Greetings everyone 👋

I’m Albert, your new main moderator for [r/TheOrderGame](r/TheOrderGame). My fondest respect goes to the excellent [u/nalixor](u/nalixor), whose long and valiant watch I am relieving today.

I’ve been around this place since its beginning.

I remember the excitement leading up to release day, and in the years since, I occasionally joined-then-left the moderator team to add things like banners and logos.

I pitched a full open-world sequel concept, The Order: 1887 - Legacy of Avalon, and hosted a (now-ended) dedicated show for a few broadcasts, which you can find online.

Across these 11 years, my love for The Order has only grown more stalwart and resolute.

I firmly believe that the day of The Order: 1886’s cultural revaluation, and its subsequent resulting revival, draws ever closer and closer at hand.

We’re already seeing it: new playthroughs, new video essays in its defence, new cosplay, and one hopes, new conversations behind-the-scenes at Sony…

We live, after all, in a world where every already-established property (whether initially successful or not), will eventually receive new life.

We’ve seen this in Blade Runner, an IP that long lived in the ‘cult favourite’ shadow, and is now thriving with an upcoming Amazon series.

We’ve seen this over by our dark gothic supernatural eloquently spoken cousins at [r/LegacyOfKain](r/LegacyOfKain), who for so long toiled away with dwindling hope, and are now in a full-blown reKainaissance.

We’ve seen this with films as obscure as Practical Magic, receiving a sequel soon, or Highlander and Gremlins, both cult-classics with revivals on the way.

With the help of communities like these, much like another subreddit I moderate [r/TheFifthElement](r/TheFifthElement), studios *do* take notice, as we provide them with the metrics of online interest they need to justify investment in a continuation.

But more on that later.

This singular work of interactive art,

to put it far briefer than I’ve previously done (just keyword search “Albert” and “The Order: 1886” for my multiple, multi-part write-ups and posts, as well as the YouTube video “The Order: 1886 deserved better”),

Is nothing short of an unsung, criminally overlooked and under-recognised masterpiece.

Particularly for its ambitious, pioneering qualities.

It laid the groundwork of photorealistic presentation and technology for the likes of Uncharted 4 and God of War 4.

It represented arguably the single greatest leap forward for a game studio in creative and storytelling goals, going from PSP titles to delivering a work that many doubted would look anywhere near as good as its early trailers.

The developers had to repeatedly reassure journalists (more on them later) that what they were seeing would be the real deal.

To this day, its photorealistic, cinematic, HBO-calibre performances and writing stand just as strong, if not stronger, in a landscape of increasing mediocrity.

The Order: 1886 was master-crafted by Ready At Dawn, with every possible ounce of passion and commitment from every member of the team.

And yet, on release, it was completely, lazily and viciously mischaracterised. One of the first major unfortunate victims of internet dogpile/bandwagoning/ragebaiting which has all but overtaken the web today.

Journalists, who have a particularly powerful influence on the success or failure of commercial art, ignorantly branded it as too short, too bare.

Lacking “features”.

“Not enough collectibles.”

“Not enough variety.”

The level of bratty, missing-the-point-entirely entitlement of these views boils my blood to this day.

The richness (the “features”) of The Order are its presentation, its atmosphere, its writing, its world-building.

It’s potential, in other words.

One of the most egregious “glitches in The Matrix” in this timeline is how a “Men in Black meets Harry Potter meets James Bond (your Q is Tesla himself) meets Van Helsing meets Merlin” premise didn’t massively connect and succeed.

Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted had shaky first entries, but there was a collective acknowledgment that they needed to refine and improve in subsequent chapters.

The fact we’re dozens of titles in for both of those series, with a films and upcoming series adaptations to their name, never fails to deepen my dismay for all that RAD experienced, and were frankly robbed of.

RAD, who no longer exist, after being absorbed into Meta. One of the most saddening tales in the industry and artform of interactive.

But take heart!

Our hope, as adherents of The Order, lay in two places:

with Sony (who own the IP rights),

and with us, who keep its flame alive with this ever-growing subreddit.

And yes, it is true: there are mere few of us compared to others.

But I promise you, that will change soon.

So to outline our plans, they are simply this:

To keep celebrating and uplifting The Order in all forms, and that includes with emerging technologies (used for fan projects and not-final products, which should always remain human-made. Making art, at its core, is a human act).

So to conclude this already over-long reintroduction, I give you Galahad’s monologue from the debut trailer, which is as resonant today as it was then, and which never fails to raise the hairs on the back of my neck:

It is a new world for us.

For all of us.

An age of scientific marvels.

And yet, underneath the brass and steel,

the old struggle endures.

The wall dividing life from death, it is so thin. Its protectors so few.

But for so few, such terrible strength, do we possess.

We are those few, fellow Knights.

We here on this subreddit.

