Port Royale 4 Reviews
Port Royale 4 brings good solutions for the genre and will certainly please many people interested in resource management, period commercial systems and the nautical theme as a whole. But it's important to know that it's a much more bureaucratic than an adventurous game, having a lot more backstage than action.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Port Royale 4 is a wonderful game, and the compromises that were made to bring it to Nintendo Switch are minor and easy to overlook. This is the kind of simulator that you can end up spending hundreds of hours with, and as one of the rare genres that aren't over-represented on the console, this is an excellent first port of call for genre fans looking for some on-the-go thinkies.
The ideas that appear in the gameplay are the same, initially impressive innovations, that take you to a very special period of human history to a very special place on the planet.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Port Royale 4 will be an interesting distraction for fans of management sims, but none of its systems are complex enough to hook players for long. Both the trading and town building are surface deep, and after 15 or so hours of gameplay, everything is just repetition. There’s no big buildup to an endgame, so everything has that mid-game feeling of going through the paces.
Overall, the experience of Port Royale 4 ends up feeling stretched a little thin. Though there are riches to be made, treasures to be found, and pirates to defeat, the whole experience lacks the tension of being in constant competition with an equally powerful rival. Since you’re not in symmetrical opposition to anyone, it’s not a great grand strategy, and it’s not a particularly in-depth turn-based combat strategy either. Instead of feeling like a cunning pirate king or merchant tycoon, you often end up feeling like you’re in a rather aimless sandbox with a list of fiddly errands to do.
Apparently this ship has sailed years ago.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Port Royale 4 is not your typical strategy game, and unless you are patient enough to really get to know how each and every element works, you'll probably have a hard time with it.
Review in Persian | Read full review
For a game about logistics and commerce, Port Royale sure looks amazing. Too bad that’s the only thing Gaming Minds got it right. Its overly simplistic trading mechanics makes it easier to snowball into becoming rich, making the game a tedious grind.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
While all the components are there to make Port Royale 4 an immersive strategy game, it just falls short of being completely engrossing. A slow naval battling system and counterintuitive UI hold the title back and make the overall experience sluggish.
If you like resource management games which will eat hours of your life, check out Port Royale 4. The thorough tutorials and hints teach you everything you need to know about becoming a merchant and efficiently making a profit, easing you in gradually regardless of your skill level. The naval battles and late-game can get a bit tricky and challenging but by the time you reach those you should have had hours of experience under your belt. I personally loved playing this game and can’t wait to complete the other three campaigns, if you enjoyed Railway Empire or have an interest in games such as Tropico 6, you really should pick up this game.
A broad management/economic game with great graphics where you can conquer the Caribbean through money.
Port Royale 4 starts off strong, but its solid trading and management gameplay just become repetitive over time, eventually turning into a waiting game as numbers slowly get bigger. Managing cities and trade routes also never really overcome the somewhat awkward controls on console, and combat never becomes interesting. Still, if you absolutely love trading and seeing your empire grow is all the reward you need, Port Royale 4 might be for you.
Occasionally obtuse and sporting a few UX/UI barnacles, Port Royale 4 could use a little more dry dock time before setting out on the high seas. AI trading bugs and occasionally unfair combat sequences discourage combat, which takes the wind out of the sails of this pirate adventure. Developer Gaming Minds can patch the hull, but they need to do so before people find another ship on which to set sail.
The fourth instalment in the Port Royale series will keep fans happy with its upgraded features and a bigger map than can be found in Port Royale 3. For newcomers to the genre, they're likely to be overwhelmed at first with all of the aspects that need to be understood to create a prosperous empire. However, developer Gaming Minds has tried to make the game as accessible to those players as possible. In this, they've largely succeeded.
Port Royale 4 is a big game that puts all of its eggs into one basket: trading. This leaves other parts such as building and sea combat very basic for such an involved title. If you are into min-maxing and being on top of a great many things to keep your trading empire the best version of itself, you will have a blast in PR4. However, if you are someone who generally likes strategies and wants to have a good time conquering the 17th-century Caribbean, you might get bored due to the lack of other activities to pursue.
Port Royale 4 is a solid trading and building management sim. The improved visuals, as well as some improved mechanics, help set this apart, as does the tactical turn-based ship combat. It's very user-friendly and intuitive, particularly with the city building and trade-route creating aspects. However, it isn't without flaws. Side quests feel very repetitive and don't really give you enough to do and the campaign can be too rigid, not giving you the amount of time you'd need to do anything other than the bare minimum for the tasks set. If you like this sort of game, Port Royale 4 is likely just up your alley, but I can't see it converting anybody to the cause.
Port Royale 4 looks and plays better than ever, while there are tons of things to do in it’s ambitious campaign and has intense turn based combat, it can get repetitive specially with the absence of multiplayer.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Port Royale 4 might have quirks that are interesting at a glance such as automated trade routes and a vast map. Looking closer, you'll realize that its core mechanics are cumbersome and unintuitive, its naval battles are plainly uninteresting, and there's not a whole lot that would seem enticing. It lacks all the dynamism despite a time period known for swashbuckling excitement.
After eight years, Port Royale 4 returns with a balanced release for the less experienced and, challenging for the experts.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In Port Royale 4 we find a management game that, for our personal taste, surpasses many others in the genre due to its complexity and the different options it gives us to manage trade and resource management. All this added to the naval battles, gives a totally good game for lovers of strategy.
Review in Spanish | Read full review