Trident’s Tale Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Pirate fun for all the family!" 🏴‍☠️⛵@3DClouds #IndieGame #GameDev

The chandler never mentioned the glow in the dark sails at the showroom

My four-year old son has a penchant for open world games in which you are free to do as you please, with LEGO City Undercover, little Kitty Big City, and Goat Simulator 3 being firm favourites that will seemingly never be uninstalled from my consoles. When I caught wind of Trident’s Tale, I snapped up the chance to cover it, as the cartoonish darkness and spookiness appealed to me, and pirate games are always worth a blast of the cannons!

Playing the part of Ocean, a young pirate who yearns to explore the seas, she soon finds herself mourning the loss of her guardian as skeletal pirates hunt her down, seemingly due to her discovering a small trinket that has a lot of otherworldly folks very interested in it!

This fishing trip was turning out to be less than ideal

The game takes place in two main parts, with the world traversal handled via pirate-y galleon sailing, during which you can take down and scuttle other boats to obtain items that can be used in crafting to upgrade not only your boat, but also your ever-growing motley crew, clothing, swords, guns etc. 

The second part – and vast majority of the game – will be spent exploring the myriad islands scattered around, and through a combination of mostly skeletal warfare and trap-avoiding, discovering further secrets about the mysterious treasure at hand.

The tone struck in the game between Caribbean sunshine, spooky isles, comical skeletons and a rip-roaring tale is very well-balanced, and the visuals are spot-on, with a suitably scenic soundtrack delivering everything from sea shanties through to more orchestral fare, dependent on the locale. The added depth in the upgrades and unlockables is a nice addition and gives players something to get a handle on – as well as giving a reason for full exploration. The characters that you meet are also good fun and fully voice-acted, with a child-friendly accessibility at the heart of the game.

The garden ornament just wanted a cuddle that's all

It's not all smooth sailing, though. Combat in the game feels a little random, with multiple enemies usually causing a problem as you are often dealing with rigid patterns from enemies that have very little warning time with their melee attacks, as you simultaneously get battered from afar from offscreen enemies raining magic down upon you. It’s not too bad with two or three to contend with, but considering that this is a game for kids, I found sections when there were four or more enemies a bit teeth-grinding, especially as there’s no warning when a ranged attack is heading for you, turning it into a bit of a health-potion-a-thon, as opposed to a more enjoyable, tactical affair. 

This is a shame as combat plays such a large part of the game, with the other highlight being the more environmentally based puzzles that you discover as you pillage various temples etc. as part of the narrative, although these also have moments whereby the slightly stiff controls had me closing my eyes for a second, especially with some of the spike trap sections.

The fancy dress party started slowly

SUMMARY
Dragged down a little by the perfunctory combat, Trident’s Tale is nonetheless a fun pirate adventure that nails the visuals, tonal balance, and jaunty music. It feels like an adventure, and the quirky cast of characters that you’ll meet combined with the charm of the world makes Trident’s Tale a title we at GF recommend to everyone out there… except landlubbers!

7.5/10

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