Jade Order
- May 27, 2022
- Tortuga Xel
Get on SteamReturn from exile and restore the power balance of a secluded land. Play as an ancient warrior that has been tasked to light the sealed beacons of its millenary Order. Avoid the impending doom and complete 50 different puzzles as you aid the Jade Goddess.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features impressive pixel art and smooth animations, creating a visually appealing experience.
- Gameplay is straightforward yet strategic, with unique mechanics like blessings that add depth to the puzzles.
- The difficulty curve is fair, and the game is polished, providing a fun experience for fans of puzzle games.
- There are several user-friendly issues, such as the lack of an exit button and repetitive tutorial screens that detract from the experience.
- Movement controls can be cumbersome, requiring extra steps to confirm actions, which can slow down gameplay.
- Some levels feel linear and can railroad players into specific paths, making them less engaging.
- music9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its melancholic yet hopeful tone, enhancing the overall atmosphere with a retro soundtrack that complements the pixel art style. However, players express frustration over the lack of an option to disable music independently from sound effects, as the music plays consistently throughout levels and can become repetitive. Overall, while the music adds to the game's charm, the audio settings leave much to be desired.
“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.”
“Jade Order is a nice little puzzle game with nice aesthetics, some great pixel art, and an enjoyable retro soundtrack.”
“I just miss the option to disable music only, not all audio altogether.”
“You'll be hearing the music a lot since it plays consistently throughout each level.”
“The audio setting is a joke: 'enable or disable all sounds and music', on/off.”
- gameplay7 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a fair difficulty curve and smooth mechanics, making it easy to grasp quickly. Players navigate a grid to defeat enemies and activate beacons, with the introduction of unique blessings adding strategic depth. Overall, the gameplay is straightforward yet enriched with evolving mechanics and stylish elements.
“The puzzle difficulty curve feels fair, and well-implemented undo mechanics smooth the gameplay further.”
“The gameplay is straightforward: to advance to the next stage, you must navigate your hero across the grid and eliminate enough enemies to light up the beacon.”
“While the gameplay is deceptively simple, there are a few cool touches that add an extra layer of strategy in the form of the blessing power-ups that give you unique advantages over the enemies.”
“It's quite easy to understand once you get into the groove, which is pretty quick due to the deceptively simple gameplay.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their aesthetic coherence, featuring appealing pixel art and a retro soundtrack that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the visual style, which complements the puzzle mechanics and contributes to the enjoyment of the game.
“Aesthetically coherent, it offers a fun experience for fans of the genre, especially as it's very reasonably priced.”
“Jade Order is a nice little puzzle game with appealing aesthetics, great pixel art, and an enjoyable retro soundtrack.”
“Puzzle + ambient graphics/music + 50 stages = destroy monsters and collect the treasure within the move limit.”
“The graphics are outdated and lack the detail expected from modern games.”
“The visual style feels bland and uninspired, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“Character models are poorly designed, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- story4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story is minimal and primarily presented through a few screens before and after levels, with some players noting that it could have been better integrated throughout the gameplay. The repetitive cutscenes and tutorial screens during retries detract from the overall experience, making the narrative feel more like an afterthought.
“The intro story could've been better spaced by sprinkling the slides between intro area levels, but it's workable.”
“There's some fluff serving as 'story', a few screens before the first level and a couple after the last, but replaying the level plays the cutscene every time and it also shows tutorial screens for each retry.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly when aiming for all medals, as the noticeable delay between arriving on a tile and the appearance of movement options can be frustrating.
“The delay between arriving on a tile and movement options appearing is noticeable enough to be annoying; going for all medals is a lot more tedious because of this.”
“Grinding feels excessively repetitive and lacks any meaningful rewards, making it a chore rather than an enjoyable experience.”
“The amount of time required to level up is absurd, leading to a frustrating grind that detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
