[i]"The first few rounds can be pretty hard to play, but once you become familiar enough with how the game works (took me around 3 deaths/auto-restarts I think), you should be able to manage your resources a lot better and assign your mages to the right places where they are needed the most!" [/i]
Set in the fabled "city between worlds", Mittelborg: City of Mages puts you into the shoes of a newly appointed Chancellor whose sole job is to protect the city and the Tree of Order it is protecting from the ravages of the Tempest. However, the Tree itself is dying despite the protection it has, and that had driven the previous Chancellor, Magnus, to vacate his important post in search of the evil that's causing all of this... a Chancellor whom the city counselor deemed lost. It is now up to you to send someone to follow in his footsteps in hopes of retrieving his notes and learning what he knew before his (probable) demise.
[h1]Watch me play![/h1]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyB-m-KlzM4
- I guess this can double as a strategy guide of sorts since I managed to complete all 20 Tempest with none for the worst of wear... well, after I've died 3 times at the beginning but that doesn't count because I was learning the game! 😝
In terms of its gameplay, Mittelborg is a truly a unique yet simple, resource management game where there are two major resources that you'll have to manage are the currency, Aether (doesn't seem to have a limit), and your mages (can recruit up to 5 of them).
You'll need Aether to do all sorts of stuff, particularly upgrading your buildings to allow them to accommodate more mages... something that you'll want to focus on later in the game; investing into either your Garrison or the Tower to "restore" them (important for early play since you don't have potions yet); and once you've unlocked the Market, to buy a bunch of potions and scrolls from it.
Mages, on the other hand, works as an additional damage buffer between the Tempest (and its fickle moods) and the Tree of Order that you're supposed to be protecting. Note that there are two types of damage you may encounter, namely physical which your Garrison will defend against and magical that falls within the purview of your Tower's Magical Barrier. For every mage added to said buildings, either the Garrison or the Tower, you'll get a damage reduction of 15% right up to 75% (To reach 75%, you'll need to upgrade said building, twice!). Naturally, your goal here is to minimize the damage you take... at all costs.
Besides negative events, there are positive ones as well. A Lull, will allow any mage you place at the Portal to travel to other worlds to gather resources, which you can then use to craft crucial potions (they are especially important late-game when you'll get all-negative events and no positive ones); or even scrolls and potions themselves. The game has quest worlds as well where you can collect a page of the journal of the previous Chancellor who set off to find the source of the evil that's corrupting the Tree.
Oddly enough, although you can build an Oracle and spend Aether to predict which sorts of events you'll get in a Tempest, which will help you decide where to send your mages to, the game emphasized that the predicted events may not be arranged in sequence.
However, I've noticed that 100% of my predicted events in my 2-hour playthrough are all arranged in sequence. Knowing this little tip will help tremendously when deciding where you should assign your mages, making the game a lot easier to play... rather than having to rely solely on RNG and Lady Luck!
Of course, at one point in the game, you'll unlock the ability to sacrifice 1 of your mages to restore the Tree's health to max. This is a crucial skill to use, especially when you can't seem to earn enough Aether to buy your building upgrades, and hence, it's important to have as many mages as you can in this game.
There are 2 ways to get a new mage to join your team - by converting any item you have in your inventory into points at the Crystal Retort (you'll get a new mage once the meter is full) or you can get one, pretty consistently (100% for me so far), via random encounters where the decision you make "Affects the Chancellor's Residence". The latter method is a lot more "cost effective" I'd say.
So, the TL;DR version?
[h1]Pros[/h1]
+ Love the unique art style
+ Easy-enough, one-of-a-kind gameplay - once you spot the patterns and know how to manage your resources well enough, the game will become easier for you.
+ Storyline is engaging and unique as well, but be warned! There's a lot of reading involved.
+ High replayability if you want to uncover all of Magnus' journal pages.
+ Price is okay but I'd recommend buying the game at a discount rather than its full price, mainly because it can end up feeling repetitive after a while.
[h1]Cons/Feedback[/h1]
- Adding a bit more planets for us to explore? At one point in my playthrough, I ran out of planets to visit and Lull moments seem wasted.
- Instead of dragging and dropping, why don't you let us click on the little circles to add mages to a building, and click again to remove them (send them back to the Chancellor's Residence.
- Scrolls seem a bit redundant. Never really needed them, except as fodder for the Crystal Retort.
[h1]Overall[/h1]
Mittelborg is distinctive enough to make itself a niche-type of game. It may not appeal to everyone, but I personally think that the game will do well among midcore gamers like me who are seeking a casual but special, story-driven and somewhat rather strategic experience. Worth a purchase at a discount!
[h1]Side Note[/h1]
[quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]
