Game Reviews

Epic Pirates Story

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Epic Pirates Story
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| Epic Pirates Story

Someone has finally had a crack at copying the Kairosoft management game formula. It was going to happen eventually - I'm just surprised it's taken this long.

Epic Pirates Story lifts numerous ideas and design decisions from the Kairosoft series, while adding its own style and personality to the mix.

But developer Epic Devs has failed to understand exactly what makes Kairosoft games so compelling, as this management game lacks the necessary depth and content to make it entertaining.

Pirated

From the interface to the battling screens and the little boat moving along the bottom of the screen, so many ideas have been lifted straight from the Kairosoft games. It even has the word 'Story' in the title.

In its defence, Epic Pirates Story does attempt to make the genre its own in some regards. The artwork is lovely, and elements such as the bubble speech and pirates living out their lives on your island are great.

The game has the basics down to a tee, as well. You slowly but surely build up your base with more pirates, more buildings, and more weapons, and tackle stronger enemies all the while.

But Epic Pirates Story is almost totally lacking in variety. You choose a battle, watch the battle happen, choose another battle, watch that one, and repeat until bedtime.

There's none of the depth and intrigue that Kairosoft games offer. There's no skill involved, no challenge, and nothing of note to discover.

Not so epic

This lack of content is accentuated by the ridiculously easy difficulty level.

You'll rarely lose a fight, and even when you do there's no penalty at all - your guys just say, "Oh, well, we'll get them next time," and you lose a tiny amount of cash.

This lack of risk makes the game feel pointless, boring, and repetitive. And the in-game cash is equally pointless - at no point did I have to save up for anything, as I always had an abundance of money.

There are other issues, too. You're offered 'events', but these are just words that alter some stats, and have no actual interesting effect. Elsewhere, your phone is apt to lock itself during lengthy battles, because the developer has failed to anticipate this feature of almost all phones.

But here's the twist: despite all this awfulness, I don't see Epic Pirates Story as a completely wasted effort. I believe that Epic Devs has the capacity to make a decent management game, and I hope the feedback the team receives from this game will lead the next game to be far better.

For now, however, you'll want to stick with your Kairosoft games. Epic Pirates Story simply cannot compare.

Epic Pirates Story

Lacking any of the depth and variety that the Kairosoft games offer, Epic Pirates Story should be made to walk the plank
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.