Troll and I (Switch) Review

Troll and I is the video game equivalent of Snakes and Ladders – minus the ladders. Players walk a precarious tightrope in which their progress hinges on whether the game can keep it together without collapsing in a heap. I had to replay numerous sections of Troll and I more than once due to game-breaking bugs that were only remedied by console hard-resets. This aptly-titled game is an outdated and buggy mess.

This review almost went live minutes after the embargo lifted with only 20 minutes of gameplay progress made because of an early-game issue which triggered an infinite loading screen. This is allegedly due to an operating system memory leak which is “solved” by hard-resetting the Switch. Keep this workaround in mind if for some bizarre reason you decide to buy the game at $60AU; although as my experience dictates, there is not much joy to be found beyond the severe bugs and performance issues.

Outside of the many technical issues Troll and I produces, every individual facet of the game is merely functional. Visually, everything looks outdated; the character models, environment textures, and animations are all lacking in quality. Character models constantly clip through objects, and cutscenes feature severe ghosting effects to the point of being mildly nauseating to watch. These visual problems appear to be marginally reduced while playing in handheld mode, but not anywhere near enough to be considered passable.

Not pictured: the four other Ottos flickering on and off in this cutscene

The early stages of the game place Otto in the bushlands outside his village, where he hunts boars for food. This hunting section introduces players to the basic crafting and combat mechanics in Troll and I, including foraging for supplies and tracking Otto’s prey. Drawing inspiration from the likes of the recent Tomb Raider and Horizon: Zero Dawn, Troll and I’s attempt just feels flat and derivative. Even the inventory menu is broken; scrolling through the various inventory pouches and crafting options caused all of the icons to disappear one-by-one, leaving an undecipherable blank row in its place.

Following this hunting section, Otto learns that his village is under attack, but he is forced to flee the fiery carnage. This prompts a faux on-rails segment where Otto is running away from a fire blazing through a forest, with some quick-time-event elements tacked on to dodge fallen trees. This is where Troll and I began to come unstuck. My first attempt at this escape section was doomed from the beginning; the game loaded smack-bang in the middle of the village I was meant to run away from, which led to me running around aimlessly until Otto randomly collapsed and died. After this, it loaded correctly and my escape commenced. Unfortunately, one of the last trees Otto needed to clear forcibly redirected the poor soul 90 degrees directly into a wall, halting progress and causing death by inferno. This same glitch occurred time and time again until I was lucky enough to clear the section without issue, despite doing nothing differently. Finally, I was in the clear and could continue. Or so I thought.

After a brief cutscene starring the titular troll and another short on-rails section, the game introduces a rather tame combat encounter which consisted entirely of pressing the same button repeatedly. After this, Otto was prompted to jump over a small ledge to venture deeper into the forest and investigate the source of an unusual sound. A simple enough endeavour, no? Each attempt to jump this innocuous ledge triggered an infinite loading screen, where no amount of waiting yielded any result. After troubleshooting various fixes, including loading previous saves and starting a new game, I met the same result at the exact same hurdle. At this point, I was ready to cease my short-lived relationship with Troll and I and declare my verdict, but I wanted to give it every chance of redemption.

My persistence would be rewarded by finally clearing the ledge without the interruption of a loading screen. Progress! This victory would be short-lived, however, as the very next area required Otto to climb a cliff face using clearly defined climbing points – no Breath of the Wild climb wherever-you-damn-well-please here. Upon starting my ascent, I noticed Otto’s character model drifting away from the cliff, to the point where he was climbing in mid-air. Pushing through what I thought to be another minor cosmetic bug ended in heartbreak. All of a sudden, Otto clipped through the cliff face, prompting another infinite loading screen. Compounding this, my previous save (the saves are automatic) was just before the ill-fated ledge of loading doom. These issues were eventually overcome by the hard-reset solution mentioned earlier, but bugs this catastrophic have no business being in a retail game release.

No part of Otto is making contact with that cliff

Otto overcompensating by forcibly cramming his body through the cliff

Troll and I improves slightly once Otto teams up with the troll, due to the minor dose of variety to the gameplay. Using both characters to solve light puzzles is good in theory, but every technical aspect of the game hinders its ability to be enjoyable. Character movement is awkward, the camera angles are obstructive, and the functional aspects of gameplay are not compelling enough to overlook the overwhelming glitches on offer. Combat does not improve once the troll becomes playable; button-mashing is the only requirement due to the inaccuracy of the troll’s movements and ability to defeat foes by aimlessly swiping and stomping all over the place. For an example of a game that handles two playable characters well, look no further than Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and hope it graces the Switch in the future.

The deeper into Troll and I I delved, the more issues I encountered. More crashes, strange audio glitches, and an utterly unappealing presentation just do not make the experience worth it. I wish no ill will to the developers of Troll and I – I just hope this is a significant learning experience for them regarding quality assurance and stringent testing. Perhaps other players will be lucky enough to avoid the severe technical issues I encountered, but I can say for certain that the risk is not worth it.

The Reviewer’s Scorn – oil on Switch canvas

I derived no enjoyment from playing the broken Troll and I, or in writing this review. Do not buy this game in favour of the many wonderful Switch eShop titles offering a significantly better return on time and financial investment.

Rating: 1/5