Testament: The Order of High Human is the newest RPG in the over-saturated genre, making a splash with an excellent combat system.
Testament: The Order of High Human is a new game from indie developer and publisher Fairyship Games. Fairyship is a small developer that started in 2017 with a team of just 15 people. They have released Testament: The Order of High Human and Shame Legacy this year. Shame Legacy was met with mixed reviews, but the difference in genre and tone of Testament: The Order of High Human gives the studio another chance to make a hit game. Despite coming out after Shame Legacy, Testament: The Order of High Human was the first project of a small team of 15 people who were working on their passion.
Set to release on June 19th Testament: The Order of High Human will come out on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The player will traverse the adventure RPG as Aran, a fallen immortal God who has to keep his brother Arva from destroying the world. Unreal Engine 4 was used to create a dynamic and interesting post-apocalyptic world in which to set the game. Testament: The Order of High Human aims to use swordplay, a bow for range and magical elements to keep the gameplay varied as the player journeys to protect the world from Arva.
Testament: The Order of High Human tells the story of the fallen immortal God Aran, who wakes in a mysterious cabin with the Nature Father, who pursues him through the forest after collecting some weapons and regaining some of his former power. He needs this as he has to journey to keep his brother Arva from destroying the world, Tessara. While the game clearly has a rich lore and history to be discovered, much of this is done through notes and journals rather than NPCs that can talk to Aran. The smaller budget of the game is much of the reason for this, although it does help to add to the sense of loneliness in the post apocalyptic world.
The Testament: The Order of High Human gameplay is very typical of that of many RPGs, with the player having a large area to explore as they learn about the world around them and become familiar with their surroundings. The game uses quests to lead the player through the story. These are all made available by completing the previous quest and are available to check in the Journal. This Journal holds a lot of information for the player to utilise as they move through the story. Each quest is broken down into the main section of the quest and the sub quests that tell the player what to do at that moment.
While being a simple method, it is an effective way of instructing the player on what to do in order to progress the story. This limits the times in which the player is lost in the world, not knowing where to go next. This is an often frustrating element of many role playing games that is, unfortunately, very prevalent in the genre. Testament: The Order of High Human alleviates this issue by having the sub quests be very direct in telling the player the exact next task they were expected to complete.
This comes with both positives and negatives to the gameplay experience. It can cause the player to be trapped on a linear path that leaves little room to explore the stunning world that has been created. While it is still possible to leave the predetermined path, it is not encouraged a great deal. However, it does remove much choice anxiety while playing. Rather than having a million options open to the play, the game allows for the story to be explored in a more linear fashion that isn’t too overwhelming, with hundreds of paths to choose from.
The location of the quests is marked to the player, not on a map as Testament: The Order of High Human does not have one, but instead through the compass that is displayed at the top of the screen. A waypoint is marked on a said compass that the player can follow to reach the next location. The lack of a map is another interesting choice from the developers. While it is nice to explore the world in a very organic feeling way, it does make it very easy to get lost. For those like myself, who can get lost on the way to my own fridge, I found I spent much of my time wondering why my surroundings felt so familiar.
This lack of a map also makes the fast travel in Testament: The Order of High Human very unique. Rather than selecting the point on a map that the player wishes to travel to, they have to instead travel to one of the bonfires they have lit. These are lit automatically by the player as they approach the area they are in. Once they have been lit, there are no limitations on fast travelling to the bonfires, which makes them a very convenient way to travel and a mechanic I became very fond of despite the lack of a map.
The journals also allow the player to learn more about Testament: The Order of High Human while they play. Notes found along the way are added to the story, as well as information about the different enemies faced throughout the game. The smaller enemy types and bosses are stored in the journal with additional information about them as well as additional characters, objects, notes and tutorials. These tutorials are particularly useful as the game has a lot of mechanics that have to be used in tandem. It is very helpful to be able to look back over them as a reminder of what you have learned previously.
As a part of the journal menu Testament: The Order of High Human has a skill tree called a Talent Tree that allows the player to build upon Aran’s abilities. These skills build very nicely and effectively. Many of the new skills are advancements in what the others have offered. While some add fun new combat combinations to the gameplay, others simply increase stats in a way that improves the gameplay with each addition. The skill points are gained frequently throughout the game, meaning progression feels constant, and the gameplay rarely feels stale while being added to.
