Developer: WayForward Technologies
Publisher: Outright Games
Platform: PC, Switch, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: PS4
Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia – Review
It has always been a slippery slope for companies to create games that are based on movies or series franchises. More than often these are horribly made and only serve for some companies to keep certain licenses on their side of the fence. A good game based on a movie is nearly the same as spotting a unicorn in a sea of AAA-games. This time we get to explore the world of Trollhunters, which was a very attractive animated series, but with Defenders of Arcadia it puts a dent in its own reputation. Licenses are nice and all, but actually damaging your company’s name for them isn’t the best idea.
Story
As expected, the game builds further on the story of the Trollhunters series. While it isn’t a sequel or a prequel, it floats somewhere in uncharted territory. The characters are there, they know each other, but we do go back in the past because Porgon, a wicked troll, is basically messing with the flow of time. You will play as Jim, the series’ protagonist, and you will battle your way through several different levels.
The story progression is shown by dialogue windows but no actual animations, which would have been nice considering the source material this game is based on.
Graphics
When playing Defenders of Arcadia it feels like you hooked up your PlayStation 2 again, albeit with somewhat smoothened out character models. The game has a limited amount of enemy and character models, and while these look like those from the series, they clash with the backdrops of each and every level. The character models have a bit of detail, while the environments are empty, bland and horribly detailed. This game was not modeled and created by a B-team, but more like a Z-team, when looking at the graphical prowess of the whole.
Sound
The sound design is okayish most of the time. You have a fair amount of voice acting present, which sometimes turns into mute conversations for absolutely no reason at all. Nonetheless, the voice acting that is present is actually quite decent and gives a certain qualitative part to the game it otherwise lacks in every other area.
We noticed there was a proper backdrop in terms of music, but it never really made us wiggle back and forth out of excitement. The music that is present does it job, but it’s not really that much of a big deal to actually pay attention to it.
Gameplay
Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia is a 2D Platformer in which you battle monsters, or in this case supposed ‘trolls’. You will go through tiny levels which provide you with many obstacles and ledges while having to fight off many enemies. You can do this alone, or in true couch co-op fashion with a friend. The game proves to be very straightforward, even if the mechanics can sometimes get very bland and tedious.
Sadly, right off the bat, the game feels like it’s heavily directed towards children, but then again, it feels like the exact opposite at times. It’s probably one of those development projects that passed the revue for parents to play with their kid(s). The game does let you roam through simply devised platforming sections, but you will also need to do certain objectives that prove to be a tad more complicated. The combat, however, is very barebones, and just requires you to mash your attack button(s) and then use the appropriate skill to bypass certain obstacles. You can collect currency to buy items or even upgrade your armor, but after getting the first armor relatively quick, it feels like you already achieved all you need to beat this game.
Not only is the game too simplistic in almost every area, but it’s also riddled with bugs. Too many times we had to restart levels because switches wouldn’t work, bosses wouldn’t activate and so on. Also, we had the very annoying bug that the game would not allow us to swap between our different abilities, which made playing Trollhunters nearly impossible. You just had to be lucky the game swapped to the right skill, after activating the active one.
Conclusion
Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia is one of those games that should have never been made. While certain parts are charming, simply because of the existing franchise, the game itself is total rubbish. There is a certain sense of self-torturing to be found because these games prove to be extremely easy with only a short lifespan, making it one of those titles that you play through in a few hours, alone or with a friend. Nonetheless, masochism aside, the 40 Euros charged for this game in retail shops is basically 41 Euros too much.
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