Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update puts new wind in the game's sails

Sea of Thieves has proven to be polarizing.

Critics and fans alike were divided when the game launched final year. Sea of Thieves has little structured narrative, salvage for that you brand yourself. There's no vertical power progression grind to go along users hooked, with rewards focusing entirely on cosmetics. Sea of Thieves is a sandbox game with a flat progression system, where players are encouraged to make their ain fun, interacting with others and using the game's assortment of wacky pirate tools. Every bit such, it struggled to appeal to vast swaths of gamers who had hoped for a more structured title.

Nigh of Sea of Thieves' biggest critics agreed on one thing, however, and that is the game'due south potential. Here's how Rare'south upcoming content drop, dubbed the "Ceremony Update," might exist the 1 that helps convert bystanders into active players

We went hands-on with the offset mission in Rare's "Tall Tales" feature, which is the studio's ambitious attempt to bring cinematic story experiences into Sea of Thieves' multiplayer world.

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If Indiana Jones was a pirate

Tall Tales is Sea of Thieves' first real shot at structured story-telling, complete with professional voice-overs, content-specific musical cues, and prepare-piece events. What makes Alpine Tales unique, however, is that all of that story structure still exists within the framework of the Sea of Thieves globe. If players attack you mid-quest, that simply becomes function of your story.

Tall Tales' first story arc (more than will exist added in future updates) is comprised of nine carve up missions, kickstarted by the Mysterious Stranger, who hangs effectually in Sea of Thieves' various taverns. Right from the start, Tall Tales represents a pace-upward in product quality from Rare, with a fully-voiced introduction and suitably ominous music to match. The Mysterious Stranger tells players about an artifact that will allow them to access new lands, known as the Shroudbreaker, granting players a weathered periodical full of clues to decipher.

Tall Tales will turn hungry treasure seekers into archaeologists, with an array of procedurally-generated puzzles and quests. Like in-game maps, players can hold upwardly journal pages for others to read, which contain all sorts of whimsical riddles and diagrams. The journals introduce farther complication when information technology comes to finding your next heading, adding an air of romantic mystery to proceedings.

The journals pointed me towards a shipwreck, and I backtracked through the ship'southward logs for a clue at the Shroudbreaker'southward location. Rare noted that the journals will try to transport crews to different locations to reduce chances of plot device overlap, but everything you'll experience still takes place within Sea of Thieves' dynamic world. In closed server conditions, we didn't encounter whatsoever enemy ships, only when the update drops at the end of April, at that place's no reason we couldn't have. Many of Tall Tales' quest items and keys are physical objects, too, meaning they can be stolen or lost to the sea depths, which creates a sense of desperate attachment to the ancient relics you'll gather forth the way.

The game at present has openable chests, complete with spots for storing items. The unfortunate pirates had abandoned their quest for the Shroudbreaker, and inside their chest we plant more than clues and a small statue that appeared to be a key of some sort.

Later on more riddle solving, a tense run into with a Kraken and a skeleton send, we fabricated our style to a subconscious shrine ensconced behind a waterfall. Just inbound the shrine felt ominous, flanked by spooky music unique to the run into.

Failed puzzle attempts increased the speed at which the water was pouring in, making the iv-player panic all the more than palpable.

Aztec-inspired reliefs stood carved into the wall, overshadowing a small chantry in a waterlogged alcove. Once the entire crew was inside, the door behind us slammed shut, and water started pouring in from in a higher place. At the imminent risk of drowning, nosotros and so had to quickly solve a puzzle using obscure, smudged notes from the journals and weathered hieroglyphs on the walls. Failed puzzle attempts increased the speed at which the water was pouring in, making the 4-thespian panic all the more palpable. My crewmates managed to solve the puzzle, and we were rewarded with a treasure room and pointers to the next office of the journey, while getting ambushed past a new breed of skeletal enemies.

Merely this pocket-sized hint at a wider Bounding main of Thieves world was incredibly heady, with Rare teasing various other tomb types, traps, new enemies, and access to new islands, including the largest landmass the game has ever seen thus far.

Cooking, fishing, grappling hooking

Alongside Tall Tales, Rare is also injecting a range of new features to elevate the overall experience. The result is a greater sense of depth, in addition to more things to exercise for solo players or while waiting for friends to come up online.

After a fairly sizeable and consistent feedback cry, Rare finally added fishing mechanics, and they piece of work extremely well. If y'all've tried fishing in Far Weep 5 or Blood-red Dead Redemption 2, you'll find Rare's offering relatively similar. Bait is a concrete object in Sea of Thieves, and in that location are various types: Leeches, worms, grubs, and more, and fish prefer different kinds in unlike scenarios. Of course, you tin can also chow down on the bait, in typical Sea of Thieves manner. Information technology might make you sick, though...

