ANALYSIS + CRITICISM OF PIRATES OUTLAWS

These days I have been giving Pirates Outlaws a good vice since they have given me the opportunity to try it (in my case, I have played it on the Switch) and the truth is that I liked it a lot, although I must say that it is dangerously addictive . You know, the typical “just one more game” games.

It is a Roguelite developed by Fabled Game in which we will take the role of a pirate (we can choose between different classes that we can unlock as we play) who will navigate the sea facing numerous enemies while at the same time we will improve our team and others to be more and more powerful and good, the typical.

The combat has a random component (like a good Roguelite) since it is based on cards that we can improve, eliminate or obtain in order to create the deck with the best possible strategy. It’s a bit in the style of Slay the Spire , a game I haven’t tried but I’ve been told it’s similar to this one… I’ll probably try it one of these days.

Anyway, I leave the trailer here and after this I will comment in more detail on the aspects of the game and how it seemed to me.

THE BATTLE SYSTEM AND THE PIRATES OUTAWS CARDS

This is the combat interface with our character and the enemies on the right. As you can see, below are the cards I’ve been dealt this turn.

The battles are surely the most interesting part of Pirates Outlaws and as you can see it has a high random component since we have a deck with a certain number of cards (we can get more or eliminate the ones we don’t like) and in each turn we will draw some of these, so we will never know for sure what will come out of all our available cards.

The idea is that each one mounts the strategy that he likes the most, choosing the cards following certain criteria and eliminating those that are not aligned with the strategy he wants to develop; specialization is the key for things to go well.

In my case I usually chose a class called «Sword Master» (not the character in the photo, that is one that benefits from the curses that I unlocked recently and that caught my attention) that is specialized in melee and I mostly focused on getting those cards that would allow me to deal as much melee damage as possible while also trying to find cards that would allow me to heal from time to time.

Each type of character (we talk a little more about them below) is more or less specialized in some aspect, so the idea would be to follow that specialization more or less to enhance it; or well, I guess you can create a kind of hybrid, you see trying things!

Regarding the cards, there are all kinds:

• physical attacks.
• Ranged attacks.
• Shields.
• Cures.
• Buffs for your character.
• Debuffs for enemies.
• Cards that allow us to draw other cards.
• Curses that are usually quite annoying.
• Many more!

There are some very powerful and others that well… are more regular. We will unlock the cards little by little as we play and obviously, they are the main core of the game’s combat system.

THE PROGRESSION SYSTEM

This is what we can buy in the store, each time we enter different things will appear. On the right we have the “Upgrade” tab to improve our letters.

As we battle we will be able to get cards, relics (they are passive effects, there are very good ones), health increases, healings and coins (which will allow us to buy things). When completing a battle, normally we can choose a card and we can even do a reroll if we spend 25 coins if we don’t like the options that they give us by default; The reroll is very good but be careful because it can be a ruin… the number of times that I have ruined myself doing it.

On the map we will also find Taverns and Shops (the shop is actually called a market), where we can buy cards, improve the ones we have (each card can be improved once) and eliminate those we don’t like (ideal for those we don’t like). align with your strategy or for curses). Of course we will have to invest some coins for it, the management of your economy is important since our ship will be damaged and we will have to repair it in the tavern from time to time for a cost of 100 coins, so you will have to be careful not to Spend your money when the ship is damaged enough (I’ve come to destroy the ship for ruining myself, obviously that leads to a Game Over).

In addition to this, we can also carry out a kind of events (marked with a ? sign on the map) in which good things can happen or, of course, bad things can also happen.

CHARACTERS AND PERMANENT UPGRADES

Sword Master is the character that for the moment I liked the most and with which I have progressed the most, on the left you can see the heads of some of the others.

We have a wide range of characters that we can gradually unlock as we play. As we play we will obtain a kind of coin symbolized with the symbol of a Pirate Hat and the more of these coins we have, the more characters we can use.

Each one has its peculiarities and its own cards , there are some very interesting characters. We could say that each one has a way of being played, so yours will be that you choose the one that you like the most. These are the ones I have found, but of course there are many more:

