Magicka

[h1]The Genesis[/h1] [hr][/hr][i]This game started a small gaming branch of its own of cooperative spellcasting and friendly fire. It created much chaos and fun. Packed with simple, but effective story. Colourful world and interesting characters. Game was a niche hit which nobody played and now it's dead as the entire branch it had spawned.[/i][hr][/hr] [h1]📺Outdated📺[/h1] And that is the bottom line! It's bit sad that such relatively new game aged so poorly. However, it has a laundry list of issues which makes it look old. Game needs a remaster to bring it back to a playable state to even be worth considering. Remake would be the best, but such cult hits rarely garner enough of an audience for such big projects. [list] [b][i]Constant crashing[/i][/b] [*]The biggest issue and the reason why it's being review bombed. A lot of such old, cult hit games these days are unplayable. This game is the same. It eventually will crash in solo while in multiplayer it's unplayable as crashes seem to intensify there. Even downloading mods who supposedly fixes those issues don't do a good job and crashing is still persistent. That is typical of mods to be of low quality, but it nevertheless makes this game pain to play. [b][i]Graphics[/i][/b] [*]This is an old game and resolution, assets are not scalled to for 4k. It's meant to be played on now increasingly outdated monitors which doesn't add to this game's charm. User interface, effects, models, icons. How levels are laid out as from level designer. It all feels so dated. So 2010s and what you could expect from smaller titles. While this is not the main draw to the game, it still adds up to the overall experience. [h1]🕹️Gameplay🕹️[/h1] While experimental and fun, it's very unbalanced and surprisingly shallow. Game doesn't have enough combinations which players could use. Those combinations are also rarely forced through environmental effects or enemies. As a result, players just default to go to spells which they spam all game long. There is no incentive to use specific spells and why would you. They are massively unbalanced. Some just do insane damage while others just tickle late game enemies. Enemies are no better. Initially they are fun and great. However, as a time passes they become unbearable. Trolls for example are fast, huge HP sponges which can kill you in an instant hit. Dwarves on the other hand come in numbers, are bullet sponges and have immunity to most spells. This forces you to shift your tactics for once in a game and to cheese the game out with some other spell. This all results in a single player which is very tiresome. You can beat the game alone, but it's much more difficult as your assistant is not that useful. Nor enemy amount and their hitpoints are adjusted enough. It was harder for me to complete same late game chapters in solo than I did with another person. In multiplayer however, you have to go out of your way to find someone willing to play that game. Then connect to it and experience frequent game crashes which will slow down your progress. Multiplayer then heavily depends on how experienced your friend is which can vary from liability to God-like. This game has very little middle ground. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3448468187 [h1]📋Writting📋[/h1] Game's humor hits the spot. It's simple, there isn't too much of it and it landed well with me. It's a mix of references, ongoing in game jokes, silly character traits and hilarious conversations with NPCs. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3448455643 Game has tons of references from any gamer like thing. Games workshop to Lara Croft, Castlevania Vampire hunter or dead mooses everywhere from King's Quest. You want references? This game has you covered! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3448457652 I enjoyed ongoing jokes like Vlad not being a vampire while he obviously was and game making in the end as a big reveal. Or how we were given simple tasks to talk to with various NPCs only to end up battling them due to no fault of our own. Game cleverly subverts player's expectations like with 300's this is madness reference. I liked going through the story and it was a charming little adventure. [h1]More Hassle than it's worth[/h1] [hr][/hr][i]Genre which it had spawned is dead like the original. This game has a lot of soul, but is painful to play. I would recommend looking to Magicka 2 or newer, similar games as there is quite a few of those with different takes on an idea. This game had aged incredibly poorly from technical side and crashing to poor gameplay or primitive graphics. Outside the humor, it just doesn't justify going through all the trouble of arranging play sessions and enduring constant crashing in order to enjoy this old game.[/i][hr][/hr] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Calicifer/discussions/0/599663123959612116/][i]Calicifer's Reviews[/i][/url] [quote]If you are interested reading full review or want to discuss something with me, please follow the provided link. I don't allow endless discussions under my reviews. You will be warned and then your comment will be deleted with my final say on the matter.[/quote]