Perennial Order is Gardenfiend Games’ first venture into game development, mixing a uniquely haunting visual and audio combo with ingenious gameplay decisions to form a marvelous world of plants, beasts and monsters to conquer.
Released on Sept. 6 and published by SOEDESCO, Perennial Order creates a challenging experience that takes full advantage of its flawless presentation to envelop the player in the wonders (and horrors) of nature.
Natural beauty
The game opens with the resurrection of the player character, known only as the Perennial Knight. Immediately, they are tasked with wandering through a bleak and decaying forest, slaying a formidable tree-like creature at the end. This eventful opening segment foreshadows the game’s strongest aspects: its presentation and world building.
Throughout the journey, the mood always remains consistently bleak, only matched by the sparse tones of hopefulness in the game’s hub areas, which are populated by non-player characters that both give insight to the state of the world as well as help the knight out with upgrades.
The arboreal-infused art style is what makes the presentation top notch. Areas are uniquely characterized through hand-drawn environments and NPCs, ultimately making every place the knight visits a distinct treat for the eyes. From lush jungles filled with life to the foreboding enigma of the abyss, Gardenfiend Games has created a world whose areas feel like walking into paintings.
Its art style also contributes to the suspense and horror elements of the experience, especially to the designs of the NPCs and bosses. Everything the player sees in the game is marked with a sense of dread to contribute to the ominous atmosphere, as well as a sense of wonder for the world that came before the events of the game.
The art style is not the only star of the show. The original soundtrack captures the desperation behind each hostile encounter as well as the slight flickers of hope that linger in the game’s plant-diseased world. Complementing the foreboding mood Perennial Order maintains, it evokes strong emotions with every new track.
A solid narrative helps to give purpose to the masterful presentation of the game. Every boss has some type of story behind them which the knight can discover as they explore and overcome their respective areas.
While some explanation for the state of the world is certainly given, there could have been more in terms of what happens to the knight directly to give more weight to the player’s actions and create a more satisfying ending.
Aside from the slight misstep in the story, Perennial Order proves to be an exceptionally well-presented experience that keeps the player in a sense of shock throughout its events thanks to its amazing artistic decisions.
Thorns in sides
If Perennial Order is like a painting, then its gameplay is a challenging mix of creating an effective playstyle with the tools at hand and avoiding as many mistakes as possible.
It takes only one hit for the knight to fall. However, the game gives them the tools they need to succeed. These include powerful basic charged attacks and holding Wisps, which allows them to either dash to safety or perform various special attacks called Instincts. This allows for the knight to choose between non-stop aggression and precise critical hits.
Speaking of precision, Perennial Order demands it from the player at all costs. Each dash is marked with the risk of not being offensive enough to shorten the lengthy boss encounters, and every use of Instincts can prove a fatal error that costs the player time.
The delicate balancing act of offense and defense with the limiting Wisp system contributes to the tension and strategy involved with the combat.
The game’s difficulty is further pushed forward by the boss battles, which are the main attractions of its combat system. They are incredibly designed within the bounds of the art style and a worthy challenge of the knight’s skills and Instinct combinations.
Most importantly, they are fun encounters that encourage various different strategies and setups to overcome. Even though one strategy can work for every boss, there are still many tactics to try out. There is even a boss rush mode that allows players to refight them as many times as they please, encouraging them to push their limits and master every aspect of the combat system.
All of this results in a tightly implemented combat system that is pushed to its absolute limit with difficult, creative and fun encounters that encourage players to learn and adapt.
Final thoughts
Perennial Order proves to be a good omen for Gardenfiend Games and their future in the industry, successfully combining a solid game direction with incredible audio and visual components. The art style is an enthralling take on nature’s unbridled wrath and shows what the developers are capable of. They also manage to make the boss rush aspect an amazing experience, with each fight being a significant development in the player’s story.
Even though its narrative leaves something to be desired, Perennial Order is certainly a game worth picking out for the bouquet.
Overall rating: 9/10 - Amazing
Length: 8-10 hours
Perennial Order is out now on Steam, PS5 and XBox Series X.
