Back(log) to the Front: Week 6

I was afraid of getting behind this week, and truthfully, I kind of did. Part of the week was spent playing The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince for review (which you can find here), part of it was used trying out Apex Legends, and then the below games in which I touched but never finished.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

I should love this game. I like the Adventure Time episodes I’ve seen and I love japanese role playing games…but this doesn’t stick the landing for me to care enough to keep playing. I do have to admit though, the Adventure Time property doesn’t shy away from a new genre, but it would be nice if it did one spectacularly well.

It didn’t take long for me to hit my first bump. The animation isn’t up to par. Everything feels choppy from movement in the world to the combat and it’s incredibly distracting. Spoken dialogue didn’t match up with their mouths moving (if they did at all), but even worse, I found their spoken dialogue to be cut short although subtitles had the sentences being finished.

The open world does have the look down though. Its bright and colorful and despite some of the modeling, looks like The Land of Ooo. It’s a shame that it doesn’t feel open enough and instead contains the player in a mostly empty overworld that requires a very brief (think a second or two) loading screen upon docking after traveling the ocean.

After docking, The Land of Ooo still isn’t that open. Areas are a mix of linear pathways and old 3D platformers. Between this and the more “hub” approach of the overworld, I was disappointed with the idea of this being an open world game.

The combat also leaves a lot to be desired due to its simplicity and ease. Each character have special moves that can be used after a meter build up from regular attacks. There is also an ultra move of sorts when a different meter builds up that can launch a major attack. These type of moves along with the character stats themselves are upgraded using currency found/won throughout the game. Its not bad combat per se, just serviceable.

Not a game I see myself wanting to continue playing, but I imagine more hardcore Adventure Time fans would give it more time or see it through entirely. It comes off as a mediocre game at best and not one that should be considered an open world, but at least it has a few things going for it.

Adr1ft

I am of two minds on Adr1ft. It does so much right, but there are snags along the way that prevented me from enjoying it as I should have.

For instance, the game looks gorgeous. Setting it in space makes things pop in a way they wouldn’t being set on Earth. In fact, Earth as a backdrop works so well and made me take a second to admire it the first time I saw it.

I am also a fan of “walking simulators” which is essentially what this game is…just with floating. The story of the characters and the events leading up to this catastrophe are told through terminals and audio logs found throughout the wreckage, some of which is inaccessible unless you find items as you progress through the environment.

Traversing through the game is part of my problem on two different fronts. For one, as perfect as floating is because of the nature of the game, it creates very slow progress and somewhat difficult maneuverability. The second problem comes in with locating where you need to go next. I could be reading the map wrong, but it doesn’t indicate whether the destination is above or below you. Add in determining an exact route, especially outside the wreckage, can throw you off-course due to some paths being a little further off than expected. The oxygen tanks are a good indicator as to what direction to go, but sometimes they are out of view even with pinging for things in the environment.

Also, when pinging for oxygen and the next location, make the markers more noticeable please. They are so incredibly small at a distance, they may as well not show up.

The last thing I want to discuss is the gameplay loop. Its essentially a repeated fetch quest to repair the escape shuttle, and the story wasn’t quite as engaging as I would have hoped. So I often questioned if it was worth going from the middle of the shuttle to each of the four ends to fulfill the quest. Which is fine, until you deal with the more frustrating aspects of traversal and locating paths.

Adr1ft is worth trying for sure, but I could easily see people getting fed up with the act of playing that game. The setting makes it stand out from other games in the genre and its not a bad game. It all comes down to your tolerance of certain gameplay decisions. Though having played it on the PlayStation 4, I have to admit, I’m disappointed in no VR support.

That would do it for this week. I think I may jump into the digital world of Digimon for next week. We’ll see how that goes.

As for us at Los Harrow Games, check out our second matchup of the PlayStation All-Stars Ultimate Roster Showdown and vote here, my review for The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince, some impressions on the Golf Blitz beta, our YouTube channel and don’t forget to subscribe to our podcasts!