Windrose is an up-and-coming Pirate Open World PvE game with no set release date as of yet. The developers have stated that they have plans to go into early access at some point. There was a demo I got to check out, and it could have that pirate-themed gameplay I've been wanting for quite a few years now. One that is not ruined by PvP or corporate greed nonsense. The developers behind Windrose are just an indie studio, and these days, that is where all the fun things are going on.
The game has options to play in your own solo world offline or co-op with friends. Far too many pirate games of recent times have tried to push for server game play and fallen far short of a real pirate adventure that most gamers just want to have with a couple of friends, a few hours a week when they can.
While there were quite a few things lacking in the demo, it clearly showed that it’s going to be a while before any kind of release. You can tell it’s built by gamers who have already put in tiny quality-of-life things only a gamer would think to do. From crafting from storage to being able to store items by match stacks in storage.
There is a short storyline and some quests in the demo to get you going. It walks you through the basics of crafting to getting your first major ship with a crew. I felt it guided me enough to get the hang of the game, but it was not overdoing it.
This game appears to be a progression system of opening up further islands as you go along. You start on a rather basic island with a copper mine and limited resources. It’s large enough to keep you busy for hours, but it leaves you wanting to explore the nearby area, where you discover even more islands.
The building aspect of this game felt the right mix of things. You put down a fire that you have to build around. Some crafting stations need to have a roof over them to use. While other things require being along the shoreline. You can even upgrade the couple of crafting stations by building further objects that are not required to be next to them.
The game has the rather standard approach to gathering that you would expect in a survival game. There is a bit of a twist to it. Instead of already having to make a new tool, such as an axe or pickaxe, for farming. You can use resources to upgrade it to make it deal more damage to wood or rocks. This game upgrade system applies to weapons and armor as well. Beyond that, there is also a rarity system as a way to progress towards better tools and armor that you can then further upgrade their capacity in the appropriate crafting benches.
It’s nice of the game to have some pre-crafted structures you can place if building your own one piece at a time is not your thing. I, however, prefer to make my own house. I found the snapping and rotating of objects easy to get the hang of. As you progress in the game, you end up finding recipes for different kinds of walls, pillars, and floors. Also, as you discover different items like copper or wood, you unlock the ability to build further things. I prefer this way of going about it to having to unlock things in a skill tree.
A major part of this game is exploring. There are a few structures, caves, and even little underground areas that were used by former pirates to hide treasure. I also just love caves and the fact that it is where you get the copper you need to progress, I was all for.
In the demo, the world map was already a decent size. In the six hours I ended up playing, I did not fully explore everything. Even better, once I finished the demo ending objective, the game still allowed me to keep playing. As you explore, you end up finding different points of interest to check in and loot for treasure.
As you level up, you get talent points to spend in a skill tree along with attributes. Everything gives you a small bonus, at least at the lower tiers I was able to unlock and check out. The game does a decent job at breaking things down into different playstyles of combat. While also telling you which attributes which ones are best for what type of weapon, if they have any effect on it.
Sailing is a big part of this game, and you start on quite a small singe character ship. There is the ability to turn on auto move forward for not only walking, but also sailing as well. Even better yet, the game allows you to craft travel portals along shorelines. So once you discover an area and put one down, you can quickly get back to it and your pirate base.
The real fun starts when you find, repair, and get a crew for a bigger ship. It’s quite the storage capacity. You can upgrade different items from cannons to the hull as you do with other items in the game.
One area I felt this game is lacking, and it shows that this is just a demo. A lot more development is needed for certain kinds of combat. Melee combat in general just felt sluggish and painful. There are some clear changes needed for animations, and some balancing is needed as well. In most situations, I found myself dealing with more than one NPC at a time. It was almost better to just run. Trying to block multiple targets at once with how the armor blocking system works. Along with attack animations.
The kind of combat they felt decent was ship-to-ship combat. It was fun commanding the cannons to be shot and watching my crew move around on the ship. With this being a pirate game, I can see myself spending a lot of time on the high seas, sinking ships. One thing I did not get to test out was boat boarding. I noticed there was an item you could craft for it. That was like a few things beyond what the demo was looking to show.
Overall, quite a fun demo to test out. I look forward to when this game enters early access. While it’s clear that a few things need a decent chunk of work. There are already enough systems in place and things to keep me interested in checking in on the progress of this game from time to time.
Screenshots were taken, and content was written by @Enjar about Windrose.
Disclosure: Screenshots and experienced are based on the Demo of the game.
