Seasons of the Sorcerer

I saw this game at ECGC 2023 and talked with the developer. I'm a sucker for elemental magic systems, and this game has a good one. It does a good job making the spells feel like actual spells, where each one has a variety of uses, instead of the standard "magic is only for combat, and every spell only does one thing". I like classical music, and this game does a good job drawing inspiration from Vivaldi's work. The spells have an element of seasonal theming too, with fire corresponding to summer, gale and essence to spring, and wither to winter. The PS2-style retro graphics are a callback to a game that was before my time, so I don't have the accompanying nostalgia. However, despite that, I still think the graphics work very well. Admittedly, it's not perfect. The story seems good for the first levels, but end up being a bit of a mess, with various factions sort of thrown together disorganizedly. Most of the spells are interesting and useful, but transmutation and void undermine the whole spell system in my opinion, with transmutation being frankly boring and void also being not only boring but overpowered, fitting poorly into the story, and seeming graphically unfinished. However, it is overall very good, and incredibly polished for a side project (game development is not the creators' main job). It is also worth noting I am quite a harsh critic, so others may not find the story so lacking or take such issue with transmutation and void.

As a Steam indie developer who uses Unity, I'm always curious in seeing other projects that use Unity. Even better when they have that hack and slash / fantasy vibe! This is a cute top-down game with an interesting application of Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The game has a great sense of direction taking the player to their next goal. Definitely recommended if you're into top-down shooter indie games!