Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion Switch review - An RPG-lite that misses the mark in so many ways

Adventure Time is one of those cartoons that's ripe for video games – it's got a big, silly world where rules are thrown out of the window at seemingly every turn, so literally anything could happen, and it would be considered canon.

The latest outing, Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion takes this idea and runs with it, almost totally destroying the world of Ooo in the opening cutscene and then sending you out on an RPG-flavoured quest to fix it.

Yet despite all the opportunities for fun and whimsy, you're instead given an experience that lacks polish, is regularly confusing, and ultimately leaves you feeling a little empty no matter how hard you try to love it.

Come on grab your friends

Pirates of the Enchiridion sees the world of Ooo flooded after the Ice King's magic crown gets jacked up, and for some reason there's also pirates everywhere.

Series stars Finn and Jake head off to solve the crisis, stopping by everyone's favourite kingdoms and picking up the rest of the cast on their adventure around the world.

You navigate Ooo by boat, sailing around from location to location before hopping off and wandering about on foot, battling it out with foes in turn-based RPG fights.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion Screenshot 1

There's nothing particularly new about the combat mechanics – you can attack, use a skill, or pull out an item, and each character has their own elemental strengths to help you out.

Instead of MP, everyone in the party shares an energy gauge which increases by one point every time a character starts their turn, so you need to carefully consider whose abilities will work best in each situation lest you waste precious energy.

Helpfully, you can use an item and attack in the same turn, so you're encouraged to keep your party at full health pretty much constantly – so long as you have the gear for the job.

Beyond combat, you'll be exploring the vast seas, collecting items, completing side quests (almost all of which are fetch quests, of course), and generally having a pleasant time.

We'll go to very

Or at least you would be if Pirates of the Enchiridion let you. The main issue is that everything moves so slowly – your characters run around slowly, your ship is slow, combat is slow… the list goes on.

The world is also seemingly massive and devoid of distractions too, so any time you're made to travel between kingdoms you can expect a boring journey punctuated by the occasional stop to pick up some boxes of items.

There's a lack of polish across the board to boot. Entering combat is clumsy, levelling up is confusing, and there's a loading screen for just about everything.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion Screenshot 2

The load times are atrocious too. Boot up the game and you'll be waiting around two minutes before you even see your characters, and you can expect similar load times throughout, even when you're just entering a battle.

Pirates of the Enchiridion also suffers from some weird difficulty scaling – you'll be happily trundling along before suddenly facing off against a huge boss which can wipe your entire party out in one turn, usually because they apparently get two turns to both buff and attack in, meaning you don't even have the chance to throw up a defence.

And yet despite all its flaws, I really wanted to like the game. It captures the whimsical Adventure Time world near-perfectly, and its attention to detail in the world design is simply exquisite.

Distant lands

It's a shame that the game never really meets its potential. Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion shows a lot of promise, but it's bogged down by a slow pace and a general lack of polish.

The world feels so empty in almost every aspect, and when you're waiting minutes in loading screens to be presented with almost nothing, it makes you wonder why you bother.

But there's a lot of love in here. Pirates of the Enchiridion tries to do so much, and its easy to see what it could have been. It's just a shame it never quite meets its mark.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion Switch review - An RPG-lite that misses the mark in so many ways

Pirates of the Enchiridion has some nice ideas, but it just misses the mark with almost everything it tries out
Score
Ric Cowley
Ric Cowley
Ric was somehow the Editor of Pocket Gamer, having started out as an intern in 2015. He hopes to take over the world the same way.