Sea of Remnants gameplay preview: After 1 hour, it's no AC: Black Flag

NetEase’s Sea of Remnants already feels confused about what kind of game it wants to be

Do you remember watching a trailer for a pirate game titled Sea of Remnants during Summer Game Fest? Probably not, as the segment it aired in included a new trailer for Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced. Instead of showcasing pirate action, Sea of Remnants used Summer Game Fest to share a music video for “Make it Loud,” featuring several characters rocking out in colorful liminal spaces, with only occasional shots of a pirate ship or a pub, and less than a couple of seconds of gameplay footage.

As such, I had almost no idea what to expect from Sea of Remnants when I sat down to demo it on the final day of Summer Game Fest. After playing around 45 minutes of it, I can kind of understand why the showcase trailer barely resembled the actual game: Sea of Remnants is doing so much that it can barely decide what it is.

This is a pirate game with open-world exploration and sailing, gacha crew gathering, turn-based combat, a sprawling narrative presented in everything from high-production cutscenes to visual novel-style conversations, and roguelite elements. It’s the kind of jack-of-all-trades that feels like it’s attempting to court players of both Sea of Thieves and Honkai: Star Rail. I’m not sure it can pull off that difficult balancing act.

With how loud Sea of Remnants’ trailer intentionally was, I was surprised that the game starts with a very quiet, meditative moment where players have to slowly row toward a light. Once I reached it, the game started jumping around quite a bit. Within the span of 15 or so minutes, I faced off against a giant sea monster on a fully upgraded ship, failed that impossible fight, and then had to create my character before he awakened in a scientist’s lab.

The whirlwind pacing meant that about halfway through my Sea of Remnants demo, I still really didn’t have a clear idea of the game I was playing. Finally, I was let loose onto the island of Orbtopia (the game’s main hub), and after briefly chasing a chicken for reasons I still don’t fully understand, I finally went to a nearby bar. There, the opening credits rolled as the game introduced R.S., a spunky young pirate who’s not afraid to be herself or steal from those around her.

After accidentally causing her to trip, we had to fight the crook who hung out at the bar. This is where I finally learned that when Sea of Remnants is not having you explore Orbtopia, other islands, or sailing the high seas, it’s a turn-based RPG. My options were limited as this was a tutorial battle, but those who’ve played turn-based gacha games like Honkai: Star Rail know exactly what to expect.

That reality is somewhat underwhelming, so maybe that’s why NetEase didn’t emphasize it very much in the Summer Game Fest trailer. From there, the game continued to tutorialize and set up the story, as I sailed to R.S.’s hideout. Here, I met a character who I could use to store loot and send it back to Orbtopia.

If my description sounds like it’s jumping around a lot, that’s because Sea of Remnants is doing the same. I knew it was time to wrap up my demo when I entered a dream world that seemed to be the portal used to acquire new crew members, gacha style. According to a press release, the final game will feature 400+ crew members, so I’m sure a whole lot more varied content is in store.

Coming away from my demo, I was torn on whether what I played truly represented the game. On one hand, it barely showed any turn-based battles, sailing, rougelite, or crew-gathering elements that appear to make up the majority of the adventure. On the other hand, its vibrant visuals and eclectic presentation are actually quite representative of how all over the place Sea of Remnants is.

Pirate games are having a moment in 2026 thanks to Windrose and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced. Sea of Remnants may be able to catch that current and sail on it to success, grabbing people with so many different gameplay systems that it’ll be the only game they play. After being overwhelmed while checking it out at Summer Game Fest, though, I’m not exactly yearning to jump back into such a haphazard experience that doesn’t do any one thing particularly well.

Sea of Remnants is in development for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC.