Trident’s Tale Review Mini – Review Mini

Trident’s Tale is the sort of game I am generally excited to review. It is the type of game that feels like a throwback to the adventure-platforming-action games of the early 2000’s. It’s the sort of game you might have found on Gamecube, Playstation 2, or Xbox. Unfortunately, I can also guarantee you that it would have never been allowed to release on those systems in the state it’s in on Switch.

Trident’s Tale combines some light 3D platforming and combat, with simple Zelda inspired dungeons, and naval combat reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed. On paper it is a pretty solid combination if admittedly a bit derivative. As you progress through your adventure you’ll also find materials that can be used to craft everything from health potions to new weapons and ship upgrades. You’ll also meet new companion characters which can be brought along to add unique powers to your arsenal.

While all that sounds good, the nicest thing I can say about the Switch version, is that it was significantly worse a couple weeks ago. But even with the multitude of patches that were released during the review period, Trident’s Tale still just isn’t really in a playable state on Switch. The biggest issue here is the frame rate. I don’t think in my entire playtime I ever saw the frame rate reach what I assume must be its target of 30 frames-per-second. In fact on a very regular basis it struggled to reach 20. By the second major dungeon I began having trouble with combat against the most basic enemies. Timing my attacks and dodging incoming fire from enemies quickly became borderline impossible as the frame rate dipped into the teens for prolonged periods. Then after I’d make it through what was clearly supposed to be a very basic combat scenario, the game would crash, and I’d be back to where I started. I began saving after every enemy defeated simply in order to assure I could make progress. Now, to its credit, when I first got my review copy the entire game would randomly turn purple if I moved the camera the wrong way, so it is technically improving I suppose.

I’d love to talk more about Trident’s Tale, but at least on Switch the game just isn’t done. It is possible there is a decent game on other platforms, but I would steer well clear of the Switch release.