Windrose — the new pirate adventure formerly known as Crosswind — is out now in early access, debuting to 'Very Positive' reviews on Steam.

The PvE survival game sees you build, craft, and fight your way across a vast open world "filled with dark secrets," offering challenging bosses and "soulslite" combat. It's already clocked an impressive concurrent peak of 25,876 players on launch day, a number that has continued to increase while I've been writing this story.

Of the over 130 early access reviews left on Steam already, 90% are positive, championing the building, exploration, and combat, with just a few unhappy players reporting issues with the combat and stamina and one-shot deaths.

"The Pirate game we were waiting for!!!" exclaimed one happy pirate. "Amazing Early Access content and gameplay. The game is not easy at first so be aware, user can lower the difficulty if needed. All in all solid 8.5/10 for Early Access game." Another wrote: "Did you enjoy Black Flag? You're in for a treat. Did you enjoy Valheim? You're in for a treat. Do you speak Pirate? Yargghh in for treat, matey. Also, very well optimized."

For those who missed it, Windrose underwent considerable changes throughout development, including changing both the original name of the game (from Crosswind to Windrose) and the name of the studio that developed it (from Windrose Crew to Kraken Express). It has also moved away from its original plan to be an MMO and is now categorized as an open-world survival game.

While it's tempting to compare it to fellow swashbuckler Sea of Thieves, players who have spent time with Windrose's demo are quick to remind interested folk that this is "practically nothing like" Rare's action-adventure game, given Windrose focuses on PvE, not PvP.

While it's admittedly early days, Windrose has made a "strong first impression" in IGN's review-in-progress, too. "With its skill-focused pistol-and-blade ground combat and dastardly difficult bosses, I'm hooked by its exploration and progression," we wrote. "I'll be updating this review as I discover new things, with a final verdict to come once I've seen all this Early Access release has to offer."

Here are 14 essential Windrose tips to get you started.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.