Take you ever seen someone crunch down on a coconut similar it's an apple tree?

At that place are currently fifty types of fish to catch in-game, ranging from small-scale fries to relatively big beasties, and a new trading visitor headed by Merrick is eager and willing to purchase all of your fish meat. In fact, he's eager to buy any and all meat, since now all of Body of water of Thieves' animals drop fleshy morsels backside when they die. And you can cook them, too. Using a stove on board your send or out in the wild, you can drib items onto the pan and fry them up. Merrick will pay a premium for properly cooked meat, so pay attention to that browning craven drumstick. Alternatively, you lot can eat cooked nutrient to proceeds a modest pool of additional health. Beyond fish and fauna meat, there is also a pile of new fruit to accompany those pesky bananas.

Some of the game's most iconic threats, including the dreaded Kraken and the ravenous Megalodon Meg, also now drib meat. And thanks to the Ceremony Update, you now have access to a new tool in the form of a ship-mounted grappling hook. As an entirely physics-based system, yous can use the hook to grapple onto about anything. You tin even rip loot straight out of an enemy's hands if your aim is truthful, which might come handy in the new Arena mode.

Player vs. player: The Loonshit

Aslope all of this fresh content for Bounding main of Thieves' main sandbox, Rare is calculation an all-new side experience dubbed "The Arena," where five crews of four players will battle it out in a smaller oceanic area over chests. While The Loonshit is divide from the master game, unique cosmetic rewards gained there will besides exist usable in the master game. If y'all see a pirate transport on the horizon sporting elite Arena colors, you may want to flee, since the frantic battle sandbox is about as cutting-throat as it comes.

When you join, y'all're dropped into a tavern-like lobby social hub surface area (consummate with hot tub and alcohol) to prepare for the issue. The Arena represents an boosted trading visitor in the context of the game'due south story, encouraging pirates to boxing information technology out on the high seas in a series of loftier stakes contests.

Each of the 5 ships is granted the same maps, marked with treasure chests. It then becomes a boxing of wills and wits, as you and your squad strategize amidst the chaos. Do you become directly for the chests? Practise you lot hang dorsum and let someone else dig them up for y'all and so take them out? Or practise y'all try to military camp the treasure chest drop off points?

Players are rewarded with points for every competitive activity made in The Arena, whether it'south killing other players, digging up chests, or sinking enemy ships. The most points are rewarded for handing in chests, though, to the various Arena officials posted around the expanse.

You tin can now smash ship masts, besides as the hull.

The goal for Rare is to recreate some of Sea of Thieves' about heady player versus player moments in short 24-minute sessions, and I'd say they've pretty much nailed it. I'k all the same not a huge fan of the relatively clunky gunplay and melee combat in Sea of Thieves, but similar the primary game, Arena tests your soft skills as much as it does your combat abilities. The all-time teams will be those that work together.

Sea of Thieves' biggest update yet

Fishing, cooking, new trade companies, the Arena, and the promise of dynamic in-game storytelling makes the Ceremony Update Body of water of Thieves' most heady addition to engagement. It likewise represents the game's biggest shot at challenge new audiences, particularly among those who felt the game was a little lacking in content when it launched final year.

The update also represents a resurgent Rare, which has expanded its team, and ambitions, in the wake of Sea of Thieves' maiden voyage. Even though the Anniversary Update isn't expected until April 30, 2022, the team was eager to tease the time to come, hinting at even more new lands, new enemies, and even more Alpine Tales to come beyond the planned nine missions that make up the Shroudbreaker story arc.

When I visited Rare last year, you could feel the nerves in the air equally the studio geared up for launch, but this fourth dimension effectually, at that place was a quiet, impassioned confidence about this upcoming update. And I remember it'southward for good reason. If you're already a fan of Sea of Thieves, you're going to love the Anniversary Update. If you're skeptical, April 30, 2022, will be the perfect time to bound on with a friend and give information technology another look.

Awesome Sea of Thieves merch

If you're a Sea of Thieves fan, show off your piracy with these great gift ideas.

Sea of Thieves: Athena's Fortune (From $7 at Amazon)

Athena's Fortune charters the infamous pirate Ramsey and his quest to observe the legendary treasure stash, fraught with peril, plunder, and plenty of piracy.

Tales from Bounding main of Thieves ($xx at Amazon)

Tales from Sea of Thieves is essential reading for any fan, granting a huge amount of background lore on the game and hints of possible time to come content.

Official Sea of Thieves keychain ($10 at Amazon)

Bear witness off your love of the open ocean with this ballsy keychain (non existent silvery... sadly.)

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-sea-thieves-will-begin-hit-its-full-potential-anniversary-update

Posted by: coopertherof.blogspot.com

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