Sailing Era (2023)

Sailing Life has depth, and if you can deal with its rough edges, you may appreciate the grand vision and intent behind it all. I would buy Sailing Life 2 in a heartbeat if the team polished the foundation up and got a better translation team, worked on the consistency of the aesthetics, and made the breadcumb trail less obtuse. Unfortunately, as unrefined as this is, it’s very difficult to imagine this finding much of an audience.

It’s a game that takes inspiration from one of my favorites of all time, so no matter what tiny issues I have with it, I can’t stay mad. It doesn’t always succeed in living up to Uncharted Waters, but the additions that it does make are solid. The best summary I can give is this: I’ve played a hundred hours of this game and am still excited to return for more. If you’re new to the sail anywhere genre, this could be a revelation. There isn’t much else out there that does what this game does. On the other hand, if you have played Uncharted Waters before, this may just be the return to form you are looking for. But be wary of the differences. They weren’t enough to ruin it for me, but I would understand if they did.

Sailing Era is a decent experience for players wanting intricate gameplay systems or craving high seas adventure, just don't expect an engaging story to go along with it.

Sailing Era can be a slow experience, as oftentimes there is no clear way to a given objective. However, this adds to the game’s overall sense of discovery, and sailing across the clear blue seas is surprisingly soothing. Players hoping for a more action-packed RPG experience may wish to stay in the harbor, but anyone looking to get lost in the feel of touring the world aboard an old-fashioned naval vessel might find Sailing Era up their alley.

Sailing Era is a beautiful game where the developers put a lot of thought into its presentation and historical enactment. Still, unfortunately, this title is constantly held back due to its frustrating gameplay loop, combined with a highly awkward machine translation. Unless you have a walkthrough on hand or have an immense amount of patience to fight your way through sheer trial and error, by the twelfth time you reset your save, you probably would’ve wanted to set aside time and play something else at that point.