Just two days after Skull and Bones was postponed (opens in new tab) Once again, in 2023-early 2024, Ubisoft has posted a new developer stream showcasing the “narrative gameplay” of its often-delayed pirate adventures. The video takes the player through a narrative “investigation” that his director Joel Jannise describes as “a way to tell a story through a series of steps.”
In the video, Janisse explains, “Players will likely follow the trail of something they find interesting, leading to some kind of treasure or some kind of score.” “But it’s also a story about our faction and our world. We can do it. Tell the story.”
The investigation seen in the video centers around a quarrel between a brother and a sister. A brother and sister believe themselves to be heirs to the throne of a small kingdom. As a pirate, you don’t particularly care about the politics of the situation, but the throne comes with a crown, and the crown is worth a lot of money.
The action begins with a mission to plunder a local settlement, and this is where the tension begins. The act of looting is to pull up close enough to the port in question, hit the “loot” button, then sail through the restricted area and blow up the enemy ship while the timer is running. Made by the screen crew.
“The fantasy here is that when we’re fighting here to hold our ground, they’re running around in the settlement, stealing whatever they can get their hands on, and in this case what we’re looking for. This is the next clue in our investigation,” says Janis. .
The same thing happens later in the investigation when Janisse and senior community developer Alexis Cretton choose to investigate a shipwreck found by them. stock.
Even the most basic and central element of Skull and Bones, sailing, doesn’t seem very impressive. In the video, the ship appears to float lightly, has no mass or inertia, and doesn’t react much to water. You also can’t explore the ship properly. For example, it is not possible to enter below decks or in the captain’s cabin.
It all seems so boring. My pirate fantasy is not interacting with menus or timers, but swashbuckles! Ideally, in the most ridiculous way possible. Said seeing Skull and Bones made him want to play Sea of Thieves after July 2022 gameplay reveal (opens in new tab), and that is still very much the case. Ubisoft “worked closely with historians, language and cultural experts to ensure accuracy,” said Janisse. Skull and Bones has three types of Sea Shanty to reflect the authenticity of the game’s language and lore. Sea of Thieves lets you play your own instrument, dance, drink too much, and vomit on your teammates.
You can also do something like this if you want (opens in new tab):
I don’t know about you, but it’s a pirate adventure I want to dive into.
It’s impossible to judge the game specifically from the video alone.But Skull and Bones is adrift, Ubisoft is in trouble (opens in new tab)Ubisoft said earlier this week that the latest Skull and Bones delays “help provide further refinement and balance,” but this It’s not the lack of polish that you see in the video, but the lack of interesting gameplay.
Skull and Bones has returned to no release date, but is set to release early in Ubisoft’s 2023-24 fiscal year. That is, after April 1st.
