So I tried out Jade Order and there are definitely some astounding work done for this game that makes it look so smooth and beautiful. But on the other hand, it doesn’t take two launches of the game to see where the developer overlooked such as some user-friendly issues.
Story
So in a nutshell, there’s a war going on between the Gods while humanity doesn’t care. The Jade Goddess is the one that controls life and light, so basically she’s the good god. Then there’s some Dark God of Death who wants to rule the world under darkness, yada yada. He catches the Jade Godess at a bad time then gains control of her light beacons which will eventually drown the world in darkness. Humanity still doesn’t give a ♥♥♥♥ at this point but then an ancient Jade warrior is revived and tasked with restoring the beacons. It sounds pretty metal so far, maybe it caught your interest but wait there’s more.
Gameplay
Basically you play on a grid-like playing field in which you can move at any of the four directions if there’s a space available at a time. There will be a set amount of monsters that will need to be slain.
I need to note that strategic positioning is absolutely needed here in order to beat the game as you can only kill monsters by attacking them from either the side or the rear. There are special types of monsters such as ones that straight up kill you if you move to a spot in front of them or others that move whenever you move.
There are special abilities that you can use in the later levels such as being able to teleport or even force an enemy to move to get an easy kill. It’s quite easy to understand once you get into the groove which is pretty quick due to the deceptively simple gameplay. There are bonus objectives for each level such as getting a treasure and beating the level under a limited number of moves. You can attempt to do these objectives at different times so I guess that’s cool. The game is quite forgiving by letting you retract your turns as many times as you want.
Graphics
The pixel art is incredibly detailed like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dude. The art designs of the world and creatures is impressive. The green-covered ruins under a cool full-moon night while abyssal creatures of the murky dark infest these lands. The animations are so smooth too, like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ the artist needs to get a raise.
Sounds
The sounds are awesome as well, they’re surprisingly crisp and ear-pleasing. The sound effects sound futuristic when you navigate through the menu, which you will because of some issues.
The music is amazing in how melancholic it sounds with the white keys playing while sounding hopeful with the trumpets in its call to action. You’ll be hearing the music a lot since it plays consistently throughout each level.
Issues
Okay, I’ve said some nice things but now it’s time to address the game’s quirks.
*No quit button – There’s no way to quit besides just closing the game through the window, as much as I’d want to keep playing, I would like to be able to get out just as quick as I launched.
*Some levels just railroad you – What I mean by that is whenever you start a level, there is a clear indication of where you should go. An enemy is blocking the top, another is about to move to your position, but there’s an empty space so go there. You move to the empty space and you could be faced with the same predicament again. It gets annoying especially when some levels have practically only one way to beat it and it can take you a while to figure it out.
Verdict
I’d say that Jade Order is a good, challenging game for people that enjoy strategic positioning as you move across a grid. However the game has some user-friendly issues that are annoying, but not game-breaking.
You can purchase Jade Order on the Steam store page HERE!
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