The Order: 1886 Accessibility
A wildly inaccessible experience that Deaf/hoh players and players with joint pain or limited mobility may be unable to play.
Score
5.8 out of 10The Order: 1886 just might have the distinction of being the most disappointing game I’ve ever reviewed, though I can’t say I’m surprised as it was released in 2015 and just five years later, we’re in a whole different era of game accessibility. This also may be the most out of date review I’ve done but I’m working through a backlog 769 games deep and they need reviewing.
Why is The Order: 1886 so disappointing? Because I’m a sucker for pretty games and this one is stunning. Yet at every turn, I found a new barrier to my ability to play or enjoy the game.
Let’s start with the subtitles. The size is the obvious issue, but in this game where there are many interactive cutscene-style moments, the lack of speaker labels is a massive problem.
The next issue is the lack of a compass bar or minimap in an open world game for displaying enemy locations. Hell, even when the enemy is right in front of you, as shown above, you can barely see them given the art and lighting style of the game.
Then came the physical barriers…
Here we have the thumb dislocating required stick presses to run.
And here we have the world’s longest button hold.
And here is one of the very many QTEs that are too brief for me to even get the knowledge to press the button from my brain to my thumb. I don’t think I’ve seen this quick of a QTE in any other game.
And here is my personal favorite, the QTE that required precise aiming with the right stick followed by a quick button press also using your right hand and if you are a player fast enough to do all that with one hand, I want to meet you and learn your secrets.
All of this is a problem because, as a 2015 game, it’s not avoidable. There is no “accessibility” to speak of in The Order: 1886, so players like me who can’t play the game (even on easy) as is, will unfortunately be unable to play.
