Windrose Early Access Review – A Pirate’s Life for Me

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Windrose is a game created by a small team that lets you experience life as a pirate, sailing the seas, and searching for treasure. Because it’s still in early development, it’s important to remember it’s not fully finished. However, there’s already plenty to do and enjoy, though it doesn’t quite reach the polish or depth of a game like Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag.

I remember when this game first started as Crosswind, a free-to-play MMO. It’s cool to see how it’s evolved into Windrose – the developers at Kraken Express really changed direction! This is actually their first game, so I’m really hoping they can pull off everything they’re aiming for. I’m excited to see what else they come up with in the future!

At its heart, Windrose is a survival game. Staying alive and managing your resources is the primary focus, with the pirate aspects taking a backseat. Players should understand this going in – if you’re expecting a pure pirate simulation, you might be disappointed. While pirate elements are definitely present, they aren’t the main driving force of the game.

Windrose didn’t run very well, even on a powerful computer. I experienced frequent stuttering and frame rate drops while playing. The developers, Kraken Express, are still working on the game during Early Access and need to fix these kinds of problems, and currently, the game isn’t very smooth. Loading times were also surprisingly slow, despite using a fast SSD.

Okay, so I just started playing Windrose, and honestly, the first hour was rough. The character creation was pretty simple, nothing too exciting. Then, right away, the game just tells you Blackbeard’s attacking your ship with text on the screen – it totally pulled me out of the experience. It wasn’t a great first impression, to be honest; it’s been a while since a game started so awkwardly.

Once you defeat a few simple enemies and reach the top deck, you’re suddenly shown a very basic, comic-book-style cutscene. It lacks voice acting and feels quite amateurish – honestly, it looked like something from a flash game made in the late 2000s. The entire scene feels incomplete and like it was released before it was finished.

The game then shows a dramatic scene – Blackbeard capturing your ship and leaving you stranded on a deserted island. This is where the real gameplay begins, and you’re largely on your own, relying on a quest log and a small map for guidance.

For the first few hours of Windrose, the game focuses on basic survival – you’ll need to find food, build a base, and craft weapons and clothes. You’ll occasionally hear some voice acting as you rebuild your crew, but it’s not a story-heavy experience. This is also the time you’ll learn how the combat system works.

Windrose’s combat isn’t amazing, but it’s decent for a survival game. Most survival games don’t prioritize fighting, so it’s comparable to others in the genre. However, if you look at it as a third-person action game by today’s standards, it feels a bit weak. Hopefully, the developers will improve the combat—along with the story—in future updates.

Eventually, you’ll get a small sailboat, letting you leave the initial island and begin exploring. With a bit more effort, you can rebuild your crew and get a better ship to sail the seas. The sailing itself is simple – you choose a speed (forward or reverse) and steer in the direction you want to go. The wind doesn’t play a role, so it’s mostly about pointing and waiting to reach your destination.

Battles at sea in Windrose are fairly simple, but they’re actually more enjoyable than fighting with swords. Basically, you position your ship, aim your cannons at the enemy, and fire until their health is low enough to let you take them over.

Taking over enemy ships is more enjoyable in this game than in titles like Skull and Bones (though that isn’t saying much!). It’s a shame there’s no animation of your crew swinging across to the enemy vessel – you simply appear on board. Once there, you’ll need to defeat the enemy crew, aided by your own seemingly invincible team.

I have to say, the graphics in Windrose really blew me away! It’s a beautiful game, especially when you learn it was made by such a small and new team. The characters aren’t super realistic, but they have a really cool, unique style. And the world itself? Absolutely stunning! From the bright blue ocean to the thick jungle and golden beaches, it’s just a joy to explore.

Windrose feels like a game that needed more time to finish. While it shows potential, many parts – including the story, sword fighting, and ship battles – feel underdeveloped and could have been much better with additional polish.

Kraken Express feels much more like the game Valheim than Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, so it’s good to know that upfront. It’s not made by a major, AAA game studio, and that’s noticeable. However, the developers have created a really ambitious and promising base that they can expand on to make something truly special.

Even though it’s not fully finished yet, Windrose is still worth a look if you like survival games or pirate adventures, and aren’t expecting a complex story. With some development, it has the potential to be great, so it’s one to keep an eye on.

The game can be enjoyable, but be prepared for a lot of repetitive tasks tied to its core survival mechanics – those are really what the game is built around. While the pirate elements aren’t completely unimportant, they feel secondary to the main survival experience.

Despite a slow and somewhat unappealing start, Windrose offers enough to be worth the discounted price, especially if you’re willing to be patient. It’s a bit rough now, but it shows promise and could become a really good pirate-survival game with further development.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2026-04-24 20:42