Spire of Sorcery
- October 21, 2021
- Charlie Oscar
- 10h median play time
Get on Steam"Spire of Sorcery is a single-player turn-based Role Playing game, taking about 10 hours to beat, which follows a party of mages on their journey across the world of Rund. The game boasts a complex spellcasting system and a dark fantasy story, developed in partnership with a veteran game designer. Please note that the current version is final, with no further updates planned."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The character generator is great, offering a lot of customization and depth.
- The game features interesting magic and spellcasting mechanics that encourage experimentation and strategic planning.
- The art style and atmosphere are unique and engaging, providing a compelling visual experience.
- The game has been abandoned by the developers and is considered abandonware, with no future updates planned.
- The combat system is repetitive and lacks depth, leading to a boring gameplay experience.
- Many players feel misled by the drastic changes from the original concept, resulting in disappointment and frustration.
- gameplay28 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Spire of Sorcery" is characterized by engaging spell-casting mechanics that blend strategy and puzzle-solving, offering a unique experience that encourages exploration and character development. While the game is still in early access and requires some polish, it features enough content for a few hours of play and has strong replayability, though newcomers may find it challenging. Players appreciate the potential for future content and the complexity of the mechanics, making it a promising title despite its unfinished state.
“It's got some really engaging spell casting mechanics that are a combination of strategy and a bit of puzzle solving.”
“By no means is this game easy to win or learn; it has lots of mechanics that take some understanding, but my curiosity to learn and attraction to building the spells and developing the characters will keep me enjoying my time with it.”
“Game currently has few chapters, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless as these few chapters have replayability and I am presented with good original gameplay.”
“Their update notes say they leave the game for sale because it is good enough to play for a few hours and shows the mechanics they are developing further for the other game they are developing after abandoning this unfinished game.”
“Needs some polish around many edges and you might want to wait a bit because of bugs, but I was hooked by the demo and do like the gameplay loop.”
“They left the so-called ghost ship, started to create a real design document with goals, rules, and gameplay, but they also had to leave most of their initial plans.”
- story20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The game features a dark fantasy story centered around mages in the world of Rund, with four chapters crafted by a veteran game designer and a full-time writer. While the storyline is deemed interesting, many players feel it lacks depth and integration within the gameplay, expressing a desire for more engaging narrative elements and variety in quests. Overall, the story is seen as a promising foundation that could benefit from additional content and immersive storytelling techniques, such as voice narration.
“We partnered with a veteran game designer (with millions of copies of his previous games sold here on Steam) to develop a dark fantasy story-driven game about mages in the world of Rund – with a much more complex and scalable system for spellcasting, crafting, and exploration; and with a proper storyline (we have a full-time writer working on the project).”
“The story so far seems interesting, and the map travel/quests are also quite engaging.”
“Don't know what the devs are planning on release, but a good background story would be a huge game changer in my opinion.”
“Now I know that this game is mostly strategy, but there's an attempt right here so I must interfere... the story is not very infused with the game itself; I'd personally expect more passages that would draw me in.”
“It needs content (it's barebones now), variety (while characters are procedurally generated, they lack depth in background, themes for magic use, and special abilities that make them stand out), diversity (the main quest and side quests, even the revealed position on the map, are the same every run), and settings to play with various sized groups, interaction with objects on the map, and give us at least some experimental crafting, alchemy, and spell setups instead of knowing everything beforehand since you first researched it.”
“- The open world game map is also procedurally generated, but at this moment, it features the same chapters and side quests every new game you start.”
- graphics6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics feature authentic and original artwork, showcasing well-designed characters, opponents, and environments. Players appreciate the unique aesthetics and the integration of a profound magic system, complemented by great music.
“The graphics are nice and well designed, and the music is great.”
“Unique aesthetics and profound magic system.”
“The authentic and original artwork in characters, opponents, and environments is still there.”
- stability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability with no reported glitches after extensive playtime, indicating a well-executed and bug-free experience. However, players express concerns that it may take years for the game to reach a fully complete state, based on the developers' past pacing.
“For now, I have 10 hours of playtime with no glitches that I encountered, but it will likely be years before the game is in a complete state (based on the developers' previous pacing).”
“It's all very well executed, bug-free, animated, and rewarding to play the card game (the fighting part).”
“I have played for 10 hours without encountering any glitches, but I believe it will take years before the game reaches a complete state, based on the developers' previous pacing.”
“I have played for 10 hours without encountering any glitches, but I believe it will take years before the game reaches a complete state, based on the developers' previous pacing.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its remarkable atmosphere, which many players feel imbues it with a distinct sense of soul and depth.
“The game had an amazing atmosphere; it truly had soul.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Despite having a limited number of chapters, players find the game enjoyable and note its strong replayability due to the engaging and original gameplay mechanics.
“The game currently has few chapters, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless, as these few chapters have replayability and I am presented with good original gameplay.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unengaging, with most options feeling ineffective in encounters, leading to a lack of meaningful choices.
“But it's tedious to do, and pretty much all but one or two of your options will be obviously useless in any given encounter.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised as great, complementing the well-designed graphics.
“The graphics are nice and well designed, and the music is great.”
- character development2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate a character development system that emphasizes unique quirks and the ability to unlock new spells, enhancing the depth and personalization of their characters. This approach allows for a more engaging and tailored gameplay experience.
“The character development system is incredibly engaging, allowing players to explore unique quirks and unlock new spells that enhance gameplay.”
“I love how the character development focuses on individual quirks, making each character feel distinct and allowing for personalized playstyles.”
“The ability to unlock new spells through character development adds a layer of strategy and excitement to the game.”
