One of the games of the vintage PC era that I continue to look back fondly on is Sid Meier’s Pirates, an early pirate sim of sorts, putting you out on the high seas and ready for adventure. Moving between ports there were opportunities for trade, some drama, and a periodic sword fight to help bring some element of that era of seafaring to life. What’s pretty crazy is that since that time I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone put together the same elements with quite the same style of pizazz to clearly surpass it. Well, Sagres really isn’t that game, nor is it trying to be, but I at least do get some of that same spirit of exploration and the unknown from it… so there’s something to be said for that.

That spirit or vibe is probably the place to start with for the game’s positives. Fresh out of training, you’ll get the opportunity to hit the seas, not just in search of discovery but also to help piece together the mystery of another legendary explorer, Sir Antonio. The road to doing that is long though, and will in part depend on you building your own reputation as an explorer and someone who gets results. Taking on expeditions, you’ll commit yourself to uncovering the clues to where you’ll need to go, and then explore either by sea or by land to find them. Of course, you’ll also need to be prepared, being sure to keep your supplies topped up and your ship in good condition since you won’t be sure what you may run into on the way.

The thing about Sagres is either you’ll buy into its relatively simple loop, that can be satisfying if you keep your expectations in check, or you’ll tire of it pretty quickly. If you lay it out on paper, for the most part your constant process will be the same. Enter a city, check for any usable gossip, if there’s a library to check out be sure to do so, top up your supplies, and then depart on the next leg of your journey. Worse, even knowing that these tasks would need to be done pretty well everywhere you go, the game encumbers you with navigating through some menus to accomplish this. It may not be all that onerous, but across your journey it does add up a bit. I do appreciate the wrinkle that makes you concerned with what the primary language is for each port, and needing to be sure to have someone in your crew who can help to translate. That at least makes you work a little harder to be sure what you’re committing yourself to, but the process still remains quite repetitive. Worse, the combat being handled in a rock-paper-scissors style where you’ll often be left to simply guess at what your opponent will choose can make failure a consistent option if the RNG gods aren’t shining on you at different times. 

The game can work well enough if you don’t dig too deep, focusing on the general sense of discovery and adventure, but that may be tough for some folks. What works to its favor is the fact that there simply aren’t many games in this sort of vein on the system, so that does leave a window of opportunity at least. That said, there’s simply not enough excitement to be found here that warrants more than a half-hearted recommendation.