After all these years, I still haven’t managed to learn how to play games on a smartphone with a virtual controller. I would still rather use the physical ones. For me, however, mobile gaming is at its best when I don’t have to haul around something like this, and the advantages of the format are put to best use, and it’s in this fold that we find Jade Order.
Tortuga Xel offers a very comfortable puzzle game with excellent graphics rendering and absolutely extraordinary music. Added to the pack is a story of actual engagement, cutscenes and all. While that wasn’t what drove me to keep playing, it still provided a framework for everything I did, which also made more sense than “just” completing the challenge, as it also led to the story’s consequences.
The setup is simple and the developer manages the balance well, allowing the first few levels to get me into the concept, then adding more and more depth as additional layers are rendered. The levels are similar to a kind of labyrinth that the Goddess of Light must go through and fight many enemies to prevent darkness from taking over the world. But the problem is, enemies don’t stand still, to attack them you have to attack from the side or behind. Luckily, you can remove them in any order you like, and there’s also an “undo” button to make everything more user-friendly.
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The latter helps the game never feel too difficult, but has just the right amount of challenge throughout, with new enemies constantly presenting new challenges to me and forcing me to come up with new plans to figure out how to get through the 50 levels in total. Playing games on smartphones, in particular, is more enjoyable than any other format due to moving the protagonist and choosing which abilities to use to achieve success.
While the graphics themselves aren’t particularly advanced, I like the design, especially the color choices, which go a long way towards giving it a nice retro feel. I also think the Pixel 7 Pro I’m playing adds a really nice glow to the adventure and also enhances the music. If you don’t have good speakers in your phone, I’d recommend headphones because Jade Order sounds really pleasant, like the 80s, and you actually want to hear it.
If I’m going to complain about anything, I think it would be nice to have more level variety, since right now it’s just a variation on the same theme with new enemies. Since the game isn’t that long, it’s never been a big deal, but if Tortuga Xel is going to make a sequel, it’s going to be needed.
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