Arcane Assembly

I have very mixed feelings about this game, but ultimately, I don't think I can recommend this. It has an interesting premise, but terrible execution. It is incredibly short, and most of the actual challenge comes from platforming and metroidvania mechanics, which have little to do with the core premise of creating spells using programming. In terms of actually fighting and using spells, I found that I did not need to write interesting programs to create useful spells. I had my main attack spell (throw several projectiles at once) and a main defense spell (spawn 3 wards near me) and that is most of what I needed in combat. The trailer showcases some interesting seeming spells, but spells like that implemented in the game would just be really inefficient and bad. Again, cool concept, but many changes need to be made to make the game fun. Maybe if people respond I'll go into what I want out of the game.

Arcane assembly is a game where the developer had a single interesting idea, decided to make a game about it, and then forgot to actually make the game about the idea. If it weren't for the main gimmick, this would be the most generic metroidvania i've ever played. And the game doesn't seem to realize it. The game's combat is quite good while you're experimenting with different spells, but the game is full of long platforming sections with no enemies that don't incorporate the magic system at all. Also the game seems terrified of throwing more than two or three enemies at you at once. I know it's to accommodate people who are new to coding, but, like, come on. You have given me the tools to build a nuke. at least give me some optional challenges or something.

Interesting Concept, But Ultimately a Miss Arcane Assembly hooks you with an intriguing premise, a programming-inspired magic sandbox, but tragically, it doesn't follow through with enough depth or polish to make the experience rewarding. As a programming sandbox, it feels more like a proof-of-concept than a full game. The spell creation UI is functional but clunky, lacking features like robust copy-paste or other conveniences you'd expect. The game avoids core programming concepts like functions (or most loops) and severely limits access to the game's underlying systems, making it impossible to build anything more complex than "shoot damage ball at target with various pathing." Speaking of combat, don't expect much there. Spells are limited to damage orbs or intercepting enemy orbs. There's no variety in enemies or strategies—no resistances, shields, or any reason to innovate beyond the bare minimum. Most of your time won't even be spent on spells or combat but on platforming. If you’ve played Hollow Knight, the aesthetic and jumping mechanics will feel familiar, but the platforming here doesn’t tie into the core spell system at all. It feels disconnected and repetitive. After 5 hours, I walked away disappointed. The game doesn't provide interesting problems or the tools to solve them. It's more of a toy than a game, fun to poke at, but it lacks the depth or polish to hold your attention. I got it on sale because I'm curious about experimental indie games. Otherwise, you’re better off playing a true meteroid or tinkering with a more robust programming sandbox.

This game is more of a sandbox with a thin veneer of metroidvania platformer. The main mechanic is crafting new spells, but there's no incentive to build anything other than a single spell that throws a bunch of projectiles.

its a good game with a good concept, you'll have a lot of fun until the game is over. the issue is; the game is very short with little to no replayability. i beat the game in 4-5 hours and pushed myself to keep messing around with it's systems but the honest truth is the game requires a goal and without the goal its best gameplay (programming spells) goes unused. besides that, the game struggles to incentivise getting creative with your spells due to the mana system, which is relative to how many functions are being called basically. it works for the most part, but i would love to see some kind of system that reduces mana cost when things like random variables and slower speeds are used, so that less efficient spells dont have to take on such a high cost. for what its worth i had a blast creating various magic attacks, if the games on special you should absolutely get it

This game is complex, strategic and in depth. I've never taken a coding class before and was able to understand how to make spells. Edit** has anyone shown this game to Pirate Software???

This is very good

Let me preface this by saying that I do not like metroidvanias or platformers in general. I came for the possibility of creating fun spells and seeing something unique. I played at a high difficulty. Don't play at a high difficulty. Unfun level design. Most of the damage I took was due to the high movement but small viewing size causing me to run into enemies I couldn't see. Pair this with small platforms high in the sky and most deaths come about because you ran into something on the other side of a big jump, and that thing pushed you off the platform and into the void. Some enemies can go through the ground. While underground they have no visual indicator of where they are. Unfun difficulty. I played on a hard difficulty. A few hits is all it takes to die. When you die, you drop all of your money. In a boss room, if you die, you likely will lose all of your money. Enemies take several seconds of concentrated fire from your most powerful weapons before they die. This means that the unfairness of enemies becomes a consistent source of death. Death takes you back quite a ways, so it may be several minutes before you have a chance to try that part again. This is especially true for bosses. Many bosses are about as far away from a respawn location as possible, so between the fights, there is usually about 2 minutes of uninterrupted traversal. If you do decide to buy this game for some strange reason, be sure to play on a casual difficulty so the everything is not so annoying. Unfun plot. No plot. At least no plot that was interesting enough to even remember if there was one. No direction. This game made me realize how important it is that a game offer helpful diegetic hints to players in order to help them find their way to the next fun thing. There were several points in the game where I was unable to figure out what the next thing to do was. I would find myself looking closely at the map trying to find what room I missed that would make it possible to continue. It isn't very clear where one room ends and another begins because the entrances and exits are neither marked nor distinguishable from another part of the map. Even in a room, the room might be so big that I cannot tell where I am in relation to anything else any more. Is there a platform beneath me? or is it just a void. The game has a terrible navigation experience, and since its a metroidvania, that is most of the game. Bad enemies. The enemies are frustrating to fight against. They often feel somewhat buggy or overpowered. Several enemies are able to shoot at you from several screens away. You don't have anything to stop, block, or dodge their shots for most of the beginning of the game. The sound design is meh. Not super noticeable, but also not very pleasant. That includes both music and sound effects. I believe that at some point I simple turned off the music because it was getting repetitive and annoying. The graphics are... bad. The individual sprites are pretty good, but they don't really feel like they all belong in the same world. I'm not an art kinda guy, but I wasn't super impressed. The worst graphical aspect is the overlay. Wherever you go, a border will cover the majority of your vision. It is not disable-able. It will make some enemies impossible to see before you step on them. The spells don't look that cool which was a letdown for me. The backgrounds are not unique nor helpful; they do not help you understand where you are. The Bosses... Are pretty cool. If this was just a game about defeating a series of unique and interesting bosses with unique and interesting spells, I'd like this game a lot. In this game you will spend 90% of your time traversing through uninteresting, sometimes frustrating, and often boring rooms 9% of your time making spells, and roughly 1% of your time fighting cool bosses. Unfun spells. The interesting spells were what made me get this game. They are disappointing at best. The only type of spell that can do much for you is a spell that creates and launches orbs of damage. This is done with 2 or three code blocks. If you want do more damage, just repeat the blocks. You want to repeat with a repeat block? Sure, just set the number of times it should repeat. There is no code branching... NO BRANCHING CODE!... With the amount of things you can do with the spell system, the dev might as well have created a collection 8 different spells for us to unlock and use throughout the game, because that is the max number of unique spells you would likely be making. Creativity in spell creation does not improve the spell. Simple is more effective in basically all cases. The spell creation UI looks approachable but is ultimately frustrating and unexciting. I would not recommend this game to anyone.

The concept is cool, but the implementation is...underwhelming. I'm fascinated by the core mechanic of spell crafting, but the game itself is short and easy, got like four hours of gameplay and does not explore it's own potential. Can not recommend in it's current state, not for this price at least.

I wish I could recommend it but I really can't. The game doesn't have anything going for it aside from the spellcrafting mechanic, but even that one's lackluster, you can only really spawn "orbs" and manipulate them in relatively basic way in a very limited editor. If you really really think the spellcrafting mechanic looks really, and I mean really fun, then get it but don't expect too much. Else I really cannot recommend it.