Don’t Fret With Frido: “Adventure Time: Pirates of Enchiridion” Review

Frido dives into the video game based on the well loved animated series, Adventure Time: Pirates of Enchiridion.

I love Adventure Time.  The show is wholesome and fun, it’s good for all ages.  And now, they’ve presented a pretty decent game.  There are no spoilers in this because it isn’t canon to the show.  Let’s get algebraic!

The game starts with Finn and Jake going to bed on top of the tree house.  When they awake, all of Ooo is flooded with water, and the Ice Kingdom is essentially gone.  The duo find a boat in the water, and as Finn says, “Well, that’s pretty convenient.” Which it is, but hey, it’s a video game; don’t question it.  The two travel to see Ice King who explains that when he was trying to freeze something, it melted instead, and now his crown was stolen.  The gang venture all through the land of Ooo meeting lots of characters from the show such as, Peppermint Butler, Lumpy Space Princess, and Lady Rainicorn as they try and find out why Ooo has basically melted.

Most of the games based on TV shows are fun, but not great.  The last two that I can remember truly enjoying were Rocket Power: Beach Bandits and Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom.  These games are usually less about being an actually good game and more about kids just being entertained for a bit while seeing their favorite characters.  This game is really fun for all.  It’s got bright colors and fun concepts that kids will find fun.  There are also adult jokes, and if played on a higher difficulty, the game can be a real challenge.  With only about nine hours of gameplay through the general story, this game isn’t very long.  There are some after-game things to do, such as collectables, achievements, side missions, etc., which extends the game to maybe 15 hours tops.  The game isn’t a full price of $60. It’s currently priced at $29.99 on steam and at GameStop, making the game worth the price.

The game style is an RPG. The world is partially open with set paths, and the battle style is turn based.  The way the battles are presented brings back memories of Paper Mario and South Park: The Fractured but Whole, both of which have great combat gameplay.

There were some things that were annoying in Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion.  The load times are long, at least a minute or two until players can continue, whereas some games today don’t even have load screens at all.  The game is made for a younger generation, and parts of it are a little easier.  Players cannot just walk off of ledges to fall down to lower areas; they must jump down or walk into an invisible wall.

There are some parts that are very sensitive in terms of how close or far away players can be.  In one area, Marceline must turn invisible to reach a key in a pirate fortress.  She has a limited amount of time she can be invisible.  If she is not in the exact right spot when she turns invisible, the pirates will see her.  And if they see her, there is no winning that fight with only one character.  The attacks are hard hitting, and Marceline doesn’t have a lot of defense.  Normally in RPGs, an enemy must physically touch you before the battle will start in this game. However, they must only see you and get close to initiate battle.

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion is a decently meta game.  There are funny moments where an enemy will stop chasing you and say, “You’re lucky that’s out of my jurisdiction.”  Finn and Jake sing sea shanties. At the end of the first song Finn tells Jake, “Don’t worry, we won’t sing forever.”  There are a lot of more adult themed jokes as well.  Not in a dirty way, just ones that children won’t understand, like about insurance and such.  While in the Candy Kingdom an NPC states, “Doesn’t sugar dissolve in water?”  Yes, it does, little NPC; you could die.

This game is fun and the characters are easy to level up.  I highly suggest it if you enjoyed the Adventure Time show.  If you didn’t watch the show, some things will be lost on you, but the jokes are still funny, and it’s still an enjoyable play. I am really upset this show ended and wish it would have continued. This game is a fun commemoration to the show and does it justice.

Written by Frido
(Frido is an avid gamer and plays games when they should be doing homework. Their other hobbies include sleeping, eating, drinking, and acting like they’re going to start exercising when we all know they’re not. Some of their favorite games include The Bioshock Series, the Resident Evil series, and Luigi’s Mansion. They figured if they’re gonna have all of these opinions might as well put them to paper.)