Pirates are cool and remain cool, no matter how much various overstayed-their-welcome movie franchises try to make pirates uncool. There’s something about the jolly roger, the yo-ho-ho-ing, and leaping aboard enemy ships that just sings to our hearts. They’re cool and so it’s always a wonder that we don’t have more pirate games. Thankfully games like Pirate101 continue to fly the black flag and with its next major update, that flag is about to get a little bit darker.
The only way to make a pirate cooler is to make them a sky pirate, something Skies of Arcadia and Final Fantasy XII understood very well. It’s something Pirate101 understands too, set over a series of interconnected floating islands, this MMORPG has been running since 2012 as a spinoff from developer KingIsle Entertainment’s other MMO, Wizard101.
Throughout the game’s first story arc, players fought against a deadly clockwork army under the control of Kane, Supreme Commander of the Armada. Serving as the main villain throughout the first chapters, Kane has since been defeated and his plans to destroy the many worlds that make up Pirate101’s setting have been thwarted. Now, the second story arc is about to begin with players heading into Tartarus, realm of the dead, in search of the missing souls of your deceased parents.
Through Death’s Door marks the start of the new chapter and new direction for the game’s story. Players will descend into a spooky series of caverns inspired by Greek myth following rumors of a new threat. Alongside the start of a brand new story for Pirate101, there’ll also be a few new housing items, a new pet, new armor, and some more additions. For my money, the best thing coming with this update is the music box which will let you blast out the tunes in your house.
Pirate101 is one of those games that has slipped past many, at least on Steam, with a concurrent player peak only numbering among the hundreds. That said, it has soldiered on for over a decade away from Valve’s platform so it must be doing something right. Hopefully with this next update we’ll be seeing more head out to sail on the high skies.
If you’d like to read more about the Through Death’s Door update for Pirate101, you can head over to the official site to grab the full update notes.
Should this all make you want to give up the day job and head out to sea, our list of the best pirate games should ease that desire. If instead you’re looking for something you can get your roleplaying teeth into, our best RPG games guide will have something right up your alley.
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