The Kingdom of Gluttington is under attack! The evil witch Hysterica has poisoned the once sweet waters of the land with sour lemonade and it is up to you- Sir Eatsalot- to save the kingdom from this sticky fate. Will the quest be a sweet treat or will it leave you with a sickly taste in your mouth? Find out in my Sir Eatsalot Switch review.

To note, a review code was provided by the game’s developer.

Handheld Only

Sir Eatsalot (SEA) was originally released as a PS Vita exclusive and is where I first heard of this endearing game. Since Nintendo allowed handheld only games to be released on the Switch, the developers at Behind the Stone got to work porting the game over. In that sense SEA is totally unique on the Switch. It’s one of the few indie titles I’ve played that uses most of the Switch’s features. To regain stamina you have to tap the delicious treats on the screen. To steer your boat in the game, you have to tilt the Switch left and right and to clear obstacles in the game you have to swipe on the screen.

In my opinion, I think Behind the Stone should be applauded for going all in with their Switch port. Much like they did with the Vita version. However, because of the use of the screen the game can only be played in handheld mode and not docked mode. Therefore, it’s a perfect game for the new Nintendo Switch Lite but fans of playing on their TV might be a little annoyed. Furthermore, there were some issues with platforming in the game which wasn’t helped with it using the Switch’s touch screen.

A ‘Slow-Paced’ 2D Side-Scroller

SEA is described by the developers as a ‘slow-paced 2D side-scroller’. In all honesty this is a fair description of the game. After all, you are playing as a chubby knight tasked with saving a kingdom. However, sometimes he moves a little too slowly. This is most noticeable when you have to backtrack through some of the world to open doors or complete quests. He does have a sprint, which you can do by double tapping the direction you are walking. However, this is linked to your stamina, which always seemed to run out too quickly.

Platforming in the game was at best fine, with one section of the world been teeth grindly frustrating. Though it is a ‘slow-paced’ platformer, I don’t think it excuses some of the flaws of the platforming in the game. The jump never felt precise enough. It was like every jump I took was a leap of faith, hoping that I’d reach the other side of the gap.

Tie this in with annoying bear traps placed conveniently where you need to land and the lacklustre platforming becomes pure frustrating. Sure, you can tap on the bear trap to snap it shut and then jump over to the ledge. However, it was rarely ever that simple because you would have to tap on the screen to close the bear trap with your right hand. Then with your left hand double tap the direction you wanted to jump on the d-pad. THEN use your right hand again to press the B button to jump. Having to multitask like this often made a simple jump complicated because I’d have to make my hand into a claw to complete it. THEN there were sections where cheese bombers would be thrown-in to make everything even more annoying.

Cheese Bombers

Cheese Bombers are enemies which, you guessed it, throw cheese bombs at you. When they hit they stick you in place and the only way to get the cheese off it to swipe the screen. So this adds another little annoyance to some of the already irritating areas. The most annoying of which is the Mining Area. It has all of these problems, plus you have to do it all in the dark!

There’s is a carrot torch that can light your way, giving off enough light to illuminate your path. Nonetheless, there’s a creature that loves to steal your torch from you- leaving you in total darkness if you’re not quick enough to catch it. I know this is Behind the Stone’s first game but I really couldn’t believe that the platforming in SEA kept getting more and more irritating. It’s such a shame because I loved other aspects of the game.

Boss Fights

One of these aspects was the boss fights. Each boss fight was memorable and took a couple of turns to master. I liked them because they used most of the Switch’s features (like the platforming) however, I felt they were used in a relevant way to make boss fights unique and fun. The stand out boss battle was the jousting match against the Black Knight. Here you had to swipe and tap in different directions on the screen to parry and jump over the devious Black Knight’s attacks. It was the first point in the game that made me think ‘ahhh this is why its handheld only’. Up until then I could have easily seen myself playing the game docked with a Pro-Controller.

The battle was well designed, it used the Switch’s features and the character of the Black Knight was fun and memorable. I wish there was more jousts in the game because I enjoyed it so much. Sadly however, it only showed up in this one battle.

Delectable Art

The game looks fantastic in handheld mode. Monika Rider and her team of free lance artists have made one of the best looking indie games the Switch has to offer. The world of Gluttington looks so bright and each item of food looks delicious. It reminds me of watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when I was a kid. The food there looked too good to be true and my eight year old mouth watered at the thought of eating the delectable food in the factory.

The same can be said for the world of Gluttington. From its chocolate rocks, burrito stamina pick ups and fields of asparagus wrapped in bacon- everything in this game is stunning. 20 years after watching Charlie and the Chocolate factory it had my 28 year old mouth watering too.

Delicious Characters

The character design is one of the best I’ve seen in an indie game. Sir Eatsalot looks like someone who would live in this world. He’s cute and round and his belly grabbing and jumping animations are stunning to see. Especially since the animation is all done by hand. Then there’s the creatures of the world, which you can chart in your sticker book. They’re all ingeniously designed and again, look like the belong in this silly cartoon world. My favourite by far was the Pastry Pup. One- because he looks so cute and two- because he’s just an all round good boi.

There’s only one thing I didn’t like about the art design of SEA and that was the antagonist Hysterica. All of the other characters in the game looked unique but she felt a little too much of a Cruella De Vil knock off. Overall though, the art is stupendous!

Sir Eatsalot Switch Review

I was so excited to play Sir Eatsalot and I’m really glad I did. It’s a good and lengthy experience clocking in at about 8 hours to beat. The world of Gluttington is colourful, cheerful and fun to explore. It’s packed full of whacky and unique characters you’ll remember long after you’ve beaten the game. The best of which is Sir Eatsalot himself, a portly and lovable knight.

Sir Eatsalot is a platforming game and its platforming is the weakest part of the game. Being a handheld only game is commendable but it also makes platforming complicated when you have to touch the screen, control Sir Eastalot and jump at pretty much the same time. It’s made even worse by annoying obstacles that are thrown in your way and one area of the game being in total darkness.

Sir Eatsalot has nevertheless charmed me and I have enjoyed playing it and can’t wait to find out what Behind the Stone’s next project is. If you want to explore a unique world then you should definitely buy Sir Eatsalot. However, if you’re looking for a tight platforming experience I’d maybe give this one a miss.

Therefore, I’m giving Sir Eatsalot by Behind the Stone my rating of

What did you think of my Sir Eatsalot Switch Review? Will you be picking up Sir Eatsalot? Let us know over on Twitter or come and join us on the SIF Discord server. Or why not check out our Developer AMA with Behind the Stone.

Like this: Like Loading...