Review: Arranger makes you rethink every action

Arranger: A Roleplaying Puzzle Adventure is a game that I like the mood and concept of, but feels rushed. Some of the interesting mechanical features introduced by the protagonist’s unique ability aren’t fully explained or explored. This means that even though the mood is great and the concept is cool, it can feel unsatisfying due to the execution.

Gemma is strange! She was abandoned outside a walled village as a baby. She was raised by the people there and soon discovered that when she moved, people and certain objects moved. She could also essentially teleport by walking into walls and coming out the other side. This is done on a sort of tile system. She is convinced that the answers lie outside. In search of answers about herself and her path, as well as in the hopes of finding a place where she belongs, she sets off on an adventure.

It is best to think of arrangerThe world of is similar to a giant sliding puzzle, only you’re not trying to move tiles into the right place to create a picture. The easiest part is getting Jemma from point A to point B, as sometimes immobile objects or ones that can’t pass through walls will block your way. More challenging tasks can include getting a person to a specific location, jabbing a sword at a static enemy to finish them off, placing an item on a switch, or moving multiple items next to each other so they connect. Things gradually ramp up and build on each other, with different concepts coming together to clarify situations in specific cities.

arranger can be frustrating at times! This isn’t because the puzzles are challenging. It’s more because the abilities aren’t always explained well, if at all. Furniture & Mattress never tells you that Jemma’s ability to shift and move the world allows you to move objects out of buildings and into larger areas or other locations. This first happens in the first 15-30 minutes, when you have to go into the Mayor’s house. There’s a switch in an empty room. If you don’t realize that the tiles in the house are changing, gradually pulling in tiles that Gemma has walked on from outside, you might not realize that you can retrieve Janitor Foffy’s broken ladder parts or other furniture from other locations and move them in to flip the switch and progress.

This problem of not explaining that “Jemma can do that too” becomes a recurring problem. Sometimes it’s fun and narratively interesting! Once Jemma finds a place for her things in the introduction, you actually have to “move” her from the flophouse she’s staying in to an empty house. This may involve new ways of moving certain types of objects that can come into play in crucial situations. I learned that you can merge certain adjacent objects together by, well, activating the quest arrow option in the menu and pushing things together. When it came to fishing, I had no idea how to get this to work for the attempt since I was just moving and had to relearn it for a quest.

While it’s frustrating, and has led to a few situations where I thought I might have messed up a boss fight so badly that I needed to save and quit, it can also be satisfying when you get it right, or at least knowing you’ll never have to go through that kind of challenge again. Arranger, Because of its length and design, a new type of mechanic is usually only used in a few rooms. One of my favorite mechanics was the introduction of portals. I wish they had been used more often! It introduced some fun concepts, especially in terms of reaching new rooms, but it only appeared extremely briefly in a single section.

Admittedly, there were a few times in arranger when, in order to do things right, I stumbled upon a solution by accident without preparing for it or learning how the mechanics work. Likewise, there were at least three situations where I brute-forced my way to a solution. I guess that can be reassuring for some! Especially since people can also use a help function in the menu to “solve” any problem in an area that turns into a problem. However, I was also a bit disappointed when I completed an area without doing so on my own.

The fact that the arranger Jemma’s adventure is told quickly, even if you do stray from the beaten path for some minor side quests (some of which aren’t well explained or tracked by the tracker). It’s a shame because the concept is so fun. Jemma is a cool character! The situations she gets into are interesting. Some touch on political or societal issues we deal with in our own world, but in a clever way that isn’t intrusive. However, we just don’t have enough time for many of the situations. I felt this was especially true with everything after the second town. It seemed like there should have been more opportunities to explore or explore the area a bit.

I really appreciate Arranger: A Roleplaying Puzzle Adventure and everything it sets out to do, as the concept is great, the story is entertaining, and some of the puzzles are thought-provoking. I just wish it wasn’t so rushed, concepts were better explained, and new puzzle elements weren’t dropped as quickly as they’re introduced. You don’t have time to appreciate everything Jemma can do, or the situations around her, and you stumble across new abilities or possibilities. If there had been a few more puzzles and a framework, it would have been a stronger game.

Arranger: A Roleplaying Puzzle Adventure comes to Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 5 and PC on 25 July 2024.

6

Arranger: A Roleplaying Puzzle Adventure

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure tells the story of Jemma, a small-town outsider on a journey of self-discovery. When she ventures out of her stiflingly comfortable confines, she finds an inspiring world – but also one ruled by fear and a strange, immobile “static” force. Can she break through a culture of stagnation and find a place within it where she fits in? Switch version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for review purposes.

I appreciate Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure and its objectives because the concept is great and some of the puzzles are thought-provoking.

Food for thought:

• I really enjoyed the bird section, especially when you got to the control method. It’s one of the more clever puzzle options.
• There are some really funny and punchy lines throughout. The humor is always well executed.
• It autosaves, especially before boss fights, which is helpful! You can start a fight over with a restart if you feel like you messed one up.