Lichdom: Battlemage

A beautiful and difficult action-RPG that rewards risk-takingthe complex magic system makes up for the bits that just arent worth playing over and over.

57%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, optimization

56% User Score Based on 1,473 reviews

Critic Score 65%Based on 9 reviews

Platforms

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About

Lichdom: Battlemage is a single player role playing shooter game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Xaviant and was released on August 26, 2014. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

Lichdom: Battlemage is a first-person caster that gives the Mage the spotlight in a way never before seen in games. With limitless magical power at your disposal and brutal enemies around every corner, victory hinges on a combination of skill and strategy. You must carefully craft a vast array of spells and learn to cast them in the heat of combat.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+15

Skip User Reviews

56%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,473 reviews

story138 positive mentions

grinding82 negative mentions

The spell crafting system is deep and allows for a variety of combinations, making combat feel unique.
The graphics and visual effects are stunning, providing an immersive experience.
The game offers a fast-paced combat experience that can be exhilarating when executed well.

The story is weak and lacks depth, making it hard to engage with the characters and plot.
Combat can become repetitive quickly, with limited enemy variety and linear level design.
The crafting system is overly complicated and poorly explained, leading to frustration for players.

story
586 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
60%
16%
The story in "Lichdom: Battlemage" is widely criticized for being shallow, clichéd, and poorly executed, often revolving around a predictable revenge plot. Many players find the narrative unengaging, with a lack of character development and numerous plot holes, leading to a sense of disconnection from the storyline. While some appreciate the voice acting and occasional humor, the overall consensus is that the story serves merely as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling driving force.
- “The story is intriguing enough for me to keep playing.”
- “The story is good enough to justify the carnage, so that's fine.”
- “Great game with an interesting story that offers a variety of playstyles.”
- “The best the campaign can do is provide a minimum viable sequence while also wasting your time with minimum viable storytelling.”
- “The story is shallow to non-existent.”
- “The plot is paper-thin and the collecting never felt rewarding.”
gameplay
508 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
59%
16%
The gameplay of Lichdom: Battlemage is characterized by a mix of engaging spell mechanics and repetitive combat, often leading to a tedious experience. While the spell crafting system offers some depth and customization, many players find the overall gameplay linear and lacking in variety, with combat becoming monotonous after a few hours. Despite its impressive graphics and potential for interesting mechanics, the game struggles with poor pacing and insufficient tutorials, leaving players frustrated with its execution.
- “Generally speaking, there are three variations to one spell; the ball, the area effect, and the block counter... all three of them are introduced to you smoothly during gameplay.”
- “The gameplay and spell system are really cool too; it just needs some time to get used to it, and then you can come up with some interesting combinations to build your character.”
- “The gameplay is engaging and the dialogue is well played out.”
- “It's not easy and you will need to read a couple of guides to 'get it', since the in-game tutorial does not cover the deeper mechanics of the game well.”
- “The gameplay is incredibly repetitive and tires before you even get to find the good spells.”
- “The gameplay itself is just dull.”
graphics
357 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
40%
5%
The graphics in the game are widely praised for their stunning visuals and impressive spell effects, often compared to high-quality titles like Skyrim and Crysis 3. Many reviewers note that the game runs smoothly on modern hardware, showcasing beautiful environments and detailed animations, although some mention occasional graphical glitches and performance issues. Overall, while the graphics are a highlight, they are sometimes overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and a lackluster story.
- “The graphics are jaw-dropping in this game, and I really don't know about these people rating this game as 'bad'; yes the levels are dragged out and even though the level designs are amazing, they'll get boring at some point because of how long and dragged out a level can be.”
- “The combination of great visuals and sound makes everything feel extremely meaty and impactful, and for me, the game ran butter smooth.”
- “The graphics are superb; the game itself is a form of eye-candy and makes gameplay all the sweeter.”
- “The graphics are outdated.”
- “The graphics are not as good as I was hoping; they don't look very crisp, and textures are just dull. It's a performance hog at that.”
- “I was really looking forward to this game and I really wanted to like it, but the graphics are sub-par, the controls feel jerky, and the story is just okay.”
grinding
