Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Island | Switch Review

Stranded on a mysterious archipelago, your only hope of survival is to break a long-forgotten curse that plagues you and your crew. Discovering new recipes, building shelter, and uncovering new areas are just a small snapshot of what you will encounter. But be warned, for you are not the only one on these islands. Undead pirates are hidden and waiting for you to try and steal their treasure. You must find a way to demolish these evil ghouls before they get ahold of you.

As an open-world farming adventure full of discoveries and quests, it is your job to feed and shelter your whole crew. This seems a bit absurd as the ships’ crew has a woodworker, blacksmith, gardener, and many others who are capable of handling these tasks a lot easier. Yet, going on adventures to find new material, or seeds for gardening, are all part of the quest when it comes to Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands.

The Curse

Starting out, you are an adventurer that is set to join their father’s crew to a cold and snowy uninhabited location. With the hopes of fun experiences, you journey through a town to find your father’s ship. During this walk, you notice that you and the ship’s crew are the only ones in town. Despite the fact that this city could be home to many wealthy inhabitants, no one else can be found, making it seem like this area was unfinished.

During your trip at sea, it isn’t long until you are mysteriously shipwrecked on an island with only one of your crewmembers. After waking up, you are tasked to find others as well as parts to make a raft to the other islands. Once getting to the closest of the islands, you come across your father who is badly hurt. He tells you to find the others on the archipelago and set up camp near the stern of the ship. Traveling to different islands in search of your old friends may sound exciting to most simulation fanatics. But every mission reverts back to the main questline, making the lack of variety wear thin rather quickly.

Energy Costs

If you have played Harvest Moon in the past, then you know that there are plenty of main and side quests. Even though Lemonbomb Entertainment, rokaplay, and Maple Whispering Limited did not make Harvest Moon, they tried keeping with the legacy of the farming simulation games. Unfortunately, when it comes to Stranded Sails, there was a lack of side content, as every quest was part of the main objective.

One big thing that held me back was the energy cost. Every task or action like walking, running, cutting down a tree, or even planting a seed for food, took a toll on your energy. The way to alleviate that issue was to garden your seeds that were found on these indigenous islands or fish, which then you could make recipes for. After making new recipes, you could then store these meals in your inventory and eat them to gain more energy, while discovering new areas of the islands. Another way to gain more energy was to sleep in your bed back at your campsite. You aren’t able to sleep anywhere else.

As you progress through Stranded Sails, you will get a sword to fight off pirate ghosts. This alone was my favorite part of the game. Trying to find three golden statues to lift the curse of the islands, so that you may get your crew home safely, you will encounter ghostly pirates of different abilities and pirate captains that wish you dead. Once you find your rhythm of this fighting style, you will be able to secure each golden statue. Each one getting you closer to freedom from the wretched curse that has shipwrecked you and your crew.

A Pirate’s Patch, ARRRR

Graphicly, Stranded Sails is pleasing to the eye. Realistic movements of waves, trees, and animals. However, there were a few frame rate skips here and there that hindered the gameplay. This happened at multiple points throughout the story, which lead me to believe that there were plenty of patches that the developers at Lemonbomb Entertainment could address. 

Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands Final Verdict

If you’re dying to play a simulation style farming game, Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands will be worth your time. If you don’t like repetition of questlines, multiple patch updates, and the push back of energy cost, I suggest you stay clear of this game. I honestly think, though, that this game has a lot of potential to be better in coming months. For now, having to farm and build everything for your whole crew seems a bit ridiculous and has made me put this game to rest.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of the game provided by Evolve PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.