World Cruise Story Review

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adventure, board game, Civilian, Kairosoft, Marine, Nintendo Switch Review, Puzzle, Rating 9/10, simulation, Switch Review, World Cruise Story, World Cruise Story Review Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just board a cruise liner and sail the world whenever you like. For some of us, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime dream, whereas for the rest, it is merely just a dream with the limitations of day-to-day life getting in the way, such as finances, work or school and finding enough time to take on such an excursion. After all, I barely have enough time to play all the video games I want to. Unless you’re the captain of a cruise liner or part of the cabin crew, it’s something that many of us will never get to experience. However, did you know that there is a way that you can cruise around the world without breaking the bank, or even leaving your living room, as Kairosoft’s World Cruise Story embarks to voyage a release onto the Nintendo Switch.

Following the same template and core mechanics as other, previous Kairosoft titles, your task here is to build up a successful cruise liner business by outfitting your ship, attracting passengers, picking destinations and investing in countries in order to make them more attractive and more lucrative. You begin the game with an isometric view of your cruise ship and a barren deck; apart from one or two cabins, a couple of vending machines and some decorative foliage. With a limited amount of starting funds, you begin to add to the attractions and attractiveness of your vessel, under the guidance of an initial helping hand in order to attract passengers.

The aim of the game here, is to build an attractive cruise that garners the interest of a series of passengers that come in a variety of guises; each one needing specific requirements to make their cruise a pleasurable one. The more fans you gain, the more passengers you attract, which leads to more funds. As you begin to accrue a steady income, you can invest more into your liner by adding new attractions and amenities such as slot machines, ATM machines, hot tubs, pools, bars and cafes. Oh, and not forgetting the obligatory toilet! The more you invest, the greater the rewards, eventually leading to more plush discoveries, such as carpets, palm trees and health spas.

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However, to make the most of your business, you can also invest in the countries you visit, which in turn boosts tourism and attractions within each destination; again, boosting the amount of passengers to your ship and bulging your bank balance even further. As the calendar rolls, you get to choose and change the parameters of your cruise by picking a new home port and destination; depending on the attractiveness and tourism of each country. As before, the more you invest, the more opportunities open up to you. It becomes an important asset, as well as upgrading your ship, so as to provide entertainment for your passengers when they disembark, such as bus tours which also bring back monetary gains and rewards for you to use on your liner.

Every so often, your company and ship comes under the scrutiny of a variety of VIP guests. These can come in the guise of ruling dignitaries from the countries you visit, journalistic critics in food and attractions and business opportunities to invest in. By providing a satisfactory experience for these guests gives you a star rating, which again, can attract potential passengers. The more people you attract, the more you need to build and invest in; making sure you have enough cabins for each guest and that each amenity delivers a standard to ensure a pleasurable cruise.

As you begin to develop further, you can also invest in larger ships that allow for more amenities and more passengers, plus an even larger bank balance. However, despite the growth of everything around you, the game does a great job of never feeling too over-complicated or beyond a level of understanding. In fact, the game works in such a way that you are able to have total control over how fast you expand. This allows you to learn everything that the game has to offer, as well as fine-tune certain functions such as which amenities are more popular and what type of guests part with the most money.

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Although World Cruise Story contains a more limited arena in which to develop than other, similar titles, there’s a lot more scope and depth in which to invest your time and money into. It’s by no means less playable; in fact, I found this particular game to be one of the more playable titles within Kairosoft’s library. There’s a great deal of satisfaction from watching your passengers go about their lives and seeing the investments of your money begin to bare fruits. Upgrading your ship from its lowly beginnings to a plush cruise ship is equally engaging; producing a title that is fun to play, easily accessible and thoroughly engaging in all of its mechanics.

Watching your ship berth in your destination or embarking from port is nicely presented, as people wave from the quayside and the ticket office distributes tickets; plus more and more passengers climb up the gangplank to experience the cruise that you have built up for them. There’s even a day and night cycle that sees your ship light up as it gently sails through the water to your next holiday destination and tour guides that lead your passengers to bus tours with an identifying flag. This is most definitely one the most immersive and satisfying Kairosoft games that I have played.

Overall, World Cruise Story follows the same level of addictiveness within its gameplay that Kairosoft have become renowned for. It’s tighter constraints and more manageable style makes this an ideal entry point for anyone who has never experienced the delights of this series of games before. From building the attractiveness of your ship with all its facilities and amenities, to the investment in chosen countries and deciding the embarkations and destinations of your cruise makes this a completely engaging premise; one that rewards the player immensely as it begins to bare the fruits of your labours. With its pleasing charms, cutesy aesthetics and sublime levels of gameplay, this is a titanic game that is guaranteed never to sink.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.

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World Cruise Story Review
  • Gameplay - 9/10
    9/10
  • Graphics - 9/10
    9/10
  • Sound - 9/10
    9/10
  • Replay Value - 9/10
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User Review
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Comments Rating 0/10 (0 reviews)
Overall
9/10

Summary

World Cruise Story is a titanic game that is guaranteed never to sink with its port of gameplay and destination of fun.


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