Testament: The Order of High Human happens when you go on a bender and forget to take Advil and a Gatorade the night before. From a 15-person development team at Fairyship Games comes a game that I’m still reeling from. It’s not something I expected to feel so hostile towards, but I’m sitting here after 30 hours and feeling like I’ve done something wrong. In some instances, you can see the potential of what the developers were attempting to do, but it quickly resorts to feeling like another shot of vodka you didn’t want at the bar.
Testament: Order of High Human is a first-person action RPG in which you play the king of the High Human, a race of immortal humans tasked with spreading the cult of Light and fighting against the forces of Darkness. Betrayed by his brother Arvar, King Aran has lost his powers and now finds himself among mortals, forced to fight to become as strong as he once was and defeat the Darkness— a simple premise and one that doesn’t provide any satisfaction.
Testament: Order of High Human falls flat
What blows my mind in a game where combat is one of the most extensive systems, I’m surprised there are so few ways to go on the defensive against enemies. There’s no way to dodge an incoming attack or even counter an enemy.
Combat isn’t necessarily the worst, but it’s wildly repetitive, with the same combos quickly leaving you wishing for more to do. It all boils down to being super predictable and barebone in a year where we’ve gotten multiple games where combat offers some of the most engaging moments. Strikes and slashes are essential, and hitting enemies never feels satisfying. Then, your character has a set of abilities that.
I hope that adding ranged combat with a bow available might shake up the monotonous gameplay elements. For a time, things feel good as you face ranged enemies in the sky and just-out-of-reach places. Several ammo types exist, including ricochet, passthrough, and explosive arrows. However, this isn’t optimized for the gameplay you’ll be working through, as often you’re not in the right environment to utilize the ammo types to succeed.
Given your character is an immortal type with access to several avenues of magic, you would want spells to have some punch to them. Sadly, this isn’t the case as Testament: The Order of High-Human limits your spells to basics like fireballs, lightning strikes, and healing spells. Unlocking more powerful abilities warrants experimentation. Later when they’re unlocked by given casting times, you’re left relegated to sticking to melee combat to progress. Sadly it rarely gets better on the gameplay side, as it ends up having you spam attacks.
Testament: The Order of High-Human feels like the developers took on far more than they could during the development cycle. Making video games is no easy task. Instead, it takes a Herculean feat of strength to get to the finish line these days in a volatile market. Perhaps, the studio should have inflected on its limitations with a stable of 15 developers to play to their strengths rather than place everything they have on one project; biting off more than you can chew rarely pays off.
The developers flew too close to the sun
Not that the game doesn’t try to show that it has something to say. However, none of this succeeds in being even vaguely interesting, not only because of the poor quality of the voices but also because of the quality of the writing; it feels like fanfiction in the worst way. You can create a fantastic world with fantastical characters, but none of it means anything if there’s nothing narratively interesting to bring players in.
The underlying problem with Testament: Order of High Human seems like the studio wanted to do much more than it currently can. Lasting around 25 hours, you can add an extra ten hours with sidequests, but they rarely are worth doing.
Testament: The Order of High Human suffers from combat fatigue; I will give credit where it is due — the game’s puzzles are challenging but fun and the highlight for me. Even though it’s likely something you’ve experienced before, these sections are a good mix of platforming and critical thinking.
Verdict
Testament: Order of High Human shows the studio has a lot of ambition, but without channelling that energy, the result is this game. Aside from the puzzles and platforming, there isn’t much to enjoy here, with combat being a slog that never picks up steam. Pair that with a world that feels so generic it’s been done several times over, and you have a product that feels like it’s from a bygone era.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