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious, repetitive, and lacking meaningful rewards, with many players expressing frustration over the long, drawn-out battles and the need to repeatedly farm for upgrades and loot. While some appreciate the potential for crafting and spell customization, the overall consensus is that the gameplay quickly becomes monotonous and unengaging, detracting from the initial enjoyment of the game. Players often feel that the grind is artificially inflated, leading to a sense of boredom rather than satisfaction.
- “Post-game content is just as repetitive and consists mostly of farming loot, the majority of which is useless -- if it wasn't legendary rank, it just isn't worth using.”
- “The combat is just so boring, tedious, and repetitive; I got to the point where I said 'f**k this game' and never went back to it.”
- “Any potential is trampled by the mind-numbingly tedious gameplay, levels that drag on for far too long, and the supposed crown jewel; an underwhelming and prosaic spell system.”
optimization
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
57%
33%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including frame drops and stuttering, particularly on lower-end systems. However, others report smooth gameplay at high settings on more powerful rigs, suggesting that performance may vary widely based on hardware. Overall, while recent updates have improved optimization for some, many still find it lacking, particularly in terms of load times and graphical fidelity.
- “Performance: with every setting on max, you'll have a constant 60 fps (if you framelock/use vsync like I do) with almost no stuttering, so long as you're not playing it on a potato.”
- “I also don't experience the performance issues that some early reviews mention, and this is with a 4-year-old mid-range gaming system.”
- “I adjusted my graphics preset to medium and am happy to report that there seems to be very little loss of visual fidelity while at the same time a noticeable increase in performance.”
- “This is a game that truly had great potential and could have been so much more, but it suffers from horrible frame drops and bad optimization along with repetitive enemies and mediocre level design.”
- “Unfortunately, there isn't a computer on the planet capable of handling how poorly the game is optimized, and thusly, if you are intending on playing this game on maximum graphics with your Rift, you'd better get ready for an FPS that's measured in decimal numbers.”
- “The game has terrible performance problems.”
stability
47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
98%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant bugs, glitches, and framerate issues, even on high-end PCs. While some users experienced minimal problems, others noted frequent freezing, graphical anomalies, and unresponsive controls, particularly during critical gameplay moments. Overall, the game appears to be in a rough state, especially for an early access title, with stability issues detracting from the overall experience.
- “The graphics are good and seem generally bug-free, although as it's still in beta, you may encounter the occasional floating object or spawning issues.”
- “The game runs smoothly with minimal crashes, providing a stable experience overall.”
- “I've experienced very few bugs, and the game feels polished for a beta version.”
- “Has lots of glitches and despite running the game on a PC designed and made years after the game's release, the game suffers from framerate issues at odd times (for example, it begins to chug in quiet moments rather than in the heat of battle).”
- “Worst of all though, occasionally the game freezes even though I'm running a pretty decent gaming PC.”
- “The problems come with the framerate drops and random glitches that take you out of the experience.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
42%
12%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and fit the game's mood, while others find it forgettable or minimal. Many appreciate the quality of the sound design, but there are calls for a more memorable or epic soundtrack. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the experience, it does not stand out as a highlight for all players.
- “Haven't finished the game yet and only recently have obtained it, I can say I love the graphics, the voice acting, the sounds, and the music are all top notch.”
- “The music is good, and fits the scenery, as well as adding to the action.”
- “The good: the graphics are outstanding, the music fits the mood of the game, and the combat difficulty is nearly Dark Souls level.”
- “The graphics are superb, the gameplay is repetitive, the music is forgettable, and the writing is downright painful.”
- “Music is minimal, with some effects even stolen from other games (for example, you can get your larva-spawn thingy to make the absolute same noise as varkids make in Borderlands 2!).”
- “The soundtrack is decent, yet largely unremarkable.”
replayability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed among players. While some appreciate the potential for varied character interactions and spellcasting options, many criticize the lack of significant replay value due to linear gameplay, scaling issues, and underwhelming post-game content. As a result, opinions on replayability range from high potential to disappointing, with some hoping for improvements in future installments.
- “It would make the game more replayable because you would want to see how each the male and female handle themselves during a team attack.”
- “As a spellcaster, the possibilities of the game offer great replayability.”
- “There is a lot of 'replayability' due to the fact that there are spells you must commit to in order to get them leveled enough to finish off the bosses.”
