The Last Spell is one big surprise for me that is hidden away in a small pixelated indie game. It’s been a long time since I can remember a game that entertained me for so many hours, but at the same time managed to upset me so much. This is a game where every death hurts you… and very badly. And even though it’s a great game, I know that The Last Spell it’s not for everyone at all.
The Last Spell is out of early access after almost two years and is showing off in all its glory. Beautiful pixel art, great music playlist and, above all, an interesting gameplay system in the form of a turn-based RPG with elements roguelike genre. These are the strengths that define The Last Spell, but let’s settle down from the start.
I have bad news for fans of grand stories. Although the opening intro contains fragments of a story about a fantasy world, war, and a destructive spell that devours all life, it cannot be said that this is an epic adventure. On the one hand, The Last Spell gives you a great idea of what is happening, why it is happening and what you should be doing, but with this idea it already works minimally. It is so important for you to know that the magicians of the world have invented such a destructive spell that it can destroy entire cities and wipe out all life from the face of the earth. This, of course, went awry and the apocalypse happened in our magical world, and the victims of the destructive spell turned into mindless mutated monsters. Humanity’s last hope is a handful of surviving wizards who have found a way to prevent the effects of a devastating spell. But at the cost of losing all the magic in the world. This is a pretty interesting sketch of the story. about “magic” nuclear weapons and their consequences. It is a pity that this idea is not worked out more deeply, because the idea is more than interesting.
But the last spell does not play story RPGs, but on the contrary, the gameplay and complexity is the main thing that the developers put their coin on. And it must be admitted that they succeeded in this area with honor. You will stand at the head of the last human bastions to protect the last mages trying to break the seals. This will then result in the final spell being cast, which will wipe the magic from the world. However, this is not such an easy task, because the cities are attacked by creatures from the magical fog, which was left behind by destructive spells. Your task is to survive the waves of enemies and protect the mages. This is where The Last Spell gets really interesting. It’s an interesting mix of genres. It is based on turn-based combat, where each character moves square boxes and uses mana and energy to cast all sorts of spells and attacks in the style of X-Com and other similar turn-based strategy games. Following the classic RPG model, you equip heroes with various items that have passive and sometimes active abilities, while at the same time improving their stats and various bonus skills according to their levels.
Depending on the type of items that the heroes carry, this also determines the abilities that will be available to them. Although they are assigned a weapon at the beginning, and therefore a certain focus, this does not mean that you should leave them with this weapon until the end, and there is nothing easier than giving them different equipment and thus changing their abilities. These decisions only depend on your tactical skills, how you can use their passive attributes along with their equipment.
Of course alone the fight only happens at nightand during the day you have the opportunity to take a break from the monsters and gain strength for the next brutal night. During the day, you will have the opportunity to upgrade your base with fortifications, crossbows, and various types of buildings to produce building materials, gold, or equipment for heroes. It is this great contrast that adds the need for goodness to all of The Last Spell. tactical thinking. During the day you try to make the best use of all the resources to improve your defense and at night you try to survive on the battlefield and basically protect the mages in the middle of the village. If the monsters get to the mages, your village is finished and the game is over. At this point, the more frustrating side of the game comes into play. Because if you don’t protect the village and the magicians, you will leave. well from the start again. Well, almost from the beginning. During battles, you will receive a dark essence that you can use to buy permanent bonuses, and you can also get certain upgrades by completing challenges and tasks.
Now you’re probably thinking “why do you swear that roguelikes are frustrating, but perma-death is part of that genre!” And yes, against the system, death equals the end and you go from the beginning, I have nothing, on the contrary, the developers of this they make great use of this concept, but the defense of each village has ten nights, and if you die, for example, in the last one, where a boss battle awaits you at the same time, you will easily lose five hours of gameplay. This very problem can be very frustrating for many players and is also the reason why this game is not for everyone. And this you will die The developers do not hide that the game is a serious challenge and challenges even the greatest strategists. And speaking of bosses, they present you with a great test of how you’ve prepared over the past few days. The bosses themselves are fun and each one is unique and original. Their mechanics aren’t all that amazing, but you’ll still enjoy fighting them. And when the last night approaches and you go to it for the first time, you are rightly afraid of what the game will bring you. Maybe just in bosses are the biggest problem of all The Last Spell. Not that the bosses themselves are bad, but their difficulty is extremely uneven compared to previous days. But don’t think that the days before the boss are very easy again. But even so, all your progress is always one big, long preparation for how you manage to cope with the final boss. It’s about how you prepared the village for an attack, and it’s really always a bit about that. luck, what items are suitable for your heroes.
Luckily, it’s clear that despite efforts to make the game challenging, the developers are also trying to make The Last Spell a little more accessible to more casual players who don’t tend to get hit in the back by hardcore games. At the start of the mission, you you can select specific updates, which will help you during the defense of the village. Here you will find, for example, the possibility of having one more hero, fewer waves of enemies, more materials and a bunch of other bonuses. In the basic rules of the game, you can only select a very limited number of these upgrades, but you can also enable the limitless mode, which allows you to activate as many upgrades as you see fit. So you can define the difficulty yourself to a certain extent whichever suits you best. Looking for the ultimate challenge? You must have it. But if you’re still learning the title or are a reviewer like me, you can get through it properly.
On the other hand, this does not mean that after the game the game will become a walk in the park, quite the contrary. Even if you activate all the bonuses, the title is still quite demanding and carries bring with you a big challenge, which you can dose yourself, which I personally really appreciate.
And I really appreciate the whole audio site The Last Spell. Personally, I missed the dubbing in the opening cutscene a bit, but I can’t forgive that. On the other hand, the game’s soundtrack is excellent.. The metal music perfectly complements the subtext of the fights and fits the title surprisingly well, but judge for yourself. She and the pixel art fit perfectly into the game and look just great.
Personally, I have to say that I really enjoyed The Last Spell. As I said more than once in the review, the game is definitely not for everyone, but if you like similar genres, I can give you The Last Spell really recommend. Turn-based combat is well mastered, but the tactical construction of the town is also perfect. In short, the music is just great, and despite being a little disappointed when I had to complete the same level four times, I enjoyed playing it and I must admit that the title surprised me. If this is the game for you, you must find out for yourself. I can strongly recommend trying it.
Verdict
The Last Spell is a great title for long evenings. It’s frustrating at times, but it’s also fair and can be helpful. Great rock music and pixelated graphics make this game one of the best indie releases of the year, at least for now.
Source :Indian TV
