Sea of Remnants has come a long way since we first looked at it last year. High on style, but short on details at the time, we praised the aesthetics, even if we needed to see more from the story and gameplay to know if it has the substance to go with it. Thankfully, we got a fresh look at Summer Game Fest 2026, and what a difference a year makes. The turn-based swashbuckling and realtime ship combat, combined with a healthy dose of mystery and outrageous characters, has my spyglass trained squarely on the Sea of Remnants.
As the demo begins, it’s just me in a rowboat, the star-filled nights sky overhead, and the sea stretching infinitely in every direction. As I row forward, the ethereal music swells, and luminous sea creatures begin to coalesce around me. Just off my starboard, a whale made of light, shades of navy and turquoise, breaches the surface. A fleet of wraithlike boats join me in formation. Eventually, I come to a solitary ship’s wheel extending above what I presume must be a shipwreck. As I reach out to touch it, a ghostly ship, a full-sized galleon, suddenly emerges from beneath the waves. The non-caporeal vessel passes straight into me, ignoring the solid wood of my boat entirely. It disappears just as quickly, as the moon itself rises from the sea, and my screen fades to black.
Sea of Remnants is a gorgeous, open-world fantasy RPG set in a world of ocean exploration and piracy. Already the vibrant colors and music create a spectacle tugging at my heartstrings. Up close, everything has a wooden puppetry aesthetic – a charming, hand crafted look that reminds me of Laiki, the studio behind modern stop motion classics like Coraline or ParaNorman.
Now I’m at the controls of a full-sized ship. The calm seas are gone and a kraken-like creature is attacking my vessel. We are circling clockwise around the body, though tentacles the size of buildings lash out at us from beneath the water. I take careful aim with my cannons and fire, repelling the appendages as I move to fire upon the center of the beast. The ship shudders under its furious assault, but as I approach, its mouth is open, and I activate an ability that slows down time and allows me to stagger it with a carefully placed volley into its maw. However, this just seems to enrage the beast. It begins to gather energy in a massive orb of light above its body. I pour everything I have into it, but to no avail; it unleashes a burst of incredible power, and I’m wiped completely from the sea.
Your ship is your key to exploration. As the name suggests, the world in Sea of Remnants is made up of islands connected by vast tracks of water. Diver flora and fauna and dynamic weather color the journey. As you adventure around the world you’ll be building up your ship, upgrading and customizing it to allow you to explore further, and survive the dangers at sea. Ship combat is like a midpoint between The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. Simple controls and a mix of enemy ships and fantastical creatures resemble the former, while the ability to move and shoot, and importance of positioning to go with your aim are more like the latter.
A figure is standing over me. It’s fuzzy, I can’t make out the details, but he’s shining a flashlight into my eyes and asking me philosophical questions about the nature of death, hypotheticals about walking through a forest, and exploring what little I remember. I answer as best I can before fading away once again. When I come to, Sigmund, the figure I’d been speaking to, greets me properly, and offers to renovate my largely featureless body. With his help my puppet gains a flowing mane of hair, some stylish facial hair painted on my wooden face, and I don a stylish frock coat in place of my tattered cloak. Finally, I look like the pirate-puppet of my dreams.
As you sail the Sea of Remnants you’ll meet new characters, form your crew, and recover your lost memories. The first clue on that journey is a compass, my only possession, and it points towards Feffers, a tavern where sailors are known to store their valuables before departing on voyages. As I emerge from the workshop, I find I’m in a vibrant maritime town called Orbtopia. Tall buildings and cobblestone streets stretch around me, and hundreds of unique, named NPCs populate the area. After a slight mishap involving a chicken pilfering my compass, I find my way to Feffers.
Feffers is… a lot. Funky pirate tunes fill the air in a tavern the size of a department store. What appears to be a massive, mechanical octopus sits atop a round bar at the center. Tables and chairs, many filled with colorful patrons, are scattered about, with a stage at the far end. I make my way to the bartender and ask about anything I may have left behind. He pulls out a suitcase and hands it over, but before I have a chance to examine the contents, all hell breaks loose.
The commotion begins with a girl, RS. She swings around the room on a rope, distributing flyers recruiting for her crew. Unfortunately, her antics result in a cup of grog landing in the face of a particularly ornery looking pirate by the name of Whitebeard, who sends his goons to punish the lass for the insult. Her attempts to fight and evade probably would have worked if not for an ill-timed collision with one particular innocent bystander (me). Suddenly we are surrounded, and I’m dragged into a fight.
Sea of Remnants uses a turn-based battle system, like you’d see in Expedition 33 or your favorite classic JRPGs. The ruffians take the first turn and chip away at the health of the girl and I with some up close dagger slashes and a well-aimed thrown bottle. An action bar on the left of the screen lays out the order; I’m up, and I retaliate with some strong slashes from my sword, while RS deals some AOE damage with some sort of thrown concoction, finishing off one enemy and taking a chunk off the other.
Behind the pirate theme, the combat shares a lot of DNA with classic fantasy RPGs. Melee and ranged attacks do a lot of the work, but buffs, debuffs, and explosive potions factor in to create a layer of fine strategy. Your crewmates have unique weapon skills to contribute, like RS’s “Cutest Doll”, which, despite its fuzzy exterior, operates more like a rocket launcher. I put that to work wiping out the lineup of enemy pirates, though Whitebeard quickly replenishes them from his massive crew. This particular fight is pretty heavily scripted, so I can’t quite tell how good or deep the battle system is just yet, but the quick action and stylish flourishes definitely give off a Persona vibe.
With no hope to overcome these numbers, RS drops a smoke bomb and sprints out the exit. After a short pursuit, I catch up to her on the beach. She’s not thrilled that I apparently ruined her recruiting effort, but after having her back at the barroom brawl I’m forgiven. She doesn’t know any more about my amnesia than I do, but when I crack open the suitcase the barman gave me, her face lights up. She recognizes a photograph, and the tattered remnants of a flag. We must be connected somehow. With this realization, we agree to form a crew together, and set sail on her ship to begin our adventure in earnest.
With the wind at our backs and answers ahead of us, our adventure begins in earnest on the Sea of Remnants. Sure, “I have amnesia” is a bit worn as a storytelling trope in RPGs, but the charm of the artstyle and characters more than makes up for it, and I’m intrigued to learn more about them and the world – especially if the battle system comes together and the ship combat continues to be an exciting spectacle. We will have to wait and see where these winds take us when Sea of Remnants releases later this year on PlayStation 5, PC, and mobile.