- “The post game had some issues with gear not scaling past level 13, so replayability was kind of destroyed, but I'm definitely hoping for a sequel or similar games from this studio.”
- “No replay value, no character relation or development, and the most cheesy revenge story ever.”
- “Gamers who are looking for the replayability and long-term motivation of ARPGs like Path of Exile will also likely find the current NG+ mode disappointing.”
emotional
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
54%
Overall, players express a mix of frustration and emotional disconnect with the game, citing a boring and predictable storyline that detracts from the experience. While some moments evoke feelings of sadness or frustration, the linear gameplay and lack of engaging mechanics leave many feeling unfulfilled and lacking a sense of power or emotional investment. The game's potential for emotional impact is overshadowed by its repetitive nature and technical issues.
- “I'm not going to lie, this game made me cry deep inside and externally.”
- “Since it's single player, some 'ungodly awesome, eeeeeeevvvverything dies as you laugh manically' spells would be awesome and would have made me feel like a total badass.”
- “The other complaint is about a thing that made me feel slightly exasperated.”
- “The story has been quite lame so far, but not much worse than any other game with a predictable boring story.”
- “If you enjoy crafting, you'll enjoy this game; if not, then sit tight for a boring story and annoying voice acting.”
- “Into the tutorial already I've encountered bugs - some of them were pretty funny, to be honest - voice acting was not super awesome, quite a boring story.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
39%
23%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning graphics, immersive environments, and effective sound design, creating a captivating experience that enhances gameplay. Players appreciate the balance between high-energy action and the tension of the settings, although some critique the voice acting and humor for detracting from the intended dark atmosphere. Overall, the combination of visual and auditory elements contributes significantly to the game's appeal, earning it high marks for atmosphere.
- “Great job of conveying the atmosphere.”
- “I have been playing this for some time now and can easily say that it's an outstanding game; the graphics are one of the best, and the sounds and music background give it atmosphere.”
- “However, its atmosphere, powered by the CryEngine's mathematical lighting, paired with the impressive combat system, definitely makes it a great experience and worth the money in my opinion.”
- “Voice acting is done well enough with a dash of humor that you will find it funny, but overall the immersion in the reality is never broken, making the game come off as one big joke. The dread of the situation isn't lost, but the misplaced humor doesn't belong in a dark atmosphere.”
- “It's clear the intent was to make the characters relatable through their voice acting, but placing modern phrases and terminology in a game designed to provide a fantasy atmosphere is borderline stupid.”
- “The crumbling rubble and rocks from the ceiling throughout the cave really do add to the atmosphere.”
humor
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
92%
25%
The humor in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it amusing and well-integrated into the story, while others feel it falls flat or becomes repetitive. The voice acting and character interactions are noted for their comedic elements, but the overall execution can feel forced or out of place, detracting from the game's darker themes. Additionally, some players appreciate the visual and musical humor, though they criticize the lack of challenge and engaging gameplay.
- “It's very funny and feels badass!”
- “Really funny, great story.”
- “Voice acting is done well enough with a dash of humor that you will find it funny, but overall the immersion of the reality is never broken, making the game come off as one big joke.”
- “The humor in this game falls flat, making the experience feel more tedious than entertaining.”
- “The jokes are so forced and unoriginal that they detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- “Instead of being funny, the attempts at humor often come off as cringeworthy and awkward.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The monetization strategy of the game has faced significant criticism, with users recalling past failures from the studio, such as "The Culling" series, which were perceived as cash grabs. Despite an intriguing concept, the game's promotional claims have raised skepticism about its value and fairness in monetization.
- “This studio is in for hard times... 'The Culling', their 2017 debut game, was dead on arrival and a cash grab too.”
- “The advertising goes like, 'Be a mage with unlimited power, no cooldowns or anything.'”
- “The concept of battlemage is fairly interesting, advertising great flexibility and fun in a hack and slash with lots of spells.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Character development in the game is polarizing; while some players praise it as strong and engaging, others criticize it for being lacking and failing to create emotional connections with the characters. Overall, the inconsistency in character development significantly impacts the overall narrative experience.
- “It had some really great character development.”
- “They have zero worthwhile character development that gets me to care about anyone.”
- “There is no strong storyline, no character development, no sensible balance between physical and magical abilities, and no items.”