ADVENTURE TIME: PIRATES OF THE ENCHIRIDION
A pirate’s life for me!
The Land of Ooo has flooded because of the melting of the Ice Kingdom, and who better than Finn and his anthropomorphic dog-pal Jake to put it back to normal? Pirates Of The Enchiridion captures the fun-loving atmosphere of the TV series to bring fans the best Adventure Time game yet. That is, if you can look past a slew of technical issues, including a poor framerate and persistent loading screens. If you can, you’ll be welcomed by a game brimming with personality1 and a turn-based combat system reminiscent of Costume Quest – but it’s difficult, nonetheless, to ignore how low-budget the game feels.
Each character has unique abilities both in and out of battle. Jake’s shapeshifting body allows him to access areas the others cannot reach, and Finn can utilise different blades in battle to deal elemental damage. There’s an interrogation minigame (sadly not named Finnterrogation) which boils down to picking whether to be charming or angry (failing has little consequence as you can choose to replay it). Many of the replies are the same regardless of your choices and who says them, leaving replaying these sections to be drawn-out and boring. I could not BMO serious when I say that the ability to skip text would have been appreciated.
The game’s animation and performance are lacking but its art direction is colourful, and the dialogue has the same infectious energy as it does in the show. 2 Only die-hard Adventure Time fans should check this out. Fortunately, it doesn’t boast a hefty price tag – there are no bacon pancakes, though! Mitchell Lineham