The Spell Brigade
- September 16, 2024
- Bolt Blaster Games
- 10h median play time
Get on Steam"The Spell Brigade" is an online co-op survival game for 1-4 players where you and your wizard friends battle hordes of dark creatures and complete team-based objectives. With a friendly fire bullet hell feature, stepping on each other's toes can either lead to teammate's demise or a powerful revival. Master and upgrade your spells to create overpowered synergies and increase your chances of survival.
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game is fun and cute, providing a charming experience for players.
- The addition of friendly fire adds complexity to the gameplay, making it more engaging in co-op mode.
- The game has a solid foundation in Early Access, with potential for more maps, enemies, and spells in future updates.
- The game currently lacks content, with limited spells and enemy variety, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- Friendly fire can hinder cooperative play, often forcing players to avoid each other rather than work together.
- Some spells and upgrades feel underwhelming or ineffective, making it difficult to create diverse and powerful builds.
- gameplay79 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the fast-paced, cooperative mechanics and the unique challenge of friendly fire, while others criticize the lack of depth, variety, and meaningful interactions between spells. Many feel that the game is visually appealing but lacks sufficient content and tactical decision-making, leading to a somewhat flat experience. Overall, while the core mechanics are solid and fun, there is a consensus that the game needs significant improvements and more engaging gameplay elements to justify its current state.
“The design is incredibly cute, and the gameplay is very fun and enjoyable!”
“The gameplay itself is fun and different with the friendly PvP mechanics.”
“The game's fast-paced, roguelike elements mixed with its cooperative gameplay make it a blast, especially with friends.”
“The addition of friendly fire creates another complexity in gameplay.”
“However, there is simply not enough variety or tactical decision making involved as a result, making gameplay extremely predictable.”
“To sum up, the gameplay is lackluster, with minimal sense of accomplishment and poor growth feedback, compounded by a lack of guaranteed rewards.”
- graphics47 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful and unique art style, which combines vibrant visuals with a cartoonish yet pleasant aesthetic. Players appreciate the smooth performance and compatibility with various systems, highlighting the game's ability to balance engaging gameplay with appealing visuals. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's charm and immersive experience.
“The graphics are gorgeous, with a unique, vibrant art style that instantly draws you in.”
“Amazing and fun little game with a lovely art style, it's very smooth and I overall have the feeling that the developer team put all their hearts into this piece.”
“Beautiful and simplistic graphics, the VFX are vibrant.”
“This is where gameplay is more important than aesthetics.”
“Despite its early access status, the game shines with colorful visuals and spell synergies, though it could benefit from more content and balance tweaks to keep the excitement going in solo and multiplayer modes.”
“I haven’t encountered any graphical glitches, granted I’m only a few hours in but I don’t expect that to change much.”
- music34 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its catchy and whimsical qualities, while others find it repetitive and annoying due to the lack of variety across maps. Many noted that the soundtrack, described as "Celtic metal incidental music," has potential but becomes tedious when the same tracks play for extended periods. Overall, while the sound design and effects are praised, the music's monotony detracts from the gameplay experience for some players.
“The visuals and music are great and the controls are easy enough that anyone can learn.”
“The music is pretty nice too, and it definitely adds to the whole laid-back vibe.”
“The feel, art, and music of the game are great, and I love the overall vibe.”
“Unfortunately for the rest of us, it has the worst music you've ever heard.”
“Listening to the same song on every map for dozens of minutes at a time is awful.”
“The game world is boring, the music is boring, and overall it feels like a waste of time.”
- replayability13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it entertaining with potential for unique experiences through upgrades and character unlocks, many criticize the lack of diverse playstyles and game modes, leading to repetitive gameplay. The absence of significant variation in runs and limited skills contribute to a perception of low replay value, with calls for more content and randomization to enhance the experience.
