn-based combat? This is where things get interesting.
Combat in Rogue Water is divided into two parts. Your first attack the enemy with the ship. Based on your offence you have three things you can target with but you will only have three turns to make your move. The enemy ship can do the same, so you must put the damage in the right place. You can damage three things – Their cannons, their installations which give them buffs and the crew headquarters. Attacking the crew directly may eliminate the number of enemies before the fight even begins.
After you’ve made one too many holes in their ship, you can land on their ship with up to four crew. At any given time you can have only a maximum number of four crew members active. Therefore it’s essential to bring a diverse roster that can close distance or put down quick damage.
Positioning also plays a vital role, each hit pushes the enemy back. If they are cornered, they will take double the damage. If they are lined up against their ally, they will collide with the ally and both will receive additional damage. Attacking from the back also doubles the damage. For positioning, you may also use ropes that allow you to swing to the far away side of the map as well.
While solving the position problem may be essential, the most valuable aspect of the game is the arsenal and abilities you go on the map with. Your crew can die and therefore may take too much time to recover or never recover. Therefore you need to plan your offence. You will during your raids, pick up bonus items, upgrade the ship, plunder areas and reinforce your ship better to make it to the end. Each type of weapon has its damage, AOE, and reach. If you can have all of these features work in a melody, there’s nothing that can stop you.
The Tale of the Immortal Pirate
The game looks like playing on a drawing canvas. The beautiful portraits of characters with a sleek UI while presenting the novel of the story all fit together like a perfect puzzle. The narrative and voiceover truly bring out the personality of every character and elevate the game experience.
As for the graphics, it’s beautiful enough to not make your focus shift away from the experience, but it’s also optimal enough to run well even on a laptop without a charger (That’s the biggest optimization compliment we have ever given to a game).
While the OST just falls to be on a generic scale, the gory sound effects of stabbing, along with interesting animations of executions or falling from the ship add more flavour to the entire setting. Roguelites of this much quality are very rare to come across, but we are glad the Rogue Water checks most of it well.
VERDICT
Rogue Water establishes itself to be a complete package of what modern Roguelite feels with its unique elements that make the ‘pirate’ aspect of the setting stand out. While the story plays safe with very generic OSTs, the game starts by being a big grindy. But if that’s something you can overlook, you’re in for sinking a lot of hours, given you’re not sinking your ship that is.
Rogue Waters Review
Rogue Waters-
Story and Narration60/100 Normal
-
Gameplay and Mechanics90/100 Amazing
-
Graphics and Performance70/100 Good
The Good
- Innovative Combat
- Interesting Path Design
- Creative Quests/Events
The Bad
- Flat Storyline
- Generic OSTs
- Repetitive/Grindy at Times