Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations | Xbox One

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Traditionally, Adventure Time games have taken the form of 2D Zelda-esque dungeon crawlers. Finn & Jake Investigations is a bit of a departure, then - an adventure game akin to Telltale’s pre-Walking Dead work - but do Finn & Jake’s duo match-up to the likes of Wallace & Gromit and Sam & Max? IT’S REVIEW TIME!

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​by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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Platform(s): PS3, PS4, Wii U, 3DS, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Vicious Cycle Software
​Publisher: Little Orbit
Players: 1

After discovering an old artefact belonging to their parents at the beginning of the game, protagonists Finn & Jake are inspired to follow in their footsteps and become private investigators. Thus we embark on our mission to solve five mysterious cases across the Land of Ooo, venturing to the Kingdoms of Candy, Ice, Fire and beyond.
Fans of the show will meet and interact with all of their favourite characters, from the esteemed Princess Bubblegum and Peppermint Butler, to the dastardly Lemongrab and Magic Man. If you haven’t seen the show, firstly - “UNACCEPTABLE! ONE HUNDRED YEARS DUNGEON!” - and secondly, it doesn’t matter for the most part; you’ll come to love the endearingly eccentric cast regardless. That said, some puzzle solutions will be easier to come upon if you have even a basic knowledge of the show.

On the topic of puzzles, Adventure Time’s are pretty standard of the genre. You scour every scene, fixed camera angle and all, picking up every item that isn’t nailed down to place it in your inventory. From here, items can be combined and/or equipped to be used when the situation is right.

Following the tried-and-tested path makes for a more accessible experience on one hand, whilst on the other it means the game falls into the usual pitfalls: nonsensical solutions that mean you’ll be trying to combine or use everything with or on everything, items having one specific use - when they could easily be used for another - and backtracking aplenty.

​Whilst the puzzles were, for the most part, simple when tackled by our superior, adult brains, the younger target audience will likely struggle at times. Add in finicky prompts that make it easy to miss some interactable objects and an obscure tutorial and you have a game that your son or daughter probably can’t just be left to their own devices with - it’ll require either parental guidance, or a walkthrough. Don’t let that put you off though, this adult male actually had a decent amount of fun with the game, so there’s much worse your little sprogs could drag you into.

We do question the decision making behind a game too juvenile for most adults and too hard for most kids...

We do question the decision making behind a game too juvenile for most adults and too hard for most kids, though. We also aren’t convinced a game where the bulk of your time is spent conversing and puzzle-solving wouldn’t be a tad boring for young ‘uns.

There’s a combat system thrown in to help stave off boredom, which is a nice change of pace for the kids, but, unfortunately, it’ll only induce boredom in adults. It consists of mashing X to attack and occasionally tapping A to dodge in order to maintain a combo and fill the special bar, enabling the employment of an ability. Each of Finn’s swords has a unique move and Jake has four shape-shifting forms (catapult, muscle suit, spinning-top and battering-ram), depending on which you activate, combat becomes either ever so slightly less, or more, involved. Fighting waves of the same enemies over and over at the hands of such a shallow system gets boring fast, so it’s a good job combat makes up only a small portion of the game and is seemingly impossible to fail, so there’s no unnecessary repetition of failed encounters.

On the whole, Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations is a fun enough venture with great character thanks to to the original voice cast reprising their roles, a rich setting and visually pleasing style. It just doesn't quite live up to the production value of the show and the writing isn't as on-point; we've laughed out loud at the programme and only occasionally smirked at this game.
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Pros

• Great characters voiced by the original cast
• Nice visuals
• Fun adventure game brought to a new generation

Cons
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• Too hard for youngsters and not made for adults
• Shallow combat
• Poor man’s version of the show

6/10

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