Trident’s Tale Review

Game: Trident’s Tale
Genre: Adventure, Action, RPG
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows) and Xbox)
Developer | Publisher: 3DClouds
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US Everyone
Price: US $24.99 | UK £22.49 | EU € 24,99
Release Date: May 22nd, 2025

A review code was provided, and many thanks to Press Engine.

Trident’s Tale: A Pirate Adventure That Falls Overboard on Switch

Trident’s Tale sets out to deliver the ultimate pirate fantasy. It has sword fights, ship battles, a legendary artefact, exotic islands, dungeons, and a magical twist – everything you’d want in a pirate-themed action-adventure game. But all that goodness is hidden beneath the ocean due to very poor optimisation on Nintendo Switch.

All the Right Ingredients for a Pirate Epic

You play as Ocean, a spirited young pirate (not quite a captain yet) who finds part of the mythical Storm Trident on her home island just before skeleton pirates invade it. From there, your quest begins: explore mysterious lands, gather the Trident’s fragments, battle monstrous foes, and uncover secrets across the seas. Along the way, you’ll meet a host of quirky characters, many of whom, unfortunately, suffer from laughably bad voice acting. The performances harken back to the early days of 3D gaming, and not in a nostalgic way. Worse still, the voices often fail to sync with the characters’ mouths, creating awkward and unintentionally comedic cutscenes.

The Fatal Flaw: Switch Performance

Let’s get right to the game’s biggest problem: Trident’s Tale runs terribly on the Nintendo Switch. In handheld mode, the visuals are a blurry, unfocused mess. Character models smudge into their surroundings, environments lack detail, and shadows and textures frequently bug out. It looks like the game is trying to pull off far more than the Switch can handle.

And it’s not just a visual issue. The framerate often dips into stutter territory, especially during combat or while sailing. Docking the console helps slightly, but not enough to fix the underlying problem. It’s clear the game simply isn’t optimised for the Switch, which is a shame because there’s an enjoyable experience underneath all this technical debris.

Gameplay: Promising but Hindered

When the game does manage to function, there are glimpses of a solid pirate adventure. Swordplay is decent, allowing you to use melee combos, a firearm, and even special abilities. There’s also a dodge mechanic and enemy lock-on system that adds a bit of strategy to combat. It’s serviceable and, under better circumstances, could’ve been pretty fun.

Ship combat is another ambitious feature. You can command your vessel, aim cannons, and take on enemy ships or sea monsters in open-sea battles. These encounters should feel epic, but like the rest of the game, they’re brought down by muddy visuals and sluggish responsiveness.

Exploration fares slightly better. Islands are dotted with hidden treasures, crafting materials, and secret areas. There are dungeons to discover, bosses to battle, and items to collect for gear upgrades. These moments offer flashes of what Trident’s Tale could be, a charming, open-ended adventure with meaningful progression. But again, the performance issues sap much of the joy out of exploration.

A Few Bright Spots

It’s not all bad. One standout feature is the ability to save anywhere at any time, which is especially helpful given the game’s instability. There’s also a crafting system, and gear and ship upgrades that offer some customisation and progression. The boss battles, while not overly complex, are creative and give players a reason to keep pushing forward.

If you can somehow overlook the technical mess, there is a decently deep pirate adventure buried here. It has heart, ambition, and a world that begs to be explored. But in its current state, that experience is hard to recommend on the Switch.

Conclusion: Shipwreck

Trident’s Tale is filled with strong ideas and pirate charm, but it’s not ready for prime time, at least not on Nintendo Switch. The technical issues are too glaring to ignore, from the blurry textures to the frame drops and janky animations. If a few substantial patches come down the line, or if the game sees a better-optimised release on other platforms or a potential Switch 2, this could become the fun, breezy adventure it clearly wants to be.

Until then, consider holding off or checking it out elsewhere if possible. There’s a good game under the surface, but right now it’s buried under too many waves of performance problems.

Final Verdict: I’m Not Sure

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