Very cute and fun looking game, but I found it very difficult. Enemies have perfect aim, and I can't hit anything. I don't think you can even heal the ship unless you happen to stumble upon just the right treasure. Do you have a difficulty slider/setting? Maybe I missed it. It feels like I'm playing on the hardest mode.
EDIT: After playing around some more, yea it feels less like an action game and more like a "sailing around with nearly zero health" simulator.
I thought it was quite the opposite, too easy. Your ship recharges health. Also you can claim and island and heal there. It's so easy to the point it's actually boring, I got 10 kills before I quit, never got close to dying. Hell you can even claim an island, sit there in healing-mode, while shooting down enemy ships that don't heal...
Yea, the difficulty seems to hinge on whether or not you manage to capture an island. If you do, then you can heal your ship, at which point I agree with you--the game becomes super easy. If you fail to kill three enemies (prerequisite of capturing an island), then it becomes a "sail around at zero health" game.
A "difficulty" feature could just be a toggle: Start with a claimed island, or start with no claimed island.
EDIT: After playing around some more, yea it feels less like an action game and more like a "sailing around with nearly zero health" simulator.