Free RPG Sea of Remnants Is As Rough As The Seven Seas, But There's Hope On The Horizon

Those of you longing for a free replacement for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag probably won’t find it in Sea of Remnants at the time of writing, but there’s still time to course correct.

I played Sea of Remnants at this year’s Summer Game Fest and I’d heard a lot of good things. GAMINGbible’s own Kate Harrold took part in a playtest earlier this year and believed it could be “strongest free RPG” to release in 2026.

She’s probably right, but at the moment I’m not impressed, yet.

Become A Pirate Puppeteer

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn't the worst thing I played at Summer Game Fest, far from it actually.

Like many, I was enamoured by aesthetics. Colourful wooden puppets defying the laws of physics gave me Muppet Treasure Island vibes and the flashy animations during combat made a nice home in this Persona 5 fan’s heart.

The gameplay, unfortunately, did not strike a chord with me, at least for the time being. My hands-on demo was quite short and maybe the jetlag was finally kicking in, but the opening battle with a titanic tentacle monster did nothing for me I’m afraid.

It was just aiming with a reticle and holding down a trigger, not the tactical, well-timed combat you’d find in the likes of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag.

Battles on land were a little more exciting. They’re turn-based where your character’s moves have certain affinities making them stronger or weaker against specific enemies. Some attacks target one opponent whereas others spread the damage across the entire time.

NetEase Games

Special moves can also be triggered for maximum damage, and status moves can turn the tide for both yourself and your opponents depending on the turn order.

Combined with the visuals the Persona 5 comparison is apt but still nowhere near as good as Atlus Wests’ RPG.

I’m trying not to judge the game too harshly because it will after all be free-to-play. As far as freebies go, Sea of Remnants is shaping up to be decent, but the hands-on demo I played at Summer Game Fest didn’t get me as hyped as I initially expected.

Nothing’s getting ruled out yet though. Sea of Remnants doesn’t have a release date but it’s still launching later this year.

That’s more than enough time to finetune the overall experience and polish some of the technical hiccups I encountered during my gameplay session.

When it launches, I’ll be more than willing to give it another go but for now I can only judge what I’ve played. It's rough but it's got some redeeming qualities I'm keen to see flourish.

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