The inventory system also exists within this menu which shows the items in the wheel of consumables. These can be used for crafting and to power up the player as they move through the world. As the foes become more and more powerful, the need to use these craftable items is a necessity. Other consumables include Life and Spirit. These are used to increase the health and magical abilities of Aran during moments of combat. Testament: The Order of High Human starts with only four of each available, with this maximum number being available to increase through upgrades.
Having only four Life consumables at the beginning of the game feels very limiting. While still learning the combat, it is extremely difficult to stay alive for an extended period. For those used to a slower paced, more strategic combat style, it will not be so hard to pick up. However, for those of us who have come from the world of hack and slash, the combat is a little harder to pick up, so the lack of Life crystals can be a little frustrating. As I progressed, this ended up being a positive. However, as I started entering the combat situations of Testament: The Order of High Human with far more caution, which was necessary in late game boss fights.
Testament: The Order of High Human uses an auto-save and checkpoint system to deal with player deaths. This means the player doesn’t have to worry about finding save points or dealing with too much backtracking. The first time I died in the game, I thought the checkpoints were very unforgiving. I had died on the last enemy in a section that had taken me nearly 20 minutes to get through. When I respawned at the very start of the section, I was beyond furious. However, it turned out that most of the enemies had remained defeated, and I could just walk up to a few that were left over in the final part and seek my revenge.
The combat of Testament: The Order of High Human is split into three main sections that the player can upgrade as the game progresses. Upon starting the game, the player must go through a brief chase sequence in which they are completely defenceless from a pursuer. It is after this section that the combat is introduced in the form of a basic sword which is the first of the 3 weapons in the game. The bow follows soon after, and the magic is added last, being the most complicated of the combat methods.
The sword comes with two basic attacks upon finding it. One of which is a quick, light attack that allows for swift movements in combat. This does not deal a huge amount of damage despite its speed. The heave attack is far slower but does a lot more damage with every swing. Using the Talent Tree, the player is also encouraged to firstly unlock the block that can be used against an enemy’s light attack. Most players will, therefore, have access to the block function right away. The sword has a lot of versatility and is a good starting weapon to allow the player to get used to the combat style of Testament: The Order of High Human.
The sword also teaches the player the combat style of Testament: The Order of High Human, as a mixture of light and heavy swings must be used in combat in order to keep the sometimes hordes of foes at bay. Along with the sword in melee combat, there is also a dodge function that allows a quick burst of speed to avoid incoming damage. This dodge has a very tricky learning curve. I found myself dashing into rather than away from enemies for many of the first encounters. However, once I had it mastered, I found it to be one of the most useful elements of the game.
The bow is also introduced to the player very early on. As the game’s main range damage, the bow is very useful. It also takes advantage of the Insight feature that Aran uses to find where enemies are on the screen. With the bow, this is particularly helpful as some further away enemies can be a little harder to find until they are highlighted by the Insight. The bow also shows some of the impressive abilities held by the AI, as many of the foes will hide behind cover if the player has broken cover and they know they are being attacked.
The bow encourages the player to take advantage of stealth to prevent this from happening. The stealth element of Testament: The Order of High Human means the player can get rid of the majority of enemies before then taking on the rest as they are noticed. There are also some foes that are far harder to kill with the sword than the bow meaning the stealth elements are vital when facing them, particularly in a larger group. The magic system is also introduced to Testament: The Order of High Human later and can be used both offensively and defensively. The player will have 4 quick spell slots available and a choice of 15 total spells to choose from.
Being built in Unreal Engine, it is no surprise that Testament: The Order of High Human is a graphically stunning game with few framerate issues. The character designs are also very interesting. In the opening of the game, the player meets Nature Father, a tree-like creature who is a stunning example of a unique and interesting character. Moments of the forest, the opening location, match this interesting style although there are some locations a little later in the game that can be less interesting and feel a little underdeveloped.
The voice acting in Testament: The Order of High Human is used to portray the story of betrayal. Many of the scenes require a lot of nuance to effectively display the emotions in many of the scenes, particularly towards the end of the game. This element of the sound design was very well put together, along with the chase music, which was particularly thrilling in the opening sequence of the game.
Testament: The Order of High Human is an excellent example of what Fairyship Games can do with the right project. The RPG elements of the game are very strong, and the gameplay has a lot of uniqueness that makes it a very exciting entry to the genre. While there are some aspects waiting to be improved upon, I can certainly see the heart that went into the story.
