A boss rush through a rotting Dark Age world
Perennial Order is a 2D plant horror boss rush from Gardenfiend Games. You explore a dreary land overrun by nature-infested horrors, talk to unusual NPCs to piece together the story, and take down eldritch bosses one at a time. The whole thing is drawn in a realistic painterly style, built by one artist and one animator using 2D Spine animation, with dark fantasy themes in the vein of Dark Souls and Princess Mononoke. Each boss has its own musical theme, and the interface stays minimal so nothing clutters the screen.
Fighting
Combat uses twin stick melee controls, so you aim your swings independently of your movement. Every hit you take kills you outright. You respawn right at the start of the encounter, which means you spend your time actually fighting instead of walking back through the level. Bosses come one after another around every corner, each with different mechanics to read and adapt to, and the fights lean Lovecraftian and terrifying. Because death costs so little time, the loop is quick: learn a pattern, die, try again.
Playing it with a friend
The game can be played alone or as a two player adventure in Bonded Journey mode, which runs the whole game from start to finish with a friend. Local and online co-op are both supported, and Remote Play Together is available if you want to play with someone who does not own it. Two players means two sets of eyes on boss patterns, but the one-hit-death rule still applies, so coordination matters more than raw damage.
Before you start
Expect a difficult game with punishing encounters; the difficulty tags are not decoration. The atmosphere is heavy and horror-themed, with eldritch, plant-corrupted imagery throughout. The story is told through the world and its NPCs rather than a long opening, so exploring and paying attention to what you find is part of the experience. If you plan to play co-op, decide up front whether you are going local or online, since Bonded Journey is the mode built for two.