Realms of Magic
- July 20, 2022
- Polished Games
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam"Realms of Magic" is a single-player Role Playing Game set in the high fantasy world of The Old Kingdom. Experience classic game mechanics with modern twists, including talent trees, quests, and professions. Engage in combat, gather resources, build, and create your own story while choosing from various races like humans, dwarfs, elves, and orcs. Despite some humor and marvelous visuals, be prepared for bugs and grinding.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game combines elements of RPG and sandbox gameplay, offering a unique experience reminiscent of Terraria and Skyrim.
- Crafting and skill progression systems are engaging, allowing players to level up through various activities like mining, crafting, and questing.
- The handcrafted locations and quests provide a sense of exploration and discovery, making the world feel alive.
- The combat system feels clunky and lacks depth, making encounters less engaging and often too easy.
- There are numerous bugs and issues, including problems with saving progress and quest completion, which can lead to frustration.
- The game can become repetitive, with many quests being fetch or kill tasks that do not offer much variety.
- story620 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story in "Realms of Magic" is generally considered basic and predictable, lacking depth and meaningful choices that significantly impact outcomes. While there are numerous quests and some interesting moments, many players find the quest design repetitive, often revolving around fetch tasks or combat without substantial narrative engagement. Overall, the game offers a mix of sandbox elements and linear storytelling, but it struggles to deliver a captivating plot or dynamic character interactions.
“The game is a rough gem, still a story to enjoy with some interesting moments.”
“The main storyline can even be solved in multiple ways, something I didn't really expect.”
“From the quests from fun NPCs to the respectable amount of world building put into the various races and books scattered across the land, I just kept finding things that had me wondering what was around the next corner.”
“The story is...fine, pretty basic and predictable, but fine, but without any ability to really weave yourself into it and make meaningful choices that truly alter its outcomes it's not enough to carry the game.”
“Don't expect great writing, and the characters won't really engage your interest - there's no depth to them, certainly nothing that affected the story outcomes.”
“The quests are really disappointing - they frequently hint at more complex stories, but very rarely are you given any way to interact with those.”
- gameplay244 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this title offers a mix of RPG elements and sandbox mechanics, providing players with a variety of activities such as crafting, questing, and combat. While many players appreciate the engaging gameplay loop and the potential for exploration, some criticize the repetitiveness and lack of depth in mechanics, particularly in combat and quest design. Overall, the game is seen as a fun, albeit flawed, experience that draws inspiration from titles like Terraria and Starbound, with room for improvement as it continues to evolve.
“I got about 60 hours of gameplay to 100% the game and am craving more, lol.”
“Really fun little RPG that has plenty of things to do without getting bored; it is way worth its value in gameplay.”
“The game has great gameplay put into it; however, I'd like to see more opportunities to expand character experience in quests.”
“The gameplay pretty much does not change after this.”
“While it does provide a relaxing, and casual experience; the gameplay is way too monotone and drawn out.”
“Each biome is basically a reskin of the previous one with almost no new gameplay or tactical elements.”
- grinding174 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 1 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in late-game content where stat farming and crafting can become monotonous. While some appreciate the depth of crafting and skill progression, others feel that the grind lacks meaningful rewards and can detract from overall enjoyment. Overall, the game is described as a slower, more grind-heavy version of similar titles like Terraria and Starbound, leading to a sense of frustration for some players.
“The money grind isn't as tedious as other games because you just gradually accumulate wealth and can sell junk for quick cash.”
“Also has a pretty decent crafting system, not too grindy but just enough to make you actually want to stay up way too late getting to the next tier.”
“You can skip entire acts of this game by grinding 10 pieces of a map in the open world, meaning you can skip literal hours of content in about 15 minutes of each new zone.”
“It's just go-fetch quests and grinding ad infinitum.”
“The biggest problem with it at the moment is the fact that the best way to get the highest tier equipment is to mine for it, which wouldn't be a problem if mining in and of itself wasn't extremely tedious.”
- graphics80 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, with many players appreciating the pixel art style and attention to detail, which evokes a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic RPGs. While some find the character animations lacking and the overall aesthetic not particularly unique compared to similar titles, others praise the art direction and color usage. However, there are reports of performance issues on certain hardware, which can detract from the experience.
“Had a lot of unexpected fun with this one, felt like some old-school PC RPG because of the graphics.”
“Graphics strike a nice balance between simple enough to animate on a grid and detailed enough to be pretty.”
“The art style is pleasant, consistent, and has a high amount of detail in each location.”
“The pixel art style is fine, but it doesn't really excel here at being charming or quaint.”
“The graphics are fine, but I'm not particularly fond of the character animations, at least not for this type of game.”
“It has decent attention to detail in many things but it doesn't stand out or look unique compared to other similar graphics 2D mining/crafting games.”
- music66 mentions
- 55 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received generally positive feedback, with many players appreciating its orchestral quality and nostalgic ties to classic RPGs like Skyrim and Morrowind. While some reviewers noted that the soundtrack is enjoyable and enhances the gameplay experience, a few expressed concerns about the lack of originality and issues with the music volume settings. Overall, the music is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing to its immersive atmosphere.
“Great music too which would feel at home in an AAA title.”
“The art in the game is pretty on point, the music is pretty good too.”
“I knew as soon as I started the game and heard the music, then saw character creation, the background for the scenes, UI and menus... this game is very special.”
“However, the sound and music is like dog poop on chalkboards, and you'll notice the whole fluffy lighthearted feel to Terraria actually came from the nicely done sound effects.”
“My only concern is music; while my expectations are low and I'm fine with generic and sparse (or even nonexistent), as long as there's a punch and originality to it, here the quality seems high but there's nothing hooking me.”
“The music volume slider just doesn't work.”