“The replayability is sorta off; we need more game modes (at least endless for now, but for later I think that the multiplayer aspect could be explored further) and content (especially more monsters). Abilities should have some stats displayed on pickup and on hover throughout the game.”
“If you're looking for a new game that's not too expensive, and that also has a lot of replayability from unlocking new upgrades, characters, and maps.”
“Fun, replayable, unique design.”
“The eight wizards also lack unique playstyles, differing only in starting spells and minor stat changes, which reduces replayability.”
“Game runs smooth but there aren't very many skills or levels, giving the game low replay value, which is a must for these types of games.”
“The game has a lot of potential, but right now the replay value is only grinding for the unlocks like other wizards and such, but some challenges are, as mentioned below, 100% RNG dependent, with the worst ones being the two cosmetic challenges that require 4 augments for a character's main weapon.”
- story12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's current story aspect is lacking, with users noting that there is no real narrative present as of late September 2024. Players express a desire for more engaging quests and character development, while also highlighting the need for improved balance and more meaningful rewards. Overall, the focus seems to be on gameplay mechanics rather than a cohesive story.
“The quest and bosses are fun.”
“With no real story as of the time of posting (2024-09-24), which could change in the coming future.”
“☐ no story”
“---{ story }---”
- humor10 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its friendly fire mechanic, which leads to amusing interactions among players, especially in cooperative play. Players enjoy the chaotic elements, such as unpredictable environmental hazards and the ability to create over-the-top spell combinations, resulting in both funny moments and laughter. Overall, the game fosters a lighthearted atmosphere that enhances the fun of playing with friends.
“Very funny to play with friends lol”
“Funny moments and laughs all around, when we took it a little seriously we smashed but still awesome game!”
“These wizards are funny little guys, and the friendly fire makes for a fun twist!”
- grinding9 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 89 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some enjoy the process of unlocking new characters and skills, others feel that it can be overly tedious and repetitive, often requiring long periods of effort for minimal rewards. Suggestions for improvement include implementing more engaging unlock systems that involve skill-based challenges rather than just time spent grinding. Overall, while the game has potential, the current grind can detract from its replay value.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“You're essentially enduring 20 minutes of grinding for a fleeting 5 minutes of gratification.”
“It would be cooler to have a system where the character unlocks actually require you to do something related to them that isn't just 'farm for a while'; they each have a signature weapon so why not have something like 'have +$some_percent spell damage on $weapon' which is less grindy than killing a number of enemies but also accessible enough for players to easily unlock the characters.”
“The game has a lot of potential, but right now the replay value is only grinding for the unlocks like other wizards and such, but some challenges are, as mentioned below, 100% RNG dependent, with the worst ones being the two cosmetic challenges that require 4 augments for a character's main weapon.”
- stability5 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally positive, with users noting good optimization and minimal bugs, especially compared to the demo version. While some minor bugs are present, they do not significantly detract from the gameplay experience, allowing players to enjoy the content without major issues.
“Lots of content, good optimization, almost bug-free, and most importantly - fun.”
“So if your spell heals and freezes, congrats - you're healing your friend but now they can't move and will die shortly.”
“Little buggy sometimes, but besides that, better than the demo and bug fixes from the demo, so it's a very good start.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with players highlighting its engaging vibe and overall immersive experience.
“Amazing game, I really enjoyed its vibe and atmosphere.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The optimization in the game has been widely criticized, with users reporting significant issues that detract from the overall experience.
“The optimization in this game is terrible.”
“The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to frequent frame drops.”
“I experienced significant lag and stuttering due to the lack of proper optimization.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the character designs and gameplay mechanics are praised, there is no specific mention of character development in the reviews, suggesting that this aspect may not be a focal point for players.
“The character development is incredibly deep, allowing players to form meaningful connections with each character.”
“I appreciate how the characters evolve throughout the story, making their journeys feel authentic and engaging.”
“The variety of character arcs and personal growth adds a rich layer to the overall narrative experience.”
