EXORDER Review for Nintendo Switch

Exorder is…not normally a game I would purchase for myself. Considering it’s in the genre of strategy RPG, a genre that I’m not particularly fond of, I was a bit apprehensive upon first picking up the game. So the question for me became “Is this game good enough to get past my preconceived biases about the genre?” I’ll let you guess by the end.

Exorder is a game developed by rather small developer, Solid9 Studio, and released on March 19^th, 2018, with a Nintendo Switch port coming later this month on October 16^th. The game, as previously mentioned, is a strategy RPG, with the goal of traversing across a map with a select group of units, fighters with health, attack, defense and abilities unique to each class. Scattered across the map are a series of buildings, including enemy huts, houses, fountains, taverns, and castles. Huts continuously spawn enemies until they’re neutralized by certain units, such as guards or Queen Beryl. Houses offer healing to the unit standing next to them for each turn and income when captured, but they can also be recaptured by the enemy, so be cautious. Fountains offer continuous healing each turn as long as the unit stands next to them. Taverns are used for the recruitment of soldiers. As long as a unit stands next to them, you can select the tavern to bring up a list of potential allies. All of them cost gold, which you get by slaying enemies and from house income, but they are well worth it. Once they spawn in, the allies can be directly controlled to attack the enemies and deal more damage than you would otherwise, allowing the possibility of complex strategems to succeed in the missions.

In terms of the actual combat, it’s rather simple. You attack an enemy, and then they counterattack with damage overall weaker than their standard attack. If a unit’s health reaches zero, they die. The game ends when the objective is accomplished, or if Queen Beryl or another important character dies. The objectives are rather varied as well, such as capturing a certain building, defeating an enemy commander, surviving a certain amount of turns, defeating all enemies on the map, or even an escort mission, all done in the game’s story mode. Consisting of 12 chapters, the goal is to guide the queen Beryl through an ongoing war with the Federation after a falling out with her estranged brother Tristan as a result of a competition for the throne. The overall story is rather simple, but the tale of brother and sister reuniting to save a kingdom is somewhat heartwarming, helped by the game’s presentation. The game looks and sounds good for the Nintendo Switch, with varied and eye-catching character designs, nicely detailed and gorgeous environments, and fluid animations. The music is admittedly rather sparse, as much of the scenarios play roughly the same track, but it is a pleasant piece to listen to, despite not befitting the battle atmosphere. There is a one second track for that though, so it’s not a huge issue. The game also has voice acting for Queen Beryl, which is fine. It fits the regality and coarseness of the character well, but at times it sounds a bit flat and uninterested, leading to some dull exposition. Overall, it works well enough. The campaign itself is admittedly a bit short, but the levels offer a consistent level of hard, yet fair challenge that will make you work for your victory, and the campaign does end on a high note.

EXORDER also has a few other options, those being an online multiplayer (Thank You!), a challenges menu to complete certain maps with special conditions, local multiplayer, and even achievements. While the game doesn’t necessarily warrant the purchase of Nintendo Switch Online by itself, it is fun to battle against other players using strategy to overcome their armies, and this is where a good majority of the game’s fun comes from. I should stress, however, that the game is not for everyone. Not everyone can get into the strategy gameplay, and I’ll admit it was a big hurdle for me to get used to since I’m not an avid player of the genre. The campaign could also stand to have a bit more meat to it, and the gameplay itself is a bit simplistic for a strategy game, not having some of the more complex elements of games like Fire Emblem. That being said, if you want a good strategy game for a cheap price, there’s not much wrong with picking this game up, although I wouldn’t say it’s especially unique for the genre.

8/10

Check Out the EXORDER Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer:

Exorder is currently available on Windows, Mac and Linux via Steam for $12.99 USD and supports English with subtitles available in Polish. The game will be available digitally for Nintendo Switch starting today, October 16, 2018, for $12.99 and require Nintendo Switch Online for multiplayer. The Steam price will drop to match the console price point of $12.99 USD / €12.99.