Setting sail last week was Rogue Waters, a brand new and very shiny turn-based tactics pirate-themed adventure with loads of roguelike mechanics that I’ve found thoroughly engrossing. The aim of the game is to guide your ship of scurvy pirate friends on daring raids that culminate in big grid-based battles on island fortresses. And treasure, of course.
Rogue Waters is a story-driven roguelike, you might say, and there’s a strong emphasis on narrative alongside the turn-based combat. Things start off with your character, Cutter, playing second fiddle to the game’s big bad, Captain Blackbone (which I don’t think is a joke).
Blackbone is after you because of a talking gemstone embedded in your eye. Naturally. And that’s not the end of the fantastical elements as Rogue Waters features a mysterious crystalline resource called “glass” that can be used to upgrade your immortal ship and crew AND there are giant sea creatures.
In fact, you get to control a kraken. And that doesn’t appear to be directly linked to the whole genie-in-the-eye-socket thing either. In this respect, I thoroughly approve. Developer Ice Code Games was invited to go big or go home, and they did not go home. For example, once per run you can you get your giant pet kraken to surface during a battle and slap a row of pirates into oblivion. It’s so overpowered but I love that they included it as a mechanic (and there are more monsters).
What be Rogue Waters?
You play as Captain Cutter and command a crew of pirates, which you grow over time. Much of your time is spent in combat, but there’s also an element of exploration and ship management to navigate.
There is a traditional map charting your objectives, which you can follow, but the world and your path through it is brought to life via vibrant visuals with your ship sailing between boats, islands, and other tropical destinations. It looks great and the quality visuals make for an immersive overall experience.
Each combat encounter is broken up into two main phases: cannons and cutlasses. During the cannons phase you have three turns to battle your opponent’s cannons and also do other types of damage that will come into play during the hand-to-hand battle ahead. Once that bit is over it’s time to draw cutlasses and have at it.
Cut-throat turn-based combat
While distinct and separate, the ship-to-ship battles can directly influence the melee combat that follows in a number of ways. One way is to use cannons designed to strike soldiers on the deck and thin the crowd for the coming fight. These soldiers are represented on the ship like other units, so if shot during cannon combat, they don’t appear during the melee stage. Another way might be to target a cannon or other piece of equipment fitted to the enemy ship. Shipboard items which remain intact after battle confer bonuses to you, so destroying theirs leaves them at a disadvantage. Keep an eye on your own ship, though – they can damage your bonuses too.
During the cannon battles you’ve got a limited number of action points per round (typically three, but you can upgrade that number) and there are three rounds. Enemy shots are telegraphed so you’ve got a chance to address impending threats. Thus you must balance your decisions between undoing damage and making your moves.
After this three turn-sequence, your boarding party must make an appearance on the enemy deck. You’ve got a small landing area that you can move to first, but even so, it’s really important to put your units in the right place. Once in position, the combat takes place on grid-based ship decks as the two teams take it in turns to attack each other.
The turn-based combat is quite fun. Positioning is key as your units use their attacks to push enemies this way and that. There are several ways that the environment can be used to your benefit, from pushing enemies overboard to swing on ropes to cover great distances.
Diversified gameplay in Rogue Waters
There are rank and file crew mates, and these guys are not in short supply so don’t worry too much if they get skewered. The beating heart of your squad, however, are your specialists. These more limited folks have powerful attacks and additional tactical benefits that can be used to sharpen up your damage-per-turn and setup little combo attacks.
As the game progresses, the enemies get a bit more interesting, too. That said, many of my first attempts were frustrated by difficulty spikes where I felt like I was doing alright until the end battle, when I was just overpowered by numbers out of nowhere. It took quite a bit of grinding the early game before I started making meaningful progress in these key battles, and this was somewhat frustrating at times.
Obviously I needed to pay penance to the gods of meta-progression. Playing a few loops allowed me to earn the currency needed to expand my facilities, unlock some extra specialists, and upgrade my ship. This all happens in a private cave where you return after each death. Your specialists take time to heal their wounds and must be rotated, your main characters babble some pirate speak at you, there are upgrades to your ship and overall facilities, and then it’s back on another raid, either in search of loot or to advance the story.
To mix things up even more there are trinkets that you can add to your characters to boost their numbers in-game, much like you can stat-boost your vessel with shipboard items and cannons. These modules reset after each run, so your experience is altered by what you’ve got equipped at any given moment.
The whole thing holds together quite well, and I think with a bit of additional tinkering it could get better still, maybe even with new adventures over time. The production values are great across the board (although I wasn’t a huge fan of the VO it must be said) and all told I think there is a lot to like about this pirate-themed adventure. It is often silly, it’s sometimes exciting, and it’s definitely interesting. Once or twice I found it quite frustrating, but overall I think that Rogue Waters is a charming and engaging tactics game that does a good job of blending roguelite variety with squad-based action-adventure on the high seas.
Rogue Waters is out now on PC Steam and Epic. I played the game via access that was provided by the scurvy sea dogs who made the game and their PR shipmates. Yarr!
