I'm just gonna stick with the cartoon from now on.

This isn't even a three-strikes-and-you're-out scenario -- WayForward already got tagged out from Explore the Dungeon. Epic Quest is a different kind of game from a different developer. Cartoon Network put a new player up to bat, and now I just want to throw them out for making a mockery of game development. ... This metaphor is starting to fall apart, but the point is, Finn and Jake's Epic Quest is also a bad game.

There's one thing that it gets right, and it's the look of Adventure Time -- not in terms of hand-drawn artistic style, but the character models, environment detail, color palette, ability effects; they all look the part of the cartoon. Unfortunately, Epic Quest doesn't have much in the way of dialog or exposition, so it can't exploit the same witty writing that Wayforward's efforts were able to.

But that isn't what makes this game bad. What makes it bad is the flat, dull gameplay. This is a button-mashy character action game, with slightly-floaty controls, overly shallow abilities, and enough enemy health that combat becomes repetitive very quickly. It's largely the kind of simple, no-frills game you could attribute to a younger-skewing target playerbase, except that there are also incredibly frustrating combat situations that most kids would not have the patience to tolerate. Large enemies that can only be attacked from behind, flying enemies that flee faster than you can chase, enemy attacks that reverse your directional controls; this kind of bullshit starts happening even in the game's first five minutes.

Epic Quest's gameplay lives somewhere between lifeless and grind-fest, and it just doesn't pull off anything exciting enough to keep me engaged. And what's amazing is that, based on the overview of the game map, there is a ton more content -- like dozens of levels, of which I could only put up with two and a half. I can't even begin to imagine tolerating that much of this game.

Better than: Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know!
Not as good as: Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!
My dream of a high-quality, open-world adventure-RPG in Ooo: has been pretty much annihilated by now.

Progress: Level 1-3