Having always enjoyed the Broken Sword games I was delighted back in 2012 when Broken Sword 5: A Serpent’s Curse was announced along with a Kickstarter. The game initially released in two episodes. The first coming out in December 2013 and the second in April 2014. The episodic format sounded like a good idea to me, but it was not overly well received at the time. It was always a game I meant to get to, but the constant flow of releases kept pushing it to the back burner.
When I heard Broken Sword 5 was coming to the Nintendo Switch it felt like the perfect time and platform to finally jump in. Sure, it might not be a new game, but this is one that many gamers missed throughout it’s various releases in the last few years and now on the Switch I really believe we have the definitive version.
In somewhat of a bizarre move Broken Sword 5 has been designed with hand-drawn locations, yet the character models are 3D. This however never really clashes and instead creates a unique art style that I looked on at in awe throughout the game. Locations from France, Spain and England are all superbly detailed and the game looks fantastic whether being played in docked mode or especially on the go. Performance is also smooth, although as this is a point and click game as you would imagine there isn’t exactly too much going on at once.
The game is fully voice acted which I must admit is something I didn’t expect going in. This both adds and subtracts from the experience at different times throughout your journey. Overall I would say that it is a plus, but there are a few voiced characters who I thought felt out of place and left me wondering if speech bubbles alone have been a better way to go. Music plays in the background throughout your journey and it strikes a great balance of being good, yet not distracting from more important things that are going on.
I was discussing the voice acting with a few fellow journalists who had issues with the volume of the voice acting but I must admit I didn’t encounter any issues. You can adjust the music, speech and sound effect volume separately in the options menu if you have any difficulties though.
Pretty much what you would expect from a point and click game and right in line with other Broken Sword games. The left stick moves an onscreen cursor where you can then select and interact with items and people. The right stick moves the camera from left to right if the scene you are currently in cannot fit into a single view.
You interact with items to gain more knowledge about said item and reveal clues. Likewise you talk to NPC’s to reveal new information, all the while looking to piece together all that you have learned to progress the story. As with any point and click game puzzles are present and while none are outright maddening, I did have to resort to a guide twice which was frustrating. For the most part the solution is logical, but there are exceptions.
A neat touch (literally) when playing in handheld mode is that you can interact with items via the Switch touchscreen. I found myself using this input method for the bulk of the game as while the controls were serviceable, it is not the most efficient method.
I really don’t want to talk too much about the story as with these types of games the narrative matters more than most. What I will say is that the game starts off fairly slow and takes a bit of time to get going. I could imagine back when the game was broken into two parts that the first episode was not looked upon as favourably as the second. That’s not to say it’s bad, just that the developer flexed their creative muscle a lot more in act II.
I did come away from the game expecting a little bit more in terms of twists and turns throughout the journey, but the game certainly has a strong final few hours and concludes in a way I think will satisfy fans.
Coming in at £24.99 here in the UK and $29.99 in the US, it’s a steep asking price. All in I would expect the game to take you about 10 hours but as with all point and click games there is very little replay value to be had. Other similar games like The Wardrobe, Detective Gallo and Oxenfree while admittedly shorter all come in between £9 – £16 and are arguably tighter experiences. That said, if you are a fan of the series or the genre I don’t think you will come away disappointed.
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse is a solid entry in the series. It looks beautiful and sounds great (aside from a few voice actors) throughout. A story that is slow to get in full swing and a few puzzles that could have done with a bit more thought aside this is a solid entry in the Nintendo Switch’s growing library of point and click titles. You may decide to wait for a sale, but definitely do not overlook this one!