• Gunner : Specialized in ranged damage through ammunition, he recovers one ammunition point every turn.
• Sword Master : Specialized in melee damage with the downside of not being able to use the armor mechanic (which I call shield, it’s a mechanic to mitigate damage, there are cards that provide shield points, let’s say). I like it a lot because it has a passive that means that when we have life below 25% our attacks heal us for life equal to 50% of the damage we deal. If we do it well, it will be very difficult for them to knock us down unless they do us a lot of damage in one turn, which can happen perfectly.
• Explorer : I really didn’t like this one too much, but the good thing is that at the beginning of the game we can choose a relic with quite interesting effects. We will also have one more card to choose from after each battle (normally there are 3 options, since with this there will be 4). Nothing beyond this.
• Vigilante (this one has the name in Spanish, don’t ask me why): I hate this one because we will constantly depend on luck and if you get caught by a jinxed round it will be very easy for you to be deleted . When attacking we will have a 50% chance of causing a critical hit and a 50% chance of taking half the damage we deal (which is not very cool). In addition, we will obtain lucky or unlucky marks in the process that we can use through the cards of this character. The most lottery character of all, I don’t like it at all because I like to have things more or less under control.
• Curse Captain : I’ve tried this a couple of times so far and the truth is that it’s not bad at all. He is a character who benefits from curses, which is quite curious since they are usually bad. He basically has a passive that the more curses we have, the more powerful it will become, so you know… to collect curses has been said. I’ll test him more because he seems to have potential and his skin is really cool.

And these are not even half of the characters in the game! The truth is that they are quite interesting characters and it is quite cool to try the new ones when we unlock them.

I almost forgot to talk about the permanent improvements to the game! Well, apart from the characters, we will also be unlocking cards (general or specific to a type of character) and relics; Of course, what we will unlock is the possibility that they appear to us in game , which is a Roguelite for a reason. Also sometimes we will get some permanent passives by overcoming certain challenges that will give us things like more life, more health points of the ship and that kind of thing.

IT’S WORTH IT?

This would be the game map with the different routes and areas. There are battles, shops, events… that kind of thing. You will have to choose your route wisely.

In my opinion , it’s worth it , it’s a very fun and extremely addictive game, in my case it’s highly probable that I’ll put many more hours into it. Of course, be careful because when you start with a game it is easy to end up making lots of them and suddenly the saint has gone to heaven (it has happened to me).

Looking at the typical aspects that are usually analyzed in games, this is my opinion:

• Visual Section : The truth is that the game looks very good, it has its own somewhat minimalist cartoon style that looks very good and it is quite polished. The truth looks very good, I can’t fault it… simple but well done, which is his thing.
• Music and Sound Effects : In my opinion it is where it could be improved the most, I will comment better in the bottom part of “what could be improved”. It’s not that this section is bad as such, but it kind of lacks a little more chicha.
• Gameplay : I love Roguelites, the randomness factor together with each game being more or less unique is great. I like the combat a lot, the card system is addictive with desire… I like it a lot in that sense. Again what it said, simple but effective.
• Duration : It gives you many hours. A game can already last between 10 and 20 minutes (depending on how long you last, if they kill you quickly or not… those things). There are several different maps (you will unlock them) and things will get more and more complicated. You also have several characters to try out and since the game is somewhat complicated and depends a bit on luck, you can spend your life playing. Typical game that if you want to get 100% you’re going to have to put hours and hours into it.
• Price : As an indie that is, it has a fairly affordable price, something that players’ pockets always appreciate. It seems to me that it has an incredible price in the face of how polished it is and the hours and hours it can give us if we want to obtain 100%.

As you can see, I highly recommend it since I was hooked on Pirates Outlaws and I liked it a lot (I tried it a bit playing it safe because I know myself and I know that I usually like these types of games a lot). If you decide to try it, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion about the game.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

This is a boss in the game, one of the first ones you will come across. There are some bosses that are really tough.

The game as such is pretty good, but these are the things I think could improve it:

• Spanish language : Although it is true that it is not a game where the text is too relevant, it is true that the broad Spanish-speaking community would be grateful if the translation into Spanish was added; The truth is that it is a pity that at least today we do not have it available. As long as you have a minimal notion of English, you’ll find out (a priori) things well, but you need to be able to play the game in our language, of course.
• Improve Animations : It would be quite cool if when using a card the character would perform a fluid animation according to the action we perform . If we use the kick card, then kick it. It would give the game a lot more life and in my opinion it would look much better visually, but I imagine that it must be a lot of work to do it, especially considering the wide variety of characters that the game has.
• Improve the Sound Section : A few more songs so that things don’t become so repetitive, more sound effects for the cards… I would tell you that even a narrator would suit him quite well. It may be that Darkest Dungeon has me so used to it, but it freaks me out that the narrator comments on the battle a bit (more with the booming voice that this doubler has); for example when you give a critical hit and shout “A singular strike!”. I know it’s a lot to ask, but his would be cool. Something that would also be nice is that when you crit it feels more powerful, it almost goes unnoticed and isn’t as satisfying as it should be to crit.

And I see little more room for improvement beyond the typical of adding more content such as more characters, maps, cards and others… than that of course. That said, it is a game that I really liked and that I highly recommend it, especially if you like Roguelites.