Article: Sea of Remnants - An Attractive Pirate RPG With A Big Asterisk by Kyle Hilliard

Sea of Remnants makes a good first impression, but there is one gigantic caveat that shouldn’t be ignored: when the game comes to PlayStation 5, PC, and mobile platforms next year, it will be free-to-play. That probably means various currencies will be pulling at your purse strings to sour the experience. The hundreds of optional crewmates will likely be monetized with exploitative gacha mechanics. The treadmill of content designed to pull you into the game to, hopefully, play and spend money forever means there may never be a satisfying narrative conclusion.

I could be wrong about all these predictions, and I hope I am, but I can’t help but be saddened by its future monetization. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 showed us earlier this year that the turn-based RPG genre is alive and thriving. I enjoyed my few hours of Sea of Remnants, but I desperately wish it was being treated as a premium game demanding a one-time cost with a beginning, middle, and end to its story. I am not looking to jump on a treadmill, even if it looks great and has fantastic animation.