While there's plenty that needs improving with Sea of Thieves, it's also a game that does a hell of a lot right. Crucially, it does this stuff differently to pretty much every online multiplayer game going right now.

Unlike Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the focus here is on larking about with your mates rather than blasting your way to Number One in a leaderboard. So the best moments I’ve spent with this game involve an impromptu diving contest off the crow’s nest, seeing which of our crew can fire another furthest in a cannon and who can chuck the most grog-induced vomit at each other.

What do all these tales have in common? They’ve got nothing to do with the pursuit of levelling up your pirate status. Sea of Thieves is really at its best when you’re making your own stories by exploring its glorious world and limited mechanics.

Better still, a new adventure is always around the corner in your first few hours with the game. Even if it's as simple as voting your mates into the ship’s brig for no reason whatsoever.

As impressive as these stories are, they'd lose a little of their lustre were they set on a shabby expanse of ocean. Luckily, one glance at this game’s lilting waves and glistening sky is enough to convince you otherwise.

Developer Rare has poured a hell of a lot polish into its latest creation and the charming, cartoonish results really are a delight. Especially if you’re playing in 4K and with HDR enabled on the new Xbox One X.

From the sharks that'll pounce on you in the deep blue to the skeleton captains who’ll rise from the stand to defend their honour, the whole of Sea of Thieves oozes with personality. That's kind of what makes it such a frustrating game to play. I just want more of it.