Pre-order Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

It's no surprise that Adventure Time as a franchise has plenty of games. The magical fantasy world of Ooo goes wonderfully with all kinds of genres, and the latest entry in the franchise, Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, is a great example of that. A stand-alone story, it follows Finn and Jake on another adventure. They wake up one morning to discover the land of Ooo had been flooded because the Ice Kingdom melted. A quick trip there, and they discover the Ice King has misplaced his malfunctioning crown. The only hope of turning Ooo back into a land instead of an ocean is to find the crown and fix it.

As you can imagine, Adventure Time is an adventure game. With the world flooded, you can explore it by sailing around the environment of Ooo. A lot of iconic locations from the Fire Kingdom to the Candy Kingdom and onward are all present — if altered by the sudden flood. Pirates roam the world because every ocean needs a pirate. Players can also explore on foot, and each character has their own abilities. Finn can smash things with his sword, Jake can turn into different things, Marcelene can become invisible, BMO can get into small places, and so on.

Since you're trying to solve a mystery, you'll have to interrogate various characters. During interrogations, you have the choice of either Finn or Jake being Good Cop or Bad Cop. You can even do Good Cop/Good Cop or Bad Cop/Bad Cop. Depending on the character, a variety of approaches might be necessary. The timid Ice King is easily cowed by non-stop Bad Copping, but other characters may require more flexibility. These interrogations can fail, but that doesn't mean you'll fail to progress. You'll just miss some dialogue nuances or have to fight an enemy instead of walking past it.

Rather than an action game, this Adventure Time title is a turn-based RPG. Players get access to up to four characters: BMO, Finn, Jake and Marceline. The traditional RPG-style combat has players and enemies taking turns hitting each other. We're told that the combat is not intended to be very difficult, so players of all ages can enjoy the game. As such, there are a lot of little tweaks to make things more accessible, such as the ability to use items for "free" during your turn, so you don't have to choose between healing and fighting.

Also in good RPG style, you have magic spells and abilities. Each character has a distinct set of skills that can be upgraded by exploring the world. Finn finds different magic swords, while Jake can unlock alternate transformations.  These special attacks use a shared energy bar that fills one spot every time a character gets a turn. In addition, each character also has an ultimate attack, which is their most powerful move. Finn uses his gauntlet, Marceline turns into a werewolf, and so on. These ultimate hero abilities fill up based on the character. Finn fills his by attacking, Jake by taking damage, and Marceline by dealing the last hit to enemies. Since it is persistent between fights, you can save them for when they're really needed.

All in all, Adventure Time is shaping up to be a great entry for the fans of the franchise. The silly and whimsical world lends itself well to a team-based RPG, and there is clearly a lot of love and care from the creators. It's a respectful trip into Ooo, and it even includes over 30 minutes of cut scenes voiced by the original actors. Adventure Time: Pirate of the Enchiridion comes out July 17 for PC and all consoles.