Mages of Mystralia is a small videogame, but done with great affection. It proposes an adventure to us with delicate simplicity, but that is fixed
in the great ones. The title in question – directed by Patric J. Mondou – has been designed by a group composed of experienced people in the world
of videogames – who have worked in sagas such as Assassin’s Creed , Prince of Persia or Thief – along with a handful of young promises both at an artistic level and when it comes to making code.
It is not easy to find a project with this package on Kickstarter and, in addition, to get to demonstrate with facts the result of the money invested. In t
his context, it is not surprising that they exceeded the initial appraisal of the game to achieve more than $ 300,000 in donations.
With the full videogame in our hands we have been able to verify the potential of their proposal, shelling out those failures and shortcomings that the team could correct in future productions , and enjoy an adventure where magic, action and exploration are intermingled in a striking world of fantasy.
The argument is not necessary to get too much chicha, because it does not intend to have it: we are a little magician named Zia in a world where thi
s type of practice has been banned, and yet we must learn the basics of this noble and ancient art to end evil reigning in Mystralia. But there is something that does not quite fit into this mysterious plot against the world of magic
, a fact that we will soon discover. The story is edited by Ed Greenwood ( creator of the Dungeon & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign ) and,
although it is well basted and offers us a Lore with attractive ingredients, it fails to forge a convincing and attractive plot, which falls on the usual topics of the genre and in a simplicity that may not be liked by his followers.
Known fun
The title that concerns us proposes an action adventure in the old way with a simple but addictive combat system, based on the use and personalizatio
n of spells. His references are clear : a pinch of The Legend of Zelda here, a bit of Torchlight over there, all within a set where the puzzles prevail, the combats by magic spells and light exploration. From an inclined zeni
th camera the action is shown to us, almost always in an attractive and accessible way, although at other times it gets too far away making it difficult to
distinguish certain enemies and their position (especially when they hide behind some element and the shaderthat highlights the protagonist when it is hidden does not work equally well with our adversaries).
In Mages of Mystralia we will travel through beautiful landscapes and hidden dungeons, with plenty of atmospheres by all well-known b
ut charming execution – to know; a beautiful mysterious forest, a terrifying fortress, small medieval settlements, turbulent dungeons at the same time intricate, areas bathed in the sunset while a beautiful waterfall looms
over the lake … – where we will face a varied cast of enemies. Goblins, bats, trolls, devilish plants, dark sorcerers, defiant reptiles and that kind of imag
ery that we like so much fantasy lovers . Also, we will also deal with the guard of the kingdom: remember that the wizards are at low hours within Mystralia.
The general map will indicate the important points of exploration, it will give us indications about events related to the main story or the seco
ndary missions (there are messages to search for objects, sub-missions to help the inhabitants of the villages, small hidden ch
allenges that will require of our skill with learned spells, etc.) and it will lead us towards confrontations with the final enemies of each zone , varied although with dynamics not very difficult to guess. Everyone is interconnected (with small charges between areas) which helps to establish a coherent and attractive approach.
In general the title that occupies us, although it gives us several levels of difficulty, will not be too problematic for the more experienced durin
g the first game. In addition, as we advance in the plot and we find violet soul gems, we can improve both the life bar and mana , essential to unleash our system of custom spells.
Making Hermione Granger
And is that in this aspect of the adventure rebels the most novel. We will have spells of different nature assigned to the different buttons of the command. These spells respond to a simple approach; when unlocking different runes we can enhance the e
nchantments of different shapes responding to different categories: short range (Ictus), range (Actus), conjuration of objects (Creo) or character enhancers (Ego).
We will put a simple example: if a spell of rank (Actus) we link the rune of movement, we can throw balls of fire. In addition, by putting an el
ement multiplier we will throw three balls simultaneously. But there will not be anything left: when placing the follow-up rune, these balls will
draw parables in the scenarios trying to find their objective. As we get new essences, we can change the nature of the spells between different elements (such as water, fire, wind or nature) which multiplies the possibilities of action and allows us to harm enemies invulnerable to specific attacks.
