Port Royale 4 Reviews
Port Royale 4 is not a bad game by any means, as it does what it advertises with honors, but maybe I expected a bit more from a game centered around the golden age of piracy. This is actually a relaxing experience, but you can clearly notice it wasn’t created with consoles in mind. It is a PC game, first and foremost.
Port Royale 4's gameplay consists almost entirely of all of the bits in other strategy games that you'd normally set to "Automate" because they're fiddly and boring. It's a game set in the era of pirates with nary a hint of swashing nor buckling.
Port Royale 4 is the sum of easy-to-understand systems, making it entirely accessible, but it's not necessarily easy, and that's an important distinction. You'll still be challenged by what seems to be an endless stream of competing demands on your time and resources, while lacking the resources to do anything about them.
There's a lot going on beneath deck in Port Royale 4, and much of it works very well. Setting up your perfect trade routes and watching all the moving pieces sail into action hits all those lizard brain elements that we love, and optimizing things when some new wrench hits the system is always a good time.
The complex systems at Port Royale 4's core never flourish under the weight of its uninspired moment-to-moment gameplay and lack of structural balance.
A good management game with superb visuals, offering enough freedom to let you build your own merchant empire in the Caribbean to your heart's content.
Port Royale 4 is a dense trade and economy simulator that doubles as a harsh reminder that I'll probably never get to see the Caribbean in real life. Despite this cruel reminder about my personal station in life, building my own little corner of paradise in this digital world was a chill, if sometimes repetitive, experience. The learning curve is steep if it's your first time in the genre, but if navigating screens and crunching numbers is your thing, you'll be in heaven. For everyone else, it might not be for you.
Port Royale 4 is a remarkable management game and a nice continuation of the saga. Unfortunately, some design decisions tarnish a game that could have been a worthy heir to the yet to be surpassed Port Royale 2.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Port Royale 4 is ambitious and delivers in most regards, leading to a well rounded and beautifully choreographed world. The green tropical islands seem to breathe with life and purpose, a purpose that you influence through a variety of means, whether through trade, nationalism or just blatant piracy.
Overall, Port Royale 4 lends beautiful design to its historical ships and detailed buildings, and the turn-based strategy naval battles are a nice change of pace from the large, lulling overview map you will spend most of your time in.
There’s a lot of layers to Port Royale 4. Its gameplay is impressively deep, and to truly succeed at it, you need to excel at multitasking and strategising. Like any sim game, it’s not something that just anybody is going to enjoy. But if you are a fan of deep simulation games, there’s a lot to love here.
A good trading simulation... and little else, really. Port Royale 4's weak combat system and repetitive gameplay make for a somewhat boring, if functional and honest, strategy game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Pirate's life is not an adventure in Port Royale 4
Review in Italian | Read full review