Reviews by Heli N.
Fantasy
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Deadly tournament adventure... or not?, August 31, 2023Introduction:
"Magium" is an ongoing fantasy RPG text adventure game series, inspired by DnD, written and developed by indie game developer, Chris Michael Wilson. In the game, the player takes the role of a self-proclaimed regular guy, named Barry, who finds himself participating in a mage tournament on the continent of Varathia, pursuing his dream on becoming a mage.
Storyline:
The premise of the game, set in a fantasy medieval seems simple enough, if you rely solely on the oversimplified summary, yet as soon as the third chapter of the first book ends, the plot thickens.
The author has decided to structure the story like this: There will be 5 books as a whole, with each book consisting of 12 chapters. The chapters are released every 4-5 months, depending on the word-count and the branching routes. Here is a quick, non-spoilery summary of each book:
Book 1: Barry's group of unusual, diverse and powerful group is formed in the most unusual circumstances possible, with the exception of Kate. The book is battle-heavy, battles which are used to introduce new characters, both friends and foes of the group. Yet in spite of all this battles, the tournament goals are not announced until the end of of chapter 12, where an Uh-oh atmosphere is set. The group has to meet the king of the city-state like kingdom they are in.
Book 2: Welp! The group has found themselves in a predicament. They have to serve their sentence in the arena, similar to the gladiator arenas of Rome. The only difference is: instead of lions, bears or rhinos, this arena uses manticores, gryphons, ogres and many more fantastic beasts. After managing to pass this hurdle, after a difficult battle and a session of intellectually making fun of one of the sages, the God of Time appears during the time of the prophecy delivery to the group! Either make Barry look like a loser or defy that no-face so-called God!
Book 3: Congrats! Barry has managed to win the approval, alliance and teaching services of a 5000 years old evil elven spirit in exchange for the group's God assassination services. They are constantly insulted, called a circus troupe and overall weaklings-in-the-same-level-to-insects, yet that's but a small price to pay, for the God assassination teaching services of the great Arraka (she has a beef with the gods (≧▽≦). Oh, and remember, Barry is going to the rouge kingdom of Ollendor to wreak havoc (kill the mad king) in exchange for help in achieving the goal to pass the first round of the tournament. Towards the end, the group manages to get it, confront a plot twist and show their growth in skills against one of the increasingly beloved character, Eiden.
WARNING
Romance is not the focus of this story.
But I have to say that there are romance routes/options in this game too: the main one being Kate (endgame romance with natural progression through the books) and the others being: Rose (her natural beauty is the first thing Barry notices. Acts more mature than Barry),Leila (suffers from mutism since birth. Gets along with Barry fairly fast due to them having similar interests), Melindra (arguably the most similar in character to Barry. You can only have a friends-with-benefits relationship with her).
There's a LOT of lore and worldbuilding which the player has to read and keep in mind, not skip, if they want to solve the mystery of what the Magium is, before reaching chapter 11 of book 3.
The player engages with the story and sees the world through Barry's eyes, getting to feel everything that he feels, making use of the first-person narration. In the first two books, the pacing is just right, though in the third book, things feel a little rushed, especially in the chapters 5 to 8. There are no grammar errors to be reported.
The game's narrative is immersive and does not feel formulaic or cliche. The stakes of the game continue to rise as the story progresses, leading to a satisfying cliffhanger ending of each book, that feels both earned and surprising.
Gameplay:
1.The game is downloadable for free on google play store. If you want to unlock book 2 and 3 for free, you can try to complete a number of achievements required, or buy the whole book for less than 2$. There is a dedicated section in the main menu the player can access to check their progress and hints provided from the writer. Credits to him for the hilarious names of those achievements.
2.You will need to make some calculations for the stat points that are granted throughout the books to pass or fail stat checks in different scenes. A failed stat check doesn't always lead to Barry's death. Don't worry! They lead to a major character's death instead :). The stats are part of a stat device Barry owns which enhances his physical, then his aura skills in Book 3, and makes use of the mages' magical energy. The stat device gets a "hard reset" in Book 3, either due to Barry's unrivaled stupidity at that moment, or by Leila's father, who makes the aura stats available. By the end, the stat device is used as a tool for Barry to cast spells like a true mage, albeit in a limited capacity.
3. Several save slots are available for the player to save the game whenever he wishes to, similar to the ones used in dashingdon.
4. You don't want to restart the whole game? There's no problem. There is an option for you to restart from Book 1, 2 or Book 3 specifically.
Replay Value:
Extremely high replay value due to the vast branching routes. You'll have to replay all three books at least 20 times in order to find every single dialogue, text flavor, combat scene available in it, by combining it with the different stat combinations and complete each achievement.
Final thoughts:
I had a blast playing this game! I recommend this game to fantasy and adventure genre fans who like a good challenge and achievement hunting.
Rating: 5/5 in IFDB rating scale
A Mage BBQ, August 31, 2023A Mage Reborn Book 1 is written by Adam Alamsyah and published by Hosted Games, one of the platforms where you can find some of the best choice-based games in the community. As for book 2, it's still in the process of rewriting. With that out of the way, let's continue with the review.
1. How would I rate this game storywise, gamewise and it's choice-based system?
Storywise (5/5)
Differently from what you'd encounter from other HG games, this one starts it's story by making the fate of the mage known from the very beginning. It makes use of the flashbacks the mage is recalling during their stasis state, in order to show to the player how things ended up this way. The romance and friendship moments are very satisfying.
Gamewise (5/5)
From the first flashback, the player is presented with the customary aesthetic customization options along with the magic area proficiency choices in the form of the gift they are given by the good old woman of the inn they are staying in.
While the relationship stats do exist, they don't play as much of a role in the way the other characters interact with the mage, as much as the choices you decide to make during the dialogues between them.
On the other hand, the "Other abilities" and "Magical Abilities" stats, do play a role on the combat scenes and "help scenes" where if you don't meet a certain threshold, some options will not be available for the player to choose. "Other Abilities" stats play a major role on the flashbacks where the mage is in the Parami court, deciding on how the mage is perceived by the other nobles.
Due to the nature of stories of the fantasy genres which include magic, each with their own take on it, there's a "Magical Codex" section which explains, in detail, the magic types/abilities along with the "World History" explaining the lore and worldbuilding.
Choices (4/5)
While there are choices which will increase or decrease the stats, there is a lot of "fake choices" too, of which I'm not fond of.
2. Which sort of players would you recommend it to? Those that have read my reviews, will have an idea of who I'm going to recommend this game to: fantasy genre lovers! I'd also recommend this game to those who seek good romance routes with an angsty ending (you will be reunited in book 2 don't worry).
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