Nowadays, when talking about games, only the popular ones come to mind because they have an “every year” kind of release. These releases are great for the loyal fans because they’re getting more of what they want. However, these “every year” kind of releases begin to focus more on quantity than quality. Every chapter within a specific franchise tries to add something new but stay within their comfort zone and are scared to do something completely different. Why? They don’t want to lose their community and want to have a consistent financial input. It’s a bit sad to see how far the gaming industry has grown, a lot of things for the better but with each enhancement gained, another failure rises from the deep. Even though the gaming community chooses to support that certain franchise, they can’t seem to acknowledge that there are far more enjoyable games than the ones they’re playing. Few gamers come out of their “bubble” and venture beyond the triple-A games to get to know the indie market… Truly, that’s a shame! Because if people continue to keep their eyes shut, they’ll miss out on some of the “diamonds-in-the-rough” like “Pirates of First Star” for example…
Pirates of First Star is a puzzle-adventure game from the developers Dynamic Voltage Games. It seems a bit weird at first, but once you start to delve deeper in what the game has to offer, you can tell this will be a game to remember. Pirates of First Star delivers unique gameplay, an interesting look and a ridiculous story that’ll keep you interested until the end credits roll-up. Pirates of First Star isn’t what we’re really used to, and you can tell by the game’s weir art design. The first thing that’ll pop up is the use of “Claymation” combined with a 3D environment. It truly feels like a child book has come alive but offers a funnier adult focus undertone. The game’s setting is truly enhanced by the right amount of shades and lighthearted colors. All of these combined elements make up for a unique game that could come right out of movies like” Shaun the sheep” or even “Wallace and Gromit”.
The story of “Pirates of First Star” is all about the pirate “Zach” which is the king’s son. The kingdom is going down towards a financial breakdown and the king wants his son to find the “First Star” treasure that could save the kingdom from bankruptcy. Along the way, Zach will find different characters that’ll see this opportunity to get rich as well, just by helping another pirate out. Each character is unique from top to bottom and make up for humorous storytelling with some interesting plot twists. On top of this, he’ll also have to take care of his mom. His mom suffers from dementia and isn’t able to keep a stable financial income which of course results in financial debt. Zach’s half brother wants to evict his mom but offers a chance to compensate Zach’s mom debts and save her from eviction. You’ll have to find seeds, plant them and eventually sell them to pay off your mother’s debt. In other words, you’ll be a pirate and a gardener at the same time! Joy!
Technical speaking, the game runs fluently without any major hiccups but I did suffer from some crashes along my adventure. At one point, a battle turned out to be a “draw” and the game just couldn’t handle its loss, that’s why it bugged me with the word “Defeat” in the middle of my screen. A quick startup did the trick to get rid of it, but it’s a minor bug that didn’t do anything that could break my immersion, aside from the crashes of course. The combination of the “Claymation” aesthetic and 3D environments is one of the greatest features I have seen in a long time. It’ll make you appreciate the game immediately because it isn’t anything like you’ve already seen. Music, lighting, and shaders make up for a great atmosphere as well. There isn’t any voice acting but the dialogue has been written very well and will make you giggle from time to time.
Pirates of First Star is actually a kind of RPG where you do quests or even battle enemies to gain experience and receive some coin for your efforts. Battling enemies isn’t like you would imagine from a “pirate” game, it’s more of a TETRIS kind of battle. You face your opponents with colored tiles. These tiles fall from top to bottom. It’s your job to form groups of 4 (or more) tiles that share the same color. If you succeed in forming these groups, you’ll do damage to your opponents’ life bar. To make things more challenging along the way you’ll earn the ability to harass your opponents with boulders. These boulders will block your opponents’ paths to form up groups and will definitely set him back a couple of seconds. However, your opponents can do the same to you. The difficulty is all about the player’s and opponents’ health bar. The higher your level, the more damage you can bear. Some opponents also have increased difficulty because they’re much quicker in forming groups of tiles. It’s a simple battle system but a clever one. I do have to mention that the game can become quite “grindy” as you’ll have to face more difficult enemies along the way. After you’ve defeated a couple of enemies, there isn’t the option to redo a battle after you’ve won. So you’ll have to find another way to grind experience or upgrade materials like diamond dust. So there’s an arcade machine that offers diamonds for money. Eventually, it’s a slow process to farm these diamonds. Eventually, you’ll also need coins to transform these diamonds into dust with the help of the Blacksmith. Money can be obtained by gardening but these plants take a long time to form. It’s a fun system but it can become grindy.
This battle system is, of course, one of the many puzzles that you’ll come across during your adventure. Planting seeds and selling them is also a great way to earn some coin and experience points. Different challenges will offer different rewards while going to the plot step-by-step. There’s also a fast-paced card game that’ll keep that pirate spark living. At its core, it’s an indie puzzle game where you’ll have to overcome different challenges to complete the story. The puzzles are simple and fun. Pirates of First Star is that type of game where you can jump in and play for a couple of minutes, just to keep your mind at ease.
Conclusion:
This indie game should be a game that every puzzler should play. Pirates of First Star delivers a well-thought-out story that offers simple challenges that’ll keep you busy for a couple of hours. The story is interesting due to its comical undertone that most of us can appreciate. Even though I had my share of crashes, it didn’t stop me from playing the game. Pirates of First Star looks amazing due to its unique aesthetics and delivers a great atmosphere by combing sound and a great color palette. The only downside of this game is the grinding process to level up but if you’re okay with that, then there’s no need for hesitation. Dynamic Voltage Games will also keep this game updated with free content, so after you’ve completed the story there will always be something to do in this Claylike world.
