Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations

You have likely come across Adventure Time in some capacity. Those lovable characters are donning every piece of household material available these days. Guess what? They are on yet another video game. Being a successor to 2014's adventure title, Adventure Time: The Secret of The Nameless Kingdom, in 2015, Finn and Jake are investigating in the aptly named, Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations.

Adventure Time is undoubtedly a popular series among children and those young at heart. Finn the Human and Jake the Dog have intriguing and vivid personalities. They easily translate into playable personas for a video game world, but how do they deliver in gameplay? Is an investigative style right for this series?

This Time, They're Investigating

'Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations' take on the mystery genre with their own branded approach. The premise of the game is loosely based on a season of the show. The characters exploring happenings in the Land of Ooo that the locals seem to find strange. The notion is baffling considering the odd things they would consider normal - but Finn and Jake are here to save the day.

Five areas of the game are presented to the player - where each is completed by traveling and solving the elementary tasks that stem from the pretty transparent mystery at hand. Traditional point-and-click adventure mechanics are applied with the player interacting with the number of oddly formed characters and items to complete any tasks presented to them. The slight variation to those traditions involves a sporadic combat system that forces you to face off with foes when the story sees fit.

The game plays out like episodes of Adventure Time and could almost complete itself without player involvement. Exploring the Land of Ooo yourself is one of the most compelling features, taking in the sights and sounds at your leisure. The world is a beautiful, searchable representation of the show. There are enjoyable animations and character dialogue, albeit trivial at times. If you are looking for thrills, there won't be a whole lot to entertain you, however.

Might As Well Watch The Show

'Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations' was clearly made for children that are fans of the show. The progression of the game is very uninspiring. It provides simple point-and-click tasks that seem to solve themselves before they are even assigned to you. The combat system is irrelevant, and the story is just an extension of what happens on the TV show. There are definitely no major plot twists or anything to intrigue you into expanding upon the lore of the land.

There are entertaining aspects of the game, however. The Land of Ooo is very well rendered - it's at least mildly interesting to explore with all the odd patterns and contrasting colors. The inhabitants do provide a few chuckles as well with their peculiar dialogue and slapstick style animations. Reiterating that the game feels just an extension of the TV show, there aren't enough redeeming features to make it worth playing.

Pros

• A fleshed-out world to explore modeled off the Adventure Time TV show
• Humorous moments in dialogue
• Good animations

Cons

• The gameplay seems very redundant throughout
• Uninspired mechanics make it a drag
• Feels like it's just a cash in on the brand