This Might Be a Gen Z Take, But Sea of Thieves is the Best Rare Game

I recently started playing Sea of Thieves again with a couple of close friends, and I’m reminded how much I enjoy it, despite its flaws. It’s a uniquely frustrating and rewarding experience – I can go from loving it to being incredibly annoyed within the same hour, often due to things like server issues or battles with other players. But that unpredictability is actually what makes the game so special, and in my opinion, it’s Rare’s best creation.

My previous comment might have upset some people, but I want to be clear: even though I’m part of Gen Z and don’t idealize the past, I deeply appreciate gaming history, particularly the games made by Rare. I completely recognize the huge influence of titles like GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, and Donkey Kong Country on their respective genres and the generations who played them. However, Sea of Thieves is truly one of a kind. There’s no other game – and certainly no other live service game – that offers such a unique experience, with its distinct visuals, sound, and focus on player freedom.

Sea of Thieves Is Utterly Unique

I understand the weight of the comparison here:

GoldenEye 007 revolutionized the console FPS.
Banjo-Kazooie helped define the 3D collect-a-thon.
Donkey Kong Country helped Nintendo win the 1990s console war outright.

Those games were incredibly impressive and remain legendary. However, Sea of Thieves stands out to me even more. It’s special because it feels truly alive, driven by player decisions, and perfectly captures the spirit of being a pirate.

If you love the idea of total freedom in a game like Sea of Thieves, nothing else compares. It feels incredibly liberating, even though it’s built on complex systems. This freedom leads to surprisingly real moments – unexpected betrayals, strong alliances, and exciting consequences – that I haven’t experienced in many other games. You get a ship, a world of possibilities, and a sea full of other players with the same tools, and then it’s up to you to create your own adventure.

A Sampling of Pirate Life

This might not seem important when just reading about it, but imagine this: you and a friend are attacking a dangerous fort when a bigger ship suddenly appears, heading straight for you. Do you try to quickly finish the fight and escape with valuable treasure, or do you stop the attack to prepare for a naval battle? Things could get even more chaotic with a giant shark appearing, or maybe someone is already hiding on your ship, but you need to decide fast, or you’ll lose everything you’ve gained.

It might sound like a lot happens in a single game session, and honestly, it often does! When you’re free to chart your own course, no other game offers as much to do, or makes your choices feel as impactful. While many games talk about ’emergent storytelling,’ Sea of Thieves truly delivers it, with its systems working together seamlessly and players constantly creating unexpected moments – it’s on a scale very few games can match.

No Other Game Captures Piracy Like This

Very few games blend so well with the atmosphere of their world. Sea of Thieves is visually stunning, like a living watercolor painting. Its ocean is a remarkable achievement, both technically and artistically – you can see shipwrecks and coral below the surface, and the waves create realistically dramatic storms. The rest of the game world shares this beautiful, painted style, with rich colors and endless golden sunlight that changes the water from bright turquoise to deep blue or even murky green depending on what’s happening.

The immersive experience of Sea of Thieves also extends to its excellent sound design. Every sound – from the creaking of ships and snapping sails to distant cannon fire and the cries of seagulls – clearly communicates what’s happening and adds to the game’s atmosphere. This is further enhanced by the ability to play instruments and choose sea shanties. Well-timed music swells during battles and exciting moments add to the drama without being distracting.

Sea of Thieves offers a special headphone mode with advanced 3D audio, making sound direction incredibly precise. It’s a feature Rare’s audio team specifically designed for the game and it’s turned on automatically, setting it apart from most other player-versus-player games – only Call of Duty currently offers a similar experience.

A Masterclass In Visual and Auditory Cohesion

The way everything in Sea of Thieves comes together creates an incredibly immersive world. Rare clearly prioritized making the pirate experience feel adventurous and exciting, and that vision is evident throughout the game. Even though I don’t usually take screenshots in games, Sea of Thieves constantly encourages you to pause and admire its beauty. While it benefits from modern technology, the game’s art design is exceptional on its own—some of the developer’s best work to date.

The Sea of Thieves is Choppy and Imperfect

Even though Sea of Thieves has a lot going for it, it still has some problems. Players frequently encounter bugs, server issues, and problems with the game accurately registering hits. The in-game economy is also quite expensive. After eight years, the game isn’t receiving updates as quickly as it used to, and the player base has decreased. While the game offers a lot of freedom, you might spend as much time dealing with disruptive players as you do making progress towards becoming a pirate legend.

Sea of Thieves is most enjoyable when played with a crew of two to four players. While it’s possible to play alone, it’s much more fun when you team up with others.

Despite its flaws, I’m willing to overlook Sea of Thieves‘ shortcomings because of how incredibly ambitious it is – creating a huge, shared world with realistic physics is no easy feat. It’s also a great example of a live-service game, as it doesn’t pressure players to spend extra money to succeed, and regularly adds new content for free. They’ve even included crossovers with popular franchises like Monkey Island and Pirates of the Caribbean, which is a fantastic bonus.

The Most “Rare” Rare Game

Image via Rare

After reflecting on my review of Sea of Thieves, I’ve realized calling it the “best Rare game” isn’t very meaningful. Someone with fond memories of classic Rare titles like Donkey Kong Country or Banjo-Kazooie won’t automatically appreciate Sea of Thieves simply because I say it’s the best. A more fitting description, and one that honors Rare’s history, is that Sea of Thieves is perhaps the most distinctly “Rare” game they’ve ever made.

Rare has always valued originality, even if it meant trying something different and occasionally failing. Games like GoldenEye dared to be different on consoles, Banjo embraced the collect-a-thon style, and Kinect Sports was simply a gamble. But Sea of Thieves took the biggest risk of all – it trusted players to create their own experiences and interact however they chose. That willingness to trust players is what truly defines Rare, and why, regardless of current trends, I consider it their best work.

2026-02-07 17:43