I was initially willing to give this a pass as it seemed to replace the tower defense segments that a lot of people were utterly sick and tired of after 2 other games had it (heck, I reckon plenty were tired of it after 1 game). The problem is... it's not replacing that.

Turns out seafaring is a wrapper of even more padding AROUND those. During sea battles you sometimes need to board an enemy ship... and you suddenly find yourself in the same wave-based slog once again. Except they seem even more superficial as enemies spawn on-the-spot right in front of your face.