Summary

• PS5 players can now sail the Sea of Thieves after six years of evolution on Xbox.
• A vast open world with dynamic weather, cosmetics, cross-play and story missions awaits in Sea of Thieves.
• Adventure with friends, explore the seas, complete tasks, and embrace the freedom of pirate life.

PlayStation 5 players can finally dive into the pirate life of PS5 version of Sea of Thieves to navigate.

Rare rose to popularity for crafting revolutionary games in the 90s like Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, and GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64, which was why many players were surprised to see the developer release an open-world multiplayer game. Sea of Thieves initially launched to lukewarm reviews, but with each season and update, Rare expanded the game significantly by listening to player , resulting in much more to do in its oceans - and its waters can now also be shared and enjoyed by PS5 players seamlessly.

Sea of Thieves Ports Well Onto PlayStation 5

Noticeable Visuals & Lovely Renderings

Sea of Thieves is one of the first Xbox exclusives to finally dock onto PS5's territory, and because it's a game that's been building its mechanics for years, it's grown into a sizable treasure. Rare has created an open-world ocean populated with large and small islands, enemy outposts, and even a sea beast or two. The waters can be sailed with a single player, but being a true pirate is best when exploring the definition of freedom with one to three others.

Dynamic weather effects combined with day and night cycles create striking scenery in Sea of Thieves on a consistent basis.

Players looking for a relaxing adventure on the Sea of Thieves open waters may explore the Safer Seas, where they won't be bothered by other potentially bloodthirsty pirates. The High Seas provide more dangers and rewards, but either mode will introduce the gorgeous art design and lighting of the Sea of Thieves vibrant world, which is capable of encouraging players to stop whatever they are doing to soak up the scenery. Attention to detail is so high in Sea of Thieves that players susceptible to getting sea-sickness in real life might experience it when sailing in the game.

Setting sail in Sea of Thieves oceans successfully captures a thrilling sense of adventure with superb sound design that makes players feel like they are traversing waves and negotiating with the winds for more speed. Dynamic weather effects help prevent sailing from feeling repetitive, but more encounters with enemy ships or sea monsters would further increase the excitement of the game's pirate life.

PlayStation players are getting a polished Sea of Thieves experience that's been cooking for six years on Xbox.

The High Seas is more in line with a Pirate-simulator with other players from different clans spread across the waters. Cross-play should enable a large number of other players to encounter in Sea of Thieves, but servers only allow up to five player ships, an amount that was never filled during the review period. Servers for newer players felt barren of excitement until players more familiar with pirating ed the crew in another reminder that the game is most fun when playing with other players. Still, that's not to say that Sea of Thieves lacks exciting things to do.

Sea of Thieves' Mechanics Remain Fun & Engaging

Tracking Down Treasure & More

Players are welcome to jump into Sea of Thieves pirate and skeleton-filled waters as soon as they begin the game, but the helpful tutorial and chatty Pirate Lord ghost deserve new players' attention. While both help explain some of the basics of Sea of Thieves, there is such a large variety of missions, NPCs, and guild activities in the game that it can initially feel overwhelming. However, that's where the game shines like the gold players will want to collect: Rare has created a pirate sandbox that makes all of that stuff optional.

There are several outpost islands in the game's ocean that function as effective spawning areas for new games to begin and house the many different factions and businesses players may choose to complete missions for. The convenient hubs provide a place to restock items, sell loot, turn in quests, and customize the player's ship. This bleeds into the Sea of Thieves' biggest issues, which are its unlockables and customization options.

Sea of Thieves Cosmetic Unlockables

Why This Mechanic Is Hit Or Miss

As players complete tasks and find treasures on islands, money is earned to unlock new cosmetics for weapons, clothing, and the player's boat. However, new weapons with special abilities or RPG elements do not exist in Sea of Thieves. All of the unlockables are strictly cosmetic. For example, the player hoping to unlock a new gun that shoots homing rounds with a chance to cause burn damage after completing an hour-long mission with poorly defined objectives may be disappointed. Instead, they may earn incredible cosmetics like better-looking ship canons or adorable sea pets.

The sense of progression that Sea of Thieves does offer, besides increasingly over-the-top pirate attire, comes from buying a ship and becoming a Pirate Captain and eventually a Pirate Legend. Completing specific guild quests also see upgrades in the type of missions players will embark on, with some like the Reapers that eventually mark players more effectively on the map, which can provide exciting moments of cat-and-mouse action on the turbulent waters.

Kind souls on the sea excited to help new players can be found, but there are bound to be pirates whose hunger for loot and mischief outweighs their desire to help others gain their sea legs. The Sea of Thieves community has grown considerably since its 2018 launch, and thankfully, cross-play makes playing with friends on other consoles easy. Those craving epic battles against other players can find plenty of that in Sea of Thieves PVP mode.

Free-roaming with a crew and collecting gold to sell to specific guilds can be a lot of fun, but players looking for a more focused story experience have dozens of Tall Tale missions to complete. Some of these include an effective crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with the game's own version of Captain Jack Sparrow. However, playing specific missions in single-player can be a frustrating and excruciatingly slow-paced affair. Much time can be wasted looking for poorly defined switches or sea battles that can last far too long.

Final Thoughts & Review Score

4/5

Cross-play with Xbox and PC players works incredibly smoothly, meaning that PS5 players should have no problem ing the pirate legions of scallywags that populate Sea of Thieves. At first, especially in single-player, the game can feel like a big blue ocean with incredible scenery and not a lot else. It's when players are completing missions with friends and raising their ranks with guilds that Sea of Thieves excels most.

The ocean may seem like an immeasurable beast for new pirates, but once players spend enough time to get their bearings, the beast becomes less scary and more adventurous. Still, if players are not entertained by Sea of Thieves gameplay loop and cosmetic-only unlockables, Rare's pirate life may not be for them. For everyone else, including PS5 owners, there is more Sea of Thieves booty and timbers to shiver.

Screen Rant was provided a Sea of Thieves Edition PS5 PSN code for the purpose of this review.