- stability36 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 6 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting minimal issues and enjoying a smooth experience, while others have encountered significant bugs, including game freezes, quest-breaking glitches, and problems with the auto-save feature. Although many acknowledge the presence of minor visual glitches and occasional soft-locks, the developers are actively working on fixes, leading some to believe the game shows promise for improvement. Overall, while it has potential, players are divided on its current stability, with some finding it enjoyable despite the bugs.
“Out of all the new/new-ish/EA games in the 2D RPG sandbox genre, this is probably one of the most feature complete, bug-free games out right now.”
“Base building, gear, bosses, etc. The cons list is all trivial stuff and minor inconveniences at best. With 5 hours under my belt, I really don't see anything wrong with the game: zero bugs so far, no glitches, no crashes, and it runs fine.”
“Very fun game! Aside from enemies, it's not buggy at all. I spend hours at a time playing this, just building and decorating. Mining doesn't get boring that often and is rewarding frequently.”
“The game itself is fairly bug-ridden; I've had to start from scratch twice because the game refused to allow me to mine in areas where I should be able to. Restarting my playthrough resolved the issue, only for it to reoccur.”
“I loved the combat, the story, the plot, and the grind, but it breaks my heart to see the game freezing my computer due to autosaves, freezes on startup, or freezes during reloads.”
“Bugs: a lot of bugs, breaking bugs, bugs preventing you from getting achievements, soft-locking bugs, even the auto-save system is buggy and unusable.”
- replayability28 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the variety in skill trees and character classes that allow for different builds, others feel that this undermines the RPG experience and personal connection to characters. Many reviews indicate that overall, the game lacks significant replay value, with some players finding it enjoyable for a single playthrough but not compelling enough to revisit. A few users noted that the game is relaxing and offers decent replay value, particularly with the option to save before key encounters, but overall sentiment leans towards limited replayability.
“The RPG side of it makes it replayable since there are many skill trees and some of the skills have interesting development, plus race traits that give significant bonuses.”
“Already a good amount of depth in terms of races and skill trees, creating whatever archetype your replayable heart desires.”
“Lots of replayability with a ton of races to choose from.”
“Some may see this as an upside; I, however, don't like it. It destroys the RPG element and replayability to create new characters and build a personal connection to your character by having their own specialty rather than being good at everything.”
“Fairly interesting game, plenty of interesting combinations for character class type stuff, but not great replay value.”
“Currently, there is little to no replay value.”
- humor24 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as diverse and often hilarious, featuring funny NPC interactions and engaging quest lines, though it occasionally dips into cringeworthy territory. While some players appreciate the clever writing and dark humor, others find certain jokes and animations to be hit or miss, with some elements feeling overly repetitive or obnoxious. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with its narrative, reminiscent of titles like Terraria and D&D.
“Funny NPCs that you can interact with and so many fun and different quest lines to take care of.”
“I have had plenty of laughs from the dark humor and funny animations.”
“Diverse humor throughout the game, even with the dark tone of the main plot.”
- optimization16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues, including frame drops and slowdowns even on newer hardware. Many feel that the game is poorly polished and that its minimum system requirements are unreasonably high for a 2D sandbox title. While some hope for improvements in future updates, the current state of optimization detracts from the overall experience.
“Its a fun game but it certainly needs optimization.”
“An interesting game that at the moment doesn't feel optimized; games that should be far more demanding run better on my laptop. This is likely going to be fixed in future updates.”
“Polished games should polish this game; raising the minimum requirements is not a way to improve performance. Making an i5 machine a requirement for a 2D sandbox game is ridiculous; Terraria runs on machines under i3. The game should focus on performance at first!”
“Unfortunately, this game has serious memory problems and runs slow even on newer computers. You won't experience this much until you try to mine a zone; once you've explored a big portion of it, the frame drops start coming. This can be avoided until you get to a city with a dungeon under it, where the size of the dungeon and the city combines to make the game a stuttering mess. I'll change the score if it's ever fixed, but as it is, I'll have to say no on the recommendation despite loving it so much.”
“What's here is barely polished, poorly optimized, and controls badly.”
“Polished games should polish this game. Raising the minimum requirements is not a way to improve performance; making an i5 machine a requirement for a 2D sandbox game is ridiculous. Terraria runs on machines under i3, the game should focus on performance at first!”
- character development10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
Character development in "Realms of Magic" is noted for its depth and integration with gameplay, allowing players to enhance skills and experience through various activities. However, some reviewers feel that the pace of character and colony development is intentionally slower compared to similar games, which may detract from the overall experience. Despite this, the game is praised for its promising mechanics and beautiful art style.
“Realms of Magic (reviewing pre-alpha version 0.3) is a promising game that merges clever crafting elements akin to Terraria and Starbound with a questing and exploration RPG that offers character development in skills and experience.”
“This is a solid game, but I think it lacks a certain something by comparison, in that colony/character development in this game is purposefully slower.”
“Primarily, Realms of Magic offers a character development and progression experience that is only available in small form (or with mods) in other similar games.”
“Even in its early stages, this game offers a lot to do, and frames the activities through character development and interaction with the world map.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional response to the game is mixed; while some players find satisfaction in its features like quests and skill progression, others express disappointment, leading to a sense of heartbreak in their recommendations. Overall, the game elicits a range of feelings, from enjoyment to regret.
“It has some aspects from Terraria I enjoy, but it brings a lot more to the table such as quests, leveling skills, a skill tree, etc. It, at least for me, made me feel satisfied.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, drawing favorable comparisons to the immersive world of Skyrim while incorporating the engaging gameplay elements of Starbound. Players find the overall ambiance to be delightful and satisfying.
“The atmosphere is lovely for the game; I am very pleased with it.”
“With the gameplay of Starbound and the atmosphere of Skyrim.”
