Intuitive and enjoyable as it is, there are some issues when interacting with NPCs and environments. As your kingdom flourishes, the citizen count increases, and when trying to recruit specific people from a mob, it gets messy — most times you’ll end up picking somebody you don’t want. This wouldn’t be a problem if you had more control over your lineup. Pressing “triangle” does a quick roll call to cycle through your followers’ job classes, but it would’ve been nice to point and dismiss a member as easily as you recruited them.

As you progress through the main story and take control of other shipmates, you’ll be able to go back and replay past chapters with your choice of character in “Another Log” mode. Plus, take the fight online in a co-op mode where you conquer territories along with fellow pirates. Whichever way you choose to play, you’ll always be able to earn special collectors coins for your troubles, marked with the game’s characters, pirate flags and other artwork. These coins can be equipped in slots that you acquire when leveling up — match up the correct set of coins and you’ll be rewarded with special attributes and power ups.