By Aeth Finch

Over the past decade, many more souls-like games have come into their own. Souls-likes, based on FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series, offer players extremely hard and unforgiving gameplay. Many have shown they’re willing to take on the challenges – and they’re not all sadists..

Perennial Order should be putting on your radar. The developers describe it as a plant-based boss rush game. You are a perennial knight, a knight made of bone and plant with only a small amount of flesh and rusted armor alongside you. You don’t know why or how you were created, but you’re here due to an order from an unseen voice to kill the multiple beasts like the Fallen Rider and Towering Dyad. These are destroying the once glorious and peaceful world that was created originally. 

With only a sword in hand, the controls for the game are pretty simple. Because you are made out of only plant and bone, the most hits that you can take is, well, one. The easy controls flow with the high risk gameplay perfectly, yet there is no room for error. And with all the different ways the bosses try to attack you, you might suffer 100s of deaths along the way. But that’s part of the experience. You shouldn’t expect to be able to defeat all bosses quickly. They do pack a punch at times and can feel very unfair. You reward is defeating them when others, well, will give up.

One of the big things about Perennial Order to me is the uniqueness of the bosses, both in visuals and in combat. One boss could look like a spider, who summons smaller spiders to fight, the next could be a massive frog chasing you across a long bridge, while another could be a skeleton playing an unfair game of chess with you, having the pieces be able to move and attack you on their own. The variety from boss to boss is what makes the game fresh, consistent, and always wanting to go into one boss right after defeating another. 

Another notable thing: there is no big skill tree to upgrade, nor is there any form of XP. It feels as though the makers went with the idea that ‘less is more’, and therefore there is not really any major progressing system of leveling up and getting more power while passively playing the game. The closest there is to this is charms, which are abilities that could, for example, lead you into the direction of the next boss. But these are only obtainable from either completing hidden tasks like side quests, or slaying bosses. When a boss is defeated, the area nearby slightly changes based on the victory. This gives the game life, and it makes me feel that I am actually saving a world heroically. It leads to a connection between the player and the character.

The watercolor art style feels like a match made in heaven for this type of game as it compliments the ever-changing atmospheres, from cold mountains to a far deep abyss to a half-abandoned camp, everything meshes together beautifully and flows into boss fights perfectly. It also gives immense detail to all the big enemies in their areas that makes them stand out from each other. Distinguishing himself the most is The Grandmaster. Based on the skill level of high-level chess players, the area you fight this beast is on a chess board, even the pieces you fight are pieces that move and attack by themselves in a way that respects how they are used in chess. To top it all off, you fight the skeletal giant, who leers over you, on the top of a mountain. 

The game is made so that you might happily get lost in the world just looking around. You’re also encouraged to look around, not only find hidden side quests, but also to interact with all the unique NPCs that make the lore connect seamlessly. An example of this is how the characters state how they weren’t prepared for any attacks due to the peace around the world. That peace lasted for decade after decade, and that the attacks that did occur were happening too quickly to be able to fight back.

On top of the art design, the music feels like it was composed in an old orchestra, passed down from generation to generation. To me, this is a very high bar, especially for an indie. But we’ve seen several indies like Celeste and Outer Wilds with soundtracks equal to or better than triple A studios, and this game is no different. Just check out the dark tension that lead to the melody in the masterful Master of the Bloom.

Now there are some downsides to this amazingly crafted experience. When taking on a boss, you can’t see how much health they have left, so battles might feel like they last pretty long to the player. And you don’t know when it’ll be over. It’s like you’re in limbo of fighting for a while. Another issue is that it takes a pretty long time to travel between places to get to bosses, and there is no fast travel. I get that because of the long travel time, the wonderful environments really get to flesh out. But it can be tiring to have to go such a long way just to fight a different boss after getting beat up by one.

In general, Perennial Order is a glorious game. While the bosses did make me frustrated at times, it was generally a pretty fun time due to the challenge it gave me. I’ll always remember how I was stuck on the chess fight for at least around 100 deaths. I’d recommend Perennial Order for its simple yet beautiful challenges that could last up to 20 hours before it’s completed. Just remember, if you do play it, don’t say I didn’t warn you about the bosses!

Intern Aeth Finch is a senior at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn.

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