Trident’s Tale review

Trident’s Tale is a pirate adventure game that struggles to deliver anything original. From the start, 3DClouds’ (Xenon Racer, PAW Patrol World) latest effort feels like a composite of elements borrowed from titles like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Skull and Bones. As such, nearly every moment of the game lacks originality.

The plotline is a standard fetch-quest narrative where the protagonist, Ocean, seeks to reclaim the Storm Trident by collecting scattered relic pieces across various islands. These cartoonish islands, reminiscent of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, fail to deliver much that captivates the player’s imagination. Sure, there are skeleton foes, bearded boss buccaneers, and colonial settlements illuminated by the glow of torchlight. But it all feels like a collage built from pirate lore that lacks any driving passion.

Clumsy Combat on Land and Sea

The gameplay itself is equally uninspired. Combat is largely clunky and unsatisfying. The game attempts to provide enemy ‘tells’ for players to parry. But the window is unforgivingly short, especially for the game’s intended tween demographic. Instead, one of the best tactics to deal with the game’s enemies is to repeatedly spam the dodge button and strike with light and heavy attacks, since enemies can’t track an evading Ocean. Soon enough, you’ll earn a pistol and the ability to summon are-of-effect magic spells. But your entire arsenal is rather dull to use.

Naval battles, which should be a highlight of any respectable pirate game, suffer from poor pacing and control issues, with the player’s ship feeling cumbersome and vulnerable. Using the same health potions that heal Ocean to repair your ship is confusing, while resource crafting is slow and unfulfilling. Oddly, when you wear down an enemy ship’s health, Trident’s Tale gives you the option to board the ship. But doing so only gives a modicum of additional resources.

You’ll Want to Attack NPCs just as Much as Enemies

Exploration and an endless procession of simplistic quests do little to elevate the game’s appeal. Most tasks boil down to repetitive fetch quests and insipid gathering, habitually providing little variation or narrative intrigue. While the world seems colorful and inviting at first glance, asset recycling soon becomes apparent as you navigate to similar looking islands.

Similarly, the game’s dialog is tedious and filled with banal NPC chatter. The voice acting fares no better with delivery and tone that make the game sound like a direct-to-video production. There wasn’t a single character I cared about.

Walking the Plank

Graphically, Trident’s Tale reveals some promise with its bright, animated art style. Certainly, the water effects and lighting add a certain charm and atmosphere that hint at what the game could have been. However, these visual strengths are overshadowed by technical issues such as occasional texture glitches and a visual effect that provides shoreline rocks with shimmer used to designate collectable resources. Danger isn’t always visually signaled either, with Ocean able to swim in some waters but not in others. Although each of these problems aren’t game-breaking, they collectively contribute to a feeling that the game lacks a requisite amount of polish.

In summary, Trident’s Tale is a game that feels more like a mediocre effort from the PlayStation 2-era, rather than anything remotely modern. From the tired pirate tropes to mechanics that don’t offer anything new, this is a tedious and forgettable adventure. Do yourself a favor and find almost other sea to sail.

Trident’s Tale was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.