The age of sail is fascinating. Not so much for its slavery and the gaping chasm between rich and poor. But certainly for the fact that ships made of wood, propelled by wind, sailed across the world to trade and conquer.
I probably wouldn’t have lasted a week on board of a sailing ship. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy stories about this age. And when I can take part in such a story, like I can in a game, it’s even better.
The Port Royale games have been a staple in my gaming habits since the first one came out in 2002. I played all parts of the series and still go back to the older games now and then. Fear not, this is not a story of how all the games of old were better than those of today.
What do you do in Port Royale?
Since the first Port Royale game 20 years ago, the series has both changed and stayed very much the same. Obviously the premise is no different from the earlier games. You start with a ship beneath your feet and some money in your pocket.
From your starting town, you buy a small number of goods. You haul those to a nearby town and sell them for a profit. Then you invest that profit in more goods, more ships and even production businesses.
Slowly you build your empire. Like the nobles who ran the show in the Caribbean did of old, you sent enough to the homeland to get the priviliges you want, but you also keep enough in your own pockets to grow richer and more powerful.
What is not so good yet in Port Royale 4?
Port Royale 4 doesn’t stray far from the formula. It adds to it in smart and fun ways, and it does so relatively pain-free. Let’s tackle the things I have an issue with first. Please keep in mind that this is a beta so things will change between now and the release set for September 2020.
The first change I am not that enthusiastic about is the amount of scrolling to do in the trading screen. While I love that the amount of tradable goods has increased from 20 in PR3 to 25 in PR4, the scrolling gets annoying. I presume that the way the list is spread out is due to the fact that the game will also be released on consoles, but I find that on PC I keep scrolling up and down the list when trading. I hope they fix that before release.
My second gripe is the trading license you need to buy in most towns. I find that it puts a hurdle in your path that is needless. Back in the day, you could trade in every town, as long as there was no animosity between you and the town. It feels like a money sink with no real purpose.
Third and last I have a small issue with the overview I can have over the map. Zooming out as far as I could go in PR3 let me look at a bigger portion of the map than it does in PR4. Partly that is due to the much bigger size of the map in PR4, but I do miss the quick overview zooming out could get me.
Enough with the negativity. Let’s go on to the changes I do like.
What is very good in Port Royale 4?
First up is the seamless zooming in and out. Where entering a town or leaving a town in PR3 led to a load screen, you now zoom from the overview map directly onto the doorstep of whatever building you want to look at.
I also like that the number of goods has grown. More goods means more productionchains to add value. And that means more potential profit. Quite important in a game that (for me) is mainly about trading and building.
But me not being a big fan of combat in general doesn’t mean I hate the combat in PR4. On the contrary. I seem to stand alone in this but I like the move from realtime to turnbased combat. Simply because it gives me more time to think about my moves. Now this is coming from a guy who did most of his combat in PR3 on auto-mode because that was the only way he could win, even with a much stronger force. In PR4 I managed to win several battles that I played and am starting to enjoy those fights. I might even try my hand at piracy soon.
That is another thing I like in the game. You can pick several characters (Merchant, Trader, Buccaneer and Pirate) each with it’s own benefits. Like it does in Railway Empire (by the same developers), the differences between the characters allow for significant changes in your approach. While you play the same game, playing with another character makes you rethink your strategies. Trading is much easier when your character can trade everywhere without a license, or when you pay way less for combat vessels.
What am I looking forward to?
As with any beta, the game isn’t complete. Both in the campaign as in the free mode you can only play an ally of Spain. With Spain being the biggest player in the Caribbean it feels a bit easier than playing with one of the other nations. As a Dutchie I can’t wait to play as The Netherlands and show the Spaniards who really rules the seas.
I am also looking for some more balancing. The game isn’t unbalanced per sé but some things like the building permits have a steep curve that I feel might be flattened a bit. Also the trading as a Spanish Merchant, especially when using trade routes makes you a millionaire very quickly in the current build. But I have confidence they will get that balanced out soon enough.
Finally I am hoping to get more automation options that I can’t seem to get working now. I am a fan of setting convoys to gather all goods from a region to a hub warehouse and then send them out to other regions. I might be missing something but I don’t get that working satisfyingly at the moment. I see several requests in that direction in the Beta forums so I am confident it will be added somewhere down the road.
Final Thoughts
Port Royale 4 in its current beta state is fun. Despite the fact that as a Beta there are still some issues I find it has the same pull on me as the previous games in the series had.
It is also a worthy successor, seeing that it captures the atmosphere of previous games and brings a more modern experience, while not being afraid to bring change where it feels change is due. I am confident the beta will bring most of the options that are now an issue with the community. Definitely a game I will be playing for a long time.
