Weave Your Chains in the Newest League of Legends Story

Digital Solar outdid themselves with the story of Sylas, and whereas the sport is pretty brief, the gameplay makes up for it tenfold.

On April 18^th, Riot Forge launched it’s latest title referred to as The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story. The newest entry of the video games regarded to construct on the success of The Ruined King recreation when it comes to the title and universe they signify, however in a very totally different style – and Riot Forge delivered but once more, due to the experience of Digital Solar, because the story of Sylas’ insurrection is an extremely enjoyable recreation.

The Story of The Mageseeker

With out spoiling an excessive amount of, the story of The Mageseeker begins in the beginning of the mage’s insurrection in Demacia. We get a little bit little bit of backstory, then leap 15 years forward in time when Sylas steals Lux’s energy to be able to escape his execution and jumpstart his struggle in opposition to oppression. Whereas the story doesn’t reveal a lot at first, League of Legends gamers and lore enjoyers might be within the loop, and for people who find themselves encountering the world of Runeterra for the primary time with The Mageseeker, the sport explains all the pieces all through the principle questline within the type of flashbacks – so the comparatively brief and unrevealing prologue shouldn’t scare anybody.

Within the first mission, the sport explains the core mechanics, equivalent to attacking, dodging, pulling ourselves to terrain components and to enemies, and dabbles into the magic system a bit. Sadly, you may’t benefit from the chaos and mainly limitless energy (due to the weak, tutorial enemies), and also you meet none aside from Garen Crownguard, who beats you simply in true, Darkish Souls “tutorial boss however extraordinarily robust” vogue. After all, Sylas doesn’t meet his finish within the Capital, and with a little bit assist, he finds some rebels within the woods of Demacia, and collectively, they will begin to overthrow an oppressive Kingdom.

The strongest a part of The Mageseeker is it’s gameplay

As I mentioned, I don’t wish to spoil an excessive amount of of the story, so let’s discuss a very powerful a part of a recreation like The Mageseeker: the gameplay. Whereas for inexperienced gamers, the controls could be a bit a lot at first on each controller and on keyboard, you may get the grasp of the sport fairly simply.

There’s a Gentle Assault and a Heavy Assault, which each chain with themselves in addition to with one another, which means you may optimize your injury together with your easiest instruments. There’s a giant give attention to the chains of Sylas, which can be utilized to both pull ourselves to enemies, unlocking new combos, or pulling ourselves to “chain hyperlinks” protruding of the bottom, which implies we are able to attain areas which are in any other case unreachable, and may get round sooner (or dodge assaults from Bosses later within the recreation).

The chains are in fact the device which Sylas makes use of to Hijack spells from enemies, turning the magic of his foes in opposition to them. There are 6 varieties of magic in The Mageseeker: hearth, ice, nature, wind, mystic and lightning. Whereas consumer’s of every sort are immune to it, ice is weak to fireside, nature is weak to wind, and mystic is weak to lightning (and vice versa), which signifies that when you use the fitting spells, you may defeat your opponents a lot simpler than with simply common assaults.

There are two methods you should utilize spells: both you Hijack them, which implies it’s solely a one time solid, nevertheless it’s free; or you may solid spells that you simply’ve chosen at Shrines (Bonfires, mainly) for mana. Mana is a restricted useful resource, however you may regenerate it by attacking enemies with Bodily Assaults. You possibly can unlock the spells that you simply’ve Hijacked earlier than at your Hideout, however you meet all of the enemies holding the spells pretty early, so it’s not earlier than lengthy you’ll have entry to the entire recreation’s arsenal.

There’s additionally one other option to customise your preventing model: Outlaws. Outlaws are members of the Mage Insurrection who assist Sylas on his missions not directly. By taking an Outlaw with you on a mission, Sylas good points a special combo or combo finisher, which has magical properties, so you may deal further injury while not having to spend mana – and there are another instruments you may unlock by progressing the principle story.

General, the fight system of The Mageseeker is extremely fluid and satisfying, with the totally different instruments combining rather well in opposition to enemies. With the i-frame dodge system, you may mainly keep away from any injury so long as you’re dodging properly. Nevertheless, you may’t brainlessly button mash by the sport (consider me, I attempted), as you’ll be severely punished for it, however when you focus in your dodging and pulling your self round together with your chains, you’ll have a good time with the sport.

On the border of the gameplay and the world, there are the missions. Gamers can discover 3 varieties of missions in The Mageseeker: important quests, which progress the story and provides new spells and superior energy ups; secondary missions, which supplies perception to the historical past and the present occasions of the Demacian Kingdom – and loot; and Guerrilla actions, the place as an alternative of you, your Outlaws do quests, for which they will get new recruits and sources for the trigger. The secondary missions are probably the most fascinating, as they’ve some rogue-like components: you may get a brand new, unstable spell with each room you full, which supplies particular results or a stat enhance to Sylas, however can solely be used till the tip of the mission, as they’re too harmful. Whereas these missions will not be obligatory, the loot they offer actually helps gamers, the lore is fascinating, and the rogue-likeness retains the sport contemporary.

The World of The Mageseeker

Digital Solar determined that they’d give a retro look to the journey of Sylas, and whereas I’m normally not a fan of those type of graphics, it actually fits The Mageseeker. The two.5D view is pretty exhausting to execute in my view, however the recreation performed it secure by wanting much like video games such because the Binding of Isaac, however with it’s personal spin on it, so it feels moderately distinctive. The consequences are nice, the animations are as fluid because the fight, and the humanities throughout conversations look improbable as properly – though I do miss the voice appearing from the cutscenes and such.

Going a bit deeper into the sensible makes use of of the World, the maps are the very first thing which are a bit missing. Whereas they’re attractive, the layouts are a really samey: there may be normally a path which you are supposed to comply with, and one or two which you can probe for some chests or a collectible Silverwing. However the paths will not be actually hidden, and typically are lifeless ends, so it’s a must to backtrack till you attain the principle route, and the map of a degree is accessible from the beginning of the mission, so there’s little to no exploration both. This isn’t an enormous drawback, however Digital Solar might’ve been a bit extra artistic on this regard, so the layouts match the gameplay.

However as I mentioned, the world of The Mageseeker is attractive, with many alternative biomes within the Woods, scary Dungeons and the gorgeous (though, a bit ravaged) Capital of Demacia, so gamers have a surroundings to slay Mageseekers in.

The Mageseeker is an Glorious Sport

General, Digital Solar and Riot Forge has actually hit the mark with The Mageseeker. Whereas the sport just isn’t a rogue-like per se, it’s up there with the greats equivalent to Hades and Curse of the Useless Gods when it comes to gameplay and story components. The fight is partaking, the brand new characters are fascinating (though typically a bit stereotypical), and the story expands upon the lore of League of Legends properly. Gamers who like quick paced motion video games or souls-likes will benefit from the adventures of Sylas immensely, however with the three difficulties, newbies of those type of video games can have a good time as properly. The one problem I’ve with the sport is it’s size, as The Mageseeker will be accomplished fairly rapidly – I might have fought oppression for various hours. However, I feel this entry of Riot Forge is nearly good, and I graded it accordingly:

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story will get a 9/10 from me and from ESTNN. It’s well worth the 30 bucks that they are asking for it on Steam, so when you’ve got the funds and wish an epic journey in Runeterra, don’t hesitate to select it up! Also, don’t forget to follow ESTNN for the latest gaming guides and reviews!