Slaves of Magic

[h1][b]2.5/10[/b][/h1] TL;DR: Iron Oath and Crosstails had a baby: this game. But it inherited all the worst characteristics of both parents. Go play either parent game instead, or any other hundreds of better TRPGs instead. All my time was spent slowly moving identical-looking characters across a massive map, then trading misses with enemies. Ad infinitum. I like slower paced games if there's tactical depth, but that's missing as well... leaving you with nothing but mind-numbing boredom. [h2]Pros:[/h2] - Some of the backgrounds and such are decent looking pixel graphics. Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to the characters, which I'd think would be more important - Music isn't terrible [h2]Mehs:[/h2] - Voice acting is very poor but there's not much of it to suffer through [h2]Cons:[/h2] - Demo was removed - No text/UI scaling. Some of the smaller text is absolutely miniscule and there's TONS of room to make it bigger. Becomes a problem in combat with tiny, tiny UI with tiny, tiny descriptor text that you need to read in order to learn the game - Not enough contrast between enemies and allies. They put a small outline around characters, but it's almost invisible against many backgrounds (even if you make it bigger). Also, it would be far better if characters looked distinct - they're very same-y in appearance in both combat formation (faces) & combat itself (body shape / colors) - Very slow and boring fights. Just massively huge maps with several of the same objective. No tension, nothing to look forward to... just moving your 6-8 characters over and over and over and over and over - Not exactly sure what's going on in combat and there's no combat log so I have no way of knowing or learning - Game is overpriced - Names are all particularly unpronounceable Asian names, can't change them (or I don't see how to if you can) Editing to say I had to turn off comments a month later on Thanksgiving because someone randomly started bombing with comments that break forum rules, over and over. Maybe they consumed too much on the holiday, who knows. But this is why we can't have nice things.

I've wanted a fantasy XCOM for ages... this ain't it. Childish art style, awkward interface, grammar and spelling issues... It could be fine in the $5-$10 range but this isn't a polished product.

Pretty solid play loop with short yet tactical missions, deep base management and great unit upgrades. The game layers really impact each other smoothly and there is a ton to discover and plan for. The different starting factions allow for varied playstyles.

[h1] General Overview [/h1] Good tactical depth and base-building elements. A lot of customization available to individual units, but I found I relied on an identical build for my A team. Difficulty ramps up nicely as your team gets stronger. Perma-death if any of your units get downed, but more can be instantly recruited (outside of missions) from the barracks, and at levels that allow them to be impactful immediately. A lot of systems in place, and great synergy between them all. [h1] The Good [/h1] [list] [*][b] World building [/b] – Just enough story to keep you engaged without feeling like you’re reading a novel. The stakes are high! [*][b] Combat [/b] – Good variety of builds, but because the best skills of each need to be researched I found I mostly stuck with two combat-oriented ones. [*][b] Teleporters [/b] – Missions start with full fog-of-war enabled, but you get to “scry” to reveal a limited area. Sometimes this reveals enemies, and you can deploy right behind them and attack, or deploy outside of their movement range and hit them with arrows. You can also teleport out an injured unit, if needed. [*][b] Missions [/b] – Missions are varied enough and tight enough to keep things interesting. I enjoyed the combat and the variety provided through having objectives with added bonuses to complete them quickly. [*][b] Developer [/b] – The game released 10 days ago, and there have been 15 patches since then! Do the devs ever sleep?!!? [/list] [h1] Suggestions [/h1] [list] [*][b] Recovery time [/b] – I found that between teleport sickness (a somewhat random debuff that units without a particular trait can get following a mission, forcing them to rest), injuries, and deaths, I had to keep a very large roster of troops in the barracks, which is quite the money pit. I usually prefer having a single elite squad that sees most of the action, but in this game I couldn’t get too attached. [*][b] Unit diversity [/b] – Because the elite skills of each class require research, and the elite equipment does as well, I mostly had the same build and same equipment on each of my higher level units. Not sure how to fix this, other than changing some core systems. I might’ve liked to have more variety, but it would have had a significant time and resource cost to do so. [/list]

I have just started playing, but I have had a lot of fun. It takes some time to understand the UI, but it starts to make sense pretty quickly. It has a very X-com feel, but I feel more like a rebel force that is outmatched and has to pick their battles carefully right from the start. Often I have to just not try a mission because the enemies are too strong or my team is too beat up. I've been able to beat even Impossible difficulty missions, but the cost is high in troops, making it not worth it, generally. It gives a strong feel of thinking carefully through what needs to be done with limited resources.

