There is an age-old question that has been asked since the dawn of time. Pirates or Ninjas? If you answer Ninjas, you would be wrong. Pirates will beat Ninjas every day of the week. So, when I was asked if I was interested in previewing 3D Clouds’ new pirate action-adventure Tridents Tale, I grabbed it and ran as quickly as my peg leg would let me.
Arrrr you ready for some high-sea adventure?
The world 3D Clouds has built around this pirate tale is full of gorgeous colours and whimsical characters. If you are after a grim pirate adventure, you will not find it here. What you will find is a light-hearted adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously. That's not to say that Trident’s Tale isn't a brilliant treat that scratches that pirate itch.
You start your journey as Ocean, a cheeky young thing with dreams of finding buried treasure. When she finds a necklace in the old shed, her world is turned upside down after her home is attacked by skeletons.
Did someone say Swashbuckling?
This is where you get your introduction to the combat and platforming of Trident’s Tale. Once you find a rusty sword to defend yourself with, it is a matter of light and heavy attacks. There is no parry, but you do have a dodge. You also have a ranged pistol that needs to be "˜charged' by landing hits with your sword. This is where we are introduced to status effects. The pistol not only damages but also stuns your enemies, allowing for follow-up attacks or to dodge out of the way. The enemies don't wait for each other to attack; they will surround you and attack at once, so mastering the dodge is paramount, especially when ranged enemies are thrown into the mix.
As you continue your quest to find the Storm Trident, the supernatural element starts to make itself known. You will meet different characters that will join your crew and offer different abilities/powers. Like skeleton arms erupting from the ground and grabbing enemies, or flames bursting from who knows where. You can even play a sea shanty and disorientate your foes. These can all be upgraded with the currency of grog.
Speaking of upgrades, Trident’s Tale is not an RPG. You don't earn experience to upgrade your character. Refreshingly, you will find upgrade materials strewn around the different islands. There are also blueprints for new weapons, hats, and coats that can be purchased from vendors to make you stronger.
I'm on a Boat
The other thing you can upgrade is your trusty ship. What sort of pirate would you be without one? You can customize your ship with different sails, cannons, and decorations. Unfortunately, these all have different attributes attached to them, so if you don't like the look but it has good stats, tough.
I do have a few issues with the ship. While it's fun to sail around and attack other ships, there is very little payoff (a few pieces of gold). I found myself avoiding fights just to get to my next objective. Also, the ship boss fights take way too long. Just circling each other, taking off tiny amounts of health got very tedious. Luckly there aren't many of them, but I did catch myself thinking “damn, is this still going?”
Preview Build
With Trident’s Tale announced for release on the 22nd of May, there are a few things that need addressing. Performance-wise, gameplay and combat are pretty fluid. Some clipping issues can cause you to fall or get stuck on things or drop down between objects, causing you to get stuck. Some jump mashing usually gets you out, but when it happened, my heart would be in my mouth because the auto save is very unforgiving. It seems to be wildly inconsistent, and I found myself losing significant progress now and again. There were a few times I would just die from landing from a jump or losing all my health to one hit.
Audio-wise, when you are out on the open sea, other ships fight each other, leading to cannons going off all the time. These can get caught on a loop and will even follow you onto land. This is fixed by a quick save/load.
With the map being so big, I was glad to see a fast travel system, which I used a few times. Then suddenly it became unavailable, and I couldn't use it after that point.
A Pirate’s Life for Me
Why is pirating so addictive? They say once you lose your first hand, you are hooked!
If you are into pirates or just some good old-fashioned action adventuring, Trident’s Tale is brilliant fun.
Gamer Social Club was supplied a copy of Trident’s Tale for this preview.
Trident’s Tale will be available on PC through Steam on the 22nd of May 2025. There is a demo for Trident’s Tale available on Steam to tide you over...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2541780/Tridents_Tale
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