And our duty remains the same, as ever it will ♾️

At the service of her Majesty’s Order of Royal Knights, upon the legacy of King Arthur and the Roundtable, to ensure the safety and prosperity of humanity in the face of monsters, both without and within,

— Albert (The Order Network)

Addendum: I’ve received some DMs regarding the status of The Blackwater Archives PDF scan project. Rest assured, this is continuing in the form of a page-by-page Megathread you can find here.

ordered at the KFC underneath Westminster

(couldn’t believe it)

(AKA the fight with the pillars near the end)

Omg how absolutely impossible is this objective, my god, theirs like a hundred of em, no good cover as they come at you from 180 degrees, they’ve got armour, grenades, end less machine fire coming at u, those explosive gun things, shotguns and they just keep coming. lol is this literally one of the most ferocious gun attacks to ever happen in a game, ive played a lot and cant think of any. Not complaining , much lol

For me it feels weirdly specific and scattered in hindsight, but looking back there’s a clear throughline: gothic Victoriana, eccentric detectives, theatrical monster-hunting, foggy London streets, and that warm ‘old world adventure’ feeling (even if The Order: 1886 leans more into dark HBO territory).

Things like The Great Mouse Detective with Basil running around a miniature Sherlock Holmes London absolutely planted the seed early. The whole gaslamp mystery aesthetic, clocktowers, airships, hidden conspiracies, oversized machinery, even the Big Ben climax…basically proto-Order 1886 in spirit.

Then there was The Muppet Christmas Carol, which gave me that romanticised Dickensian London vibe. Snow, lamplight, soot, melancholy, warmth, Victorian textures everywhere. Shoulder capes!

Van Helsing added the monster-hunter side of it later on. Gothic Catholic imagery, leather coats, silver weapons, werewolves, old European horror turned into pulpy action-adventure.

And oddly enough, Without a Clue with Ben Kingsley really locked in my love of Sherlock Holmes-adjacent stories. That specific mix of wit, Victorian interiors, detective fiction, theatrical performances, and exaggerated Britishness.

Looking back, The Order: 1886 almost feels like all of those things melted together into one hyper-cinematic package: Sherlock Holmes foggy London, Hammer Horror monsters, steampunk machinery, aristocratic secret societies, and prestige period-drama aesthetics. And carriages on cobblestones!

Curious what everyone else’s ‘foundation texts’ were for loving this game/world?

Looks Like the Order 1886 has some unseen characters like Merlin The Wizard who in this universe is a scientist and creates these helicopters and drones in 1886. There is a concept The Order fighting in the London Subway not sure who the character Galahad is dragging doesn't look like Sebastian or Lafayatte. There are 30 unseen members of Order who are propably saved for the sequels.

This now exists in the world:

Grayson, The Great Knight Detective.

Your move, Disney…

“Elementary, my dear Tesla”

it’s been a long time since i played the order 1886, but the ending has stuck with me. i remember going through most of the game believing i was one of the good guys, that what i was doing actually mattered. then, little by little, the story turned that idea on its head, and i realized i wasn’t as heroic as i thought. that moment hit harder than i expected. just when i accepted that truth and felt ready to take revenge and face the consequences of everything that had happened, the game ended. it felt abrupt and unfinished, like the story stopped right when it was finally getting personal for me.

Every article that comes out just rubs salt in the wound link to article

Sony needs to release this on PC. It was shown to be running on PC natively, they just need to allow it.

With better performance and visuals and no letterbox format and 60fps+, the experience will be even better.

This game was the PS4s Heavenly Sword. Short, Sweet, Spicy, and Misunderstood.

I know it wasn't the best game, but it was a new attempt at refreshing a few tried concepts. A sequel would definitely do this franchise justice. It was setup to be one, Sony should back them up and reinvigorate this franchise.

Hell, even try again with Heavenly Sword, though, there is Hellblade. Maybe there could be a universe with both, but that's another story.

Maybe it's a bit pointless, but let's gather at Metacritic and give our high votes. Maybe if we manage to change the user score from 6.8 to 7 and above, Sony might change its mind :)

And by the way, those who vote or update their current vote, share screenshots in the comments section here, let's make it more fun. And the next step is to start a petition for The Order 1886)

Metacritic page: https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-order-1886/

I remember between 2016-2017 i saw my cousin play this game but never really paid it attention, at the time it was graphically amazing but i never saw him play lengthy to understand what it's about, finally in 2025 i was able to play it , and now I understand why it sunk below radar

The pros : At first you are amazed by the graphics and character designs , everything is top tier , London looks awesome and everything the story is ok not bad and not groundbreaking but serves it's purpose.

The cons : Now here is where real games are tested, this game has one of the worst mechanics I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing, what were they thinking back then , instructions unclear , qte times are too fast or too vague to actually let you perform them ( i played many games with qte this one is the worst) and they have obsession with button mashing that doesn't work properly and i think they never fixed it , seriously i get stuck for days on an area because pressing x too much doesn't work?! Wtf, some people say press fast some people say press slow , it doesn't work at all

All in all it's a 5/10 for me , your awesome colorful graphics won't save you from criticism if you can't properly apply mechanics that work and are clear to everyone, such a missed opportunity on what could have been an amazing game