Game News 7 Mages, turn-based dungeon crawler where you play a party of mages, released on Steam Early Access

Sounds neat, and thanks to V_K 's post I'll definitely be checking it out.

 

Ok, this one at least has turn based combat so that is a plus.

 

From the site (I am assuming the mobile version)

Will the PC version also have this?

My experience with games originally designed with these micro transactions built in is that they drive the games designs. If they have the store in the PC version, well...umm... yeah, no thanks.

If they take it out in the PC version, how much of the game was designed around the subtle elements to lure people to the store and what effect does that have on game play?

 

It's free-to-trial model. According to the site, you can play 4 levels for free, and if you like it you can buy the rest of the game (a dollar for each level or 7 dollars for the whole game).

For the PC version, you just buy the whole game for 8.99 USD.

 

In mobile version you download the game for free and then purchase access to each area separately. In Steam version you purchase the whole game with all areas already in.

Edit: ninjad by LESS T_T

 

Do you find that to be big flow for someone that really likes stats/builds?I may give it a shot ,but 7 characters with limited skills and stats worries me.

 

So that is all you spend money on? Just added content? No potions, items, added space, etc...?

 

If that is the case, then that solves that issue, The only other complaint I have outside of that is the fact that it was designed for mobile and a straight port.

 

Exactly. If you buy the full game, no IAPs will be available anymore. No consumables, nor other crap. Just pay 7 bucks and it's all yours . Or, of course, you can choose to buy the levels one by one, but these are permanent purchases as well.

The straight port only applies to the Early Access version. The game will be eventually adjusted for computer needs (better graphics, dynamic lighting, remappable controls, keyboard shortcuts, etc.). We just heard the community reluctant to play full-pledged RPG on mobile and made the exact same version available for PC and Mac until the real PC version is finished.

 

Frankly, I don't know. Character building is definitely not the main focus of the game. On the other hand, it's not something you can ignore either, as there is enough space to fuck up a build, and to be most effective you have to specialize.
Also, you start the game with only one character and have to recruit the others, it's kinda the main quest (you're free to develop them in any way you like though).

 

Here's how the character sheet looks like.
The stats (str, spd, mag, cha) are improved on level-up, skills (the right column) improve with use (very slowly). All the secondary stats are derived from the main four. They also determine you access to maneuvres, spells and songs, and all gear has stat requirements too. See for yourself if it's enough to sate your number-crunching urge.

 

This looks really good. Was the trailer from the Android version or wtf it looked pretty good for that.

 

The gameplay is from iPhone 6+. The opening and ending sequences are actually captured on Mac, but still in-engine. The Android version looks exactly the same though.

 

Jesus Christ, I was wondering why have we been getting only shitty looking slotmachine games when something like this should have been possible. Good job, Johnny!!
I want to try it now.

 

Well, it was a though decision that came with a price . We had to narrow the market quite a lot. Unlike the slotmachine games, you actually need pretty high-end device with OpenGL ES 3.0 (HTC One M7 being the bare minimum, requiring to play on low quality setting; Nexus 5 is mostly fine with HQ). We got some hard time about it from the fans, but I still beleive it was worth it. Also, the optimization sessions were living hell.

 

Just purchased it based on my fellow Codexian's semi-optimistic posts. We'll see if Codexian game opinions have indeed fallen to a new low or if this truly is a gem in the rough.

 

The port also works perfectly well and is a finished game, what they are doing is improving the UI and the graphics to make better use of PC facilities.

One bad thing I can say is that the English translation definitely needs more work, there are some very rough, barely understandable passages.
Another bad thing I can say is that enemies don't always react when you fireball them from afar out of combat, this needs to be fixed.

 

The mobile versions are indeed finished, but there is obviously always a room for improvements. We will definitely update it with some bugfixes, we might implement some player feedback, and if the game is popular enough, there is plenty of ideas for future expansions of the title.

The PC version is a direct port of the mobile game in the Early Access phase, but the graphically superior version with further PC adjustments is already under development. The EA version will be updated eventually, but the gameplay will stay exactly the same, and we plan to keep the save games compatible as well. So you can buy it now before we raise the price if you like .

The translation issue worries me as the translator is actually a native speaker (Irish, I think) and professional czech-to-english game translator. Do you have any examples so we can fine-tune it in future updates, please?

The combat thing might be actually intentional. It's being discussed a bit on the Steam Forums.

 

Gameplay:

 

Well, for example, a lot of spell descriptions go like this. I'm not a native speaker, of course, but I am a C2-level speaker, and to me all those "wounds in the element of fire" and "determines the size of the wound" sound exremely awkward. I'd use "sets the target on fire" and "determines the amount of damage" instead.

 

It's a booming market.