The new Skull and Bones season dropped during the 2024 Ubisoft Forward event on June 10, and it’s just further confirmation that this game should quit while it’s behind.
Skull and Bones had a rocky start to its release. First, it was delayed time and time again, and when it eventually came out, it was met with player and critic frustration, with our own review giving it a 2/5. It felt clunky, boring, and like a lackluster attempt to take on similar titles from the pirate genre.
Now, the game has released its second season and has highlighted some key features coming in its third. Along with a new faction, activities, stories, and a few widely demanded changes, there’s one season three addition that just proves this game needs to go back to the depth from which it came: a sea dragon.
The (pirate) ship of Theseus
Now, to me, Skull and Bones feels much like the fabled thought experiment, the Ship of Theseus, which discusses a boat that’s been so heavily repaired that every original piece has been replaced. As such, can it even be called the Ship of Theseus anymore?
The same conundrum now applies to Skull and Bones, which initially prided itself on its loyalty to the historical aspect of the pirating era — likely to help separate it from its primary competitor, Sea of Thieves.
However, adding a literal dragon to the game feels so out of touch with that initial idea that it’s stripped away the very thing that defined it. It’s hard to describe a seafaring game as jumping the shark, so instead it seems that Skull and Bones is jumping the dragon.
This entire game is supposed to be a love letter to the era, set in the same seas in which pirates roamed, and focusing on similar politics and democratic designs of its inhabitants. Sure, the NPCs aren’t exactly people from history, but they’re heavily based on famous figures, and the ship battles have a focus on realism.
Adding in a sea dragon completely undermines this focus and feels extremely unnecessary. A Megladon makes sense; they’re creatures that existed, albeit a long time ago, but they were fables for pirates during the era, like the Kraken. Adding in an ancient sea dragon just feels like a complete overkill and destroys everything S&B was initially working towards.
Sure, Eastern civilizations did feature dragons, but hardly as potential threats to pirates, only furthering how odd it feels to add such a random monster into a game that prides itself on realism.
So, with that in mind, why add in a monster like this and completely separate yourself from what was originally your only saving grace? Because it’s surely not for the fans.
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A pirates death for me
The fanbase surrounding Skull and Bones is pretty barebones. While no updated player count has been given, the first few weeks of its initial release showed a dramatically low fanbase sentiment, with many players dropping off shortly after the free trial.
Take that with the four months it’s been since release, and we’re bound to see a considerable drop, especially with the popularity of Helldivers 2, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and even Sea of Thieves’ arrival on PS5.
As such, it really begs the question, who is the new season actually for? Community sentiment is low, and many are wondering who will even play when season three comes out.
As such, it feels like this could be an attempt to bring in new fans or to reinvigorate a bemused player base —-but did it have to be a dragon?
So many po-sea-bilities
Instead, it would be ideal for Skull and Bones to focus on real legends of the sea. We’ve seen the likes of William Kid, Kanhoji Angre, Thomas Tew, and Henry Ever in stories, but why can’t we fight real-life pirates instead of fictional monsters?
Surely battling against Blackbeard, Benjamin Hornigold, or even Calico Jack would be more satisfying and intense than a Meg or a flying dragon? At least you’re on the same terms and fighting style. That way, you’d be able to interact more with historical figures, which is what sets S&B apart from its competitors.
In fact, the conversation and storyline are key frustrations among players (something a dragon surely won’t fix). As such, would this not be a better time to add a solidified storyline, more akin to Sea of Thieves Tall Tales? Alternatively, the game could polish up its own speech. If we had a fantastic story to enjoy, it would make it much easier to look past the subpar gameplay.
Ultimately, with an already minimal player base, tiresome gameplay, and a subpar storyline, it’s not dragons we need in Skull and Bones; it’s real sizeable change and improvements. The game needs to hold onto its personality and fight to stay afloat or simply let that ship sail for good.
