Defiance Game Studio wrote:It's like Sid Meier's Pirates... but with Mages. And Permadeath. And no pirates.
Pirates had permadeath as far as I can remember. But anyway.
Comes out in Early Access with about half its planned features in two days. So let me talk a bit about it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5064 ... mage_Rises
Trailer - Steam NextFest 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qSbSxh ... XVyolQO3wj
A more accurate way to describe it would be turn-based Mount & Blade. Easier still would be to say 4X like Master of Magic, but with the wizard represented in the world and moving around, as opposed to abstracted into a handful of spells. I would say you could see this game as the REAL Master of Magic sequel, with complexity added in many areas that bridge the gap between 4X and CRPG.
Note that it's not an RPG at all since it doesn't feature roleplaying. Even traditional CRPGs have more roleplaying than this. What it is is basically a strategy game. A turn-based strategy game. That is all.
Nevertheless, the programmer(s) are doing their darnest to deny the game's real DNA, and keep harping on that they are making an RPG. They've gone as far as to create a mock Gold Box cover for their game.
This is what the real Gold Box covers looked like:
So to an ignoramus, the two things seem identical. However, you see where it says "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" in huge font at the top of the real box? That's one of the MAIN SELLING POINTS because it means the rules were designed by roleplaying authors, not stupid programmers. And you see the other line at the bottom where it says "Forgotten Realms"? That's ANOTHER MAIN SELLING POINT, which means that the setting is an official RPG setting designed by RPG authors over decades and not some garbage pseudo-setting designed by some dumb programmer in a weekend. It is THESE TWO ASPECTS that made the Gold Box series great, as I will explain at length in my upcoming Pool of Radiance VGART essay, and Archmage Rises is missing BOTH OF THEM and the only thing it gives in return is a stupid mockup that completely misses the point of the original. Instead of AD&D we get "Advanced Pen&Paper Inspired" and instead of Forgotten Realms we get "A New Kind of RPG" when the game isn't RPG at all.
So fuck the stupid programmers and their stupid misunderstandings and pretensions, and let's talk about the game as it really is. Does it look worth playing?
Well, the graphics are bad, the art is meh at best but mostly bad, the trailer is terrible. It's so bad it's unwatchable. I couldn't even finish it.
The "Plays best on Alienware" sticker at the bottom of the site is hilarious.
And of course it's been in development "for 9 years" lmao.
So really everything screams garbage, except... the feature list. Which is damn impressive.
Here are the PLANNED features, i.e. stuff that won't be in the release in two days, but will be in the final game about a year from now:
- More content/lore that can be utilized by our world generation system
- 144+ more character creation starts
- Much deeper and involved dynamic quest system
- More robust world economy system, including founding a town and constructing buildings
- 13+ win conditions based on Wealth, Scholarship, Power, Politics, and Relationship
- Item and equipment crafting and enchanting
- Unique legendary creatures to hunt
- Research and discover hidden artifacts left by great people of old
- Hobbies like Toy or Firework crafting
- Bounties, crime and punishment systems
- Kingdoms, Kings, and royal edicts which change the game world
- NPC rivals to ally or destroy
- Factions like the Conclave or Renegades to join, rank up, control or destroy
- 7 Noble houses to ally or defy
- Fully developed Mage Tower building system with 30+ room types
- Expanded NPC interactions, including romance
- 8 more races of monsters to combat
- 50 rebalanced spells, each with valuable upgrades to research
- Army battles
- More items, weapons, armor, spells, etc
- UI improvements and optimizations
- Mounts that you can ride and bring into combat
Looking at this list without looking at the trailer at all, this sounds like the best fantasy 4X ever. So it's certainly worth a try. Maybe the bad art and obvious bad dramatic sense (going from the crappy trailer) won't get in the way of the strategy, and the game might be good. If anyone gives it a try, I would appreciate a stream and some impressions. I'd give it a try myself if I didn't have four real RPG campaigns to run, a fifth one to launch, and a real RPG-4X hybrid game to continue developing and bring out of Early Access.
If the reports are good, I will play the game a year from now once all the features are in.
Early Access starts April 24.