So first of all I have to disclose, that I only have 27 hours in this game since release, but that is because I have an infant at home. Still I find myself waiting for nappy times, so I can do just one more mission, before I am back to my fatherly duties! Still I wanted to take time to shine some light to this hidden gem here. This game is addictive. The small, quick engagements provide enough variety that it does not become stale. Even if you do well (which is not easy even on normal difficulty and 80 hours and 3 runs of XCom2 experience) the enemies constantly evolving, providing new challenges to overcome at every month. I also love to fiddle with character builds, especially that I started with the asian city, I can mix at least 3 types of schools in a build which gives a lot to think about. The city and map managment is fine, not that deep, but enough to make mid/longterm strategic decisions that feel like matter and shape your options which so far seem mostly equally good and feasible. The graphics are great for an indie game, has a retro charm, though I'm not really the graphics person, the gamepaly is way more important and you get the bang for your buck there. I also have to draw attention to the music which is extremely catchy! I caught myself not once humming the map's background tune away from the computer. If you'd compare it to XCom2, it's the same vibe but fantasy. A little less base management and a lot more character / team build choices. A better dynamic, quick paced, (just one more mission) gameplay. There is less dramatic story, though there are definitely some nasty surprises - no spoilers now! Oh, and most importantly the RNG doesn't fell like that signature XCom BS - miss on 9 out of 10 of your 95% shots - feels much closer to the shown chances. All in all, worth every cent, even at full price. The developers worked a lot after release on patching the inevitable small issues, and they were constantly present on the discussions which is a bonus for me. I can whole heartedly recommend this game to buy. As I said preferably full price, this team deserves it!

Simple yet interestig turn based tactic. Very condensed gameplay that focuses on fast paced combat missions, base building, research and roster/equipment management. Nothing new but everything fits together well. All mechanics work and it doesn't get boring. Sufficient variety of technologies and starting towns provide decent replayability. Game setting and storyline is quite original to the genre. I enjoyed it for fast tactical gameplay. You don't need to spend hours on preparations and just jump (teleport) right into the action and start killing and dying right and left and having fun :)

disappointing after all the hype... comabt is not tactical at all... terrain is just there and the weapons choices are minor at best... definitely does not live up to the claim of being xcom like...

Haven't finished the campaign yet but I already spent my fair share in the game. The combat system is very interesting, the way you build your characters also works well. Positioning is key, flanks are really deadly. Only shame is that you don't see who your fallen comrades where. So either clicking on the person when you come back from the mission or some obituary would be nice. Also a way to check out the characters before adding them to the teleporters. Some UX things that can hopefully be added. The game is quite janky but in a sympathetic way :)

"It's fantasy XCOM" is a pretty good capsule summary of Slaves of Magic. It has the familiar two action points which Enemy Unknown popularized, though you're quite capable of attacking twice if you don't move. Rather than your gear being bottlenecked by your ability to buy newer, fancier swords one at a time however, you can deploy as many of a newly researched piece of gear as you'd like—provided you have enough smiths on staff to handle the gear you're equipping your team with. You get the ability to start teaching your soldiers magic relatively early in the campaign; there are three schools in all, each quite capable in its own right, and you're sure to want to mix and match. Each campaign will last you ten hours or so, and as time goes on the grim human soldiers of the inquisition will be replaced by more fantasy races such as dwarves, orcs, elves, and goblins.