Over the last few months, me and a few fellow folks from work have been playing Sea of Thieves during weekends, slowly working our way through the Tall Tales adventures and voyages that were added this year as part of the Anniversary update for the game. To those that don't know, Rare added 9 of these tales, and each one can take anywhere from two to five hours, depending on how lucky or unlucky you are. We were always playing blind and without using any online resources, so every challenge and puzzle was new and fresh to us.
Each one of these tales has been an emotional rollercoaster, with exciting and tense moments, with varying degrees of stress and insanity, traitorous enemies, heartbreaking stupidity on our own part (losing hours of progress by hitting explosive barrels in the ocean, for example), loads of fun and joy, bonding between friends, sharing drinks and stories, talking random stuff about work and real life during moments of calmness, and so on.
Earlier today, we embarked on what was our final journey of these adventures, the 9th tale, to reach and discover the secret island lying in the middle of the mysterious and unreachable Shores of Gold. We started this last voyage at 19:30 and ended it around 23:45. Playing through it, knowing that it was slowly coming to an end, felt very surreal. This last quest required us to break through the shroud that had been keeping the island secret. During the journey there, we were attacked by multiple big megalodons, a couple of krakens, and we had to outrun unfriendly pirates a few times.
The discovery of the island felt very epic. Certain things happen while breaking through the previously unsailable waters. The waters turned red, the sky darkened. Things were happening on the ship, but we finally made it through. Upon reaching the island, we started to get our bearings and learn of the secrets it kept. We climbed upon high mountains, dived into deep caves, lit cursed torches and triggered many traps. But we succeeded and unlocked the doors towards the belly of the island, and thus descended into darkness. After dying many times to random traps, spikes, pits, skeletons and explosives, we reached the end. About 3 hours of puzzles and challenges, from the simplest things that made sense, to the craziest things that didn't. It all came down to one last thing, and we were victorious.
And then the ending story and exposition happened. A cute and lovely wrap-up moment that spoke of the adventures we've been through to reach the end, mentioning memorable moments and characters, voyages we've partaken. It had a lovely soundtrack playing in the background, and as it went on, it kind of hit me. It reminded me of all the hours we spent together on the seas, in stress and intense situations, in fun and laughter, in adventure and discovery. Of all the joy and fun times we had while playing this insane game. In a way, it made me feel quite happy that we had gone through these moments together, yet also rather sad as they were now over.
As we were heading out of the darkness and back into the light, through one final secret path, the music got quite lovely, and as the light finally reached us, I teared up as it was such a beautiful moment. It is something that has not happened to me in a multiplayer game in many, many years. The last one to make me feel very real things was World of Warcraft, as running dungeons and raids with friends was also a surreal experience.
As someone once said: "You'll have quite the tall tale to tell once you make it home." This is mine. :)
Thanks for reading. Maybe this will get you to grab a few friends and go on an adventure together, one that you might remember and treasure for a long time. :)
