The Magister
- September 2, 2021
- Nerdook Productions
Get on SteamThe Magister is a murder-mystery card-battler RPG. Build and customise your deck to fight in battles, or use 'Tactical Diplomacy' to pacify those who stand in your way. Gather clues and discover motives as you investigate the death of your predecessor and unmask the guilty culprit.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox
Reviews
- The game offers a unique blend of RPG mechanics with a murder mystery theme, providing engaging gameplay that combines investigation, combat, and diplomacy.
- Each playthrough is procedurally generated, ensuring high replayability with different suspects, motives, and clues, making every run feel fresh.
- The tactical card-based combat and diplomacy systems are well-designed, allowing for strategic decision-making and varied approaches to encounters.
- The production values are low, with simplistic writing and generic music, which detracts from the overall experience.
- The game can feel repetitive after a few runs, as many dialogue options and clues are similar across playthroughs, leading to a lack of depth in character interactions.
- Some gameplay mechanics, such as the combat and tactical diplomacy, can feel simplistic or unbalanced, making certain aspects of the game less engaging.
- story52 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 83 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story in the game is a murder mystery that suffers from a lack of depth and emotional engagement, often feeling like a linear experience with limited choices. While the dialogues and characters are vivid, the reliance on fetch quests and random elements detracts from crafting a nuanced narrative, leading to repetitive gameplay across multiple playthroughs. Players noted that the procedural generation of quests can result in frustrating inconsistencies, undermining the overall storytelling experience.
“Story, dialogues, and characters are very vivid.”
“Great story (hard to do in a procedurally generated game).”
“The connection between doing side quests to level up and also gain affection with the townsfolk so they will give you information works well.”
“As such, the magister feels like an RPG on rails, where there is often only one right story choice (aside from who to accuse of the murder), but lacks the emotional drama you would expect from a JRPG. I don't feel that this limitation of choice is particularly rewarding from a story perspective.”
“The story is okay as far as I can tell, but there is certainly nothing great about it either.”
“Many times it happened to me that I could not finish the quest because the option did not appear in conversation even though I did everything and it was even written in the journal that it is done.”
- gameplay42 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its innovative mechanics, including three distinct skill trees and a blend of combat and diplomatic card-based systems, reminiscent of games like Griftlands. While the mechanics are intuitive and enjoyable, some players noted that it takes time to fully grasp them, with certain elements locked behind higher difficulty levels. Overall, the game offers a fun and engaging experience, particularly for fans of deck-building and procedural detective gameplay, despite some criticisms regarding art style and execution.
“It's got three different skill trees with nine skills each that all affect gameplay in major ways.”
“The character development mechanics are well thought-out and fun to play with.”
“The fight mechanics are the highlight for me, but it's a fun, functional procedural detective game.”
“Mechanics are fairly intuitive, but it did take until the end of my first game (~4 hrs) for everything to really click.”
“If it matched the game's square-grid system, it would make things much clearer and considerably improve the gameplay.”
“Replaying the game on difficulty 1 and 2 after a long pause, I found that a few gameplay elements were locked behind higher difficulty and some big issues were solved by patches.”
- replayability32 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The replayability of Magister is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate its procedural generation and variable difficulty levels, allowing for multiple playthroughs, others feel that it lacks substantial replay value after completing higher difficulties. Many agree that the game offers a fresh experience with each run, but opinions vary on whether it truly warrants repeated plays, with some suggesting it would benefit from a more narrative-focused approach. Overall, it seems to provide enough incentive for a few runs, but may not hold long-term appeal for all players.
“Magister is a game with 200% replayability, because no matter how well you know it, each run is brand new.”
“A complete run takes about 4 hours, but the game has some replayability thanks to the procedurally-generated investigations and the fact that you unlock new difficulties and cards after winning.”
“Fun premise, randomization for replayability, multiple difficulty levels.”
“This one was fun enough for one playthrough, but by no means is it replayable.”
“But there isn't much replay value.”
“Love the premise of the game, but very low replayability after you beat difficulty III.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some players noting a significant disconnect between character designs and the game map, leading to an uncomfortable experience. While some appreciate the indie game's modest graphics and find them charming, others criticize the art style as bland and in need of improvement. Overall, the visuals are seen as a weak point, but they do not detract significantly from the enjoyable gameplay mechanics.
“Graphics lovely, sounds apt, combat enjoyable, slightly taxing but easy if you know what you are doing.”
“I am surprised at just how good The Magister is for an indie game with relatively modest graphics, UI, and sound design.”
“Its not a AAA game, so you can see the graphics are so-so for an indie game.”
“The graphics had some serious disconnect between the characters and the map you are moving on; it was incredibly uncomfortable to watch and play.”
“Graphics are not great and could use some improvements; combat timing is being fixed; more events and murder combinations could be added.”
“I understand he needs a publisher to make money and get more resources for games, but as time goes on, his art style becomes bland (using cheap assets for cards, more realistic character art, etc.) and gameplay just experiments with really fun mechanics from his flash games only to make things worse.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly criticizing the battle system and user interface. Many express regret over their purchase, feeling that the grind detracts significantly from the overall experience and likening it unfavorably to older games with similar mechanics.
“Tedious battle system, card game, UI; I bought this game on sale and greatly regret it. How they could charge a higher price than that is absurd.”
“It was tedious and felt like an afterthought to the game.”
“This makes the game grindy.”
- music4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players find it generic and uninspired, others are genuinely impressed and amazed by the sound design. Overall, the music seems to evoke strong reactions, ranging from disappointment to admiration.
“The sound and music has amazed me!!”
“The writing is rather simple and stereotypical, the music couldn't be more generic.”
“The characters look like the most hyperbolic anime characters imaginable, with scars everywhere, huge muscles, and oversized gilded armor.”
- character development4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is praised for its smooth progression and well-designed mechanics, making it an enjoyable aspect of gameplay. Players appreciate the thoughtful implementation that enhances their experience.
“Character development is very smooth.”
“The character development mechanics are well thought-out and fun to play with.”
- stability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Reviews on stability are mixed, with some users praising the game as "somehow bug free," while others report significant bugs that detract from the experience. Overall, the game's stability appears to be inconsistent, with notable issues affecting gameplay for some players.
“And did I mention it's somehow bug-free?”
“Unfortunately, the game is too buggy.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users find the humor in the game to be notable, with even minor bugs contributing to its comedic appeal. Overall, the humor is seen as a positive aspect that enhances the gaming experience.
“Even the few existing bugs are hilarious.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of "The Magister" is criticized for its linear storytelling, which offers limited choices that detract from the expected emotional depth typical of JRPGs. Reviewers feel that this lack of meaningful decision-making results in a less rewarding narrative experience.
