Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure - Switch Review

Developed by indie game developing pedigree, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure offers a very unique take on traversal where the playable character moves across an interconnected grid. When Jemma sets out to leave the security of the village she grew up in, she sets out to see the rest of the world, uncovering new places and solving the problems of the locals. Moving out is a big deal in this world due to the outside world being affected by a strange static force. But as she uncovers more of this mystery, so does the plot thicken.

The Good

The first thing to mention is, unsurprisingly, the game’s unique traversal mechanic. Moving around on a grid, especially as key items move along, situated on either the same column or row as Jemma, makes for a plethora of puzzle mechanics. It almost feels like a Sokoban, but somehow, in a brand new way, it makes you rethink everything you may have thought possible. It takes a little bit of practice to wrap your head around, and it may cause a little bit of frustration at times, but as you get used to it all, the mechanic simply becomes second nature, and that’s a wonderful feeling.

Jemma is wonderfully sarcastic and blunt, while also having grown up in an overly gated community. This results in her being delightfully clueless about the strange happenings that occur while having little-to-no filter when it comes to voicing her thoughts. That’s not to say that she’s rude, quite the opposite; she’s sweet and polite to her friends and newfound acquaintances, she’s just not particularly shy to calling out the BS.

Lastly, Arranger has some wonderful accessibility options in terms of difficulty. The game asks you right away whether you’d like to have an arrow point you in the direction to go or if you’d like to progress the story, which, for a reviewer like myself, is a godsend! I won’t spoil too much, but there’s a lot you can do here to tailor the experience to your liking.

TL;DR

• New movement offers a wealth of new ideas
• A fun, relatable, no nonsense protagonist
• Wonderful accessibility options

The Bad

While the gameplay is unique, it certainly does get a little repetitive at times. Having one cohesive world where even basic traversal is a puzzle can get tiresome after a while, even if it’s simply to get from point A to point B. This is certainly a subjective criticism, as many players may revel in the constantness of the never-ending sokoban traversal, so we’ll call the one half a con.

The art is wonderful, that much is for sure, but the comic book-like depictions of the larger scenery make for a bit of disconnection between scales. I believe they mostly do the best with what they can do with this approach, but I often find myself losing the grandiosity of the situation when it simply reverts back to a grid-like playing field.

TL;DR

• Grid-based movement grows tiresome
• Art style affects grandiosity sometimes

Final Score: 9/10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure scratches an itch that many won't know they had. It perfectly encapsulates the dreaded word "unique" in a market where we see every third game incorrectly use the word. Making a game where your sole form of movement is akin to a pseudo-sokoban style is risky, but it's paid off in spades. Get ready for Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure to grace many top indie games on Switch lists.

Thank you for checking out our Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure Switch review, thank you to (via Popagenda PR) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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