I really rarely make proper reviews. But MAGI was such a fun game I couldn't resist to write a complete and full review. Believe me, when I do, they really are complete. I write these in the same way GameSpot does. Tilt is a bit the same as orginality, or what sort of outstanding features the game had.
8.6 ~ [color=green]Great[/color]
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Value: 10
Tilt: 8
Once in a while, there's a game released by someone very anxious and willing to stride forward and improve the game; this is sadly not oftenly seen in games made by Game Maker. However, MAGI is an exception, and one with good margins as well. The author, Thomas Grochowiak, released the game as a WIP and took every suggestion and feedback from seriously helping people in consideration. As new versions were released, the graphics, gameplay and many critical game elements improved greatly, showing that the author really put effort into making the game what it is today.
In MAGI you play as a choosable magician; whether you want to be a sorceress, magus, witch or even more orginal tricksters such as technoliches also inflicts a massive amount of different skills unique to each character. Each character also has an edge in some ability, whether you want to be a fast-casting tank launching murderous fireballs into your opponent, a sneaky curser relying on protective and decryptifying magics or even a summoner conjuring beasts to do his bidding. Once the fight really begins, you duel against an opposing sorcerer, using your skills to strategically cast spells in order to weaken your enemy.
Although not completely unorthodox, it's great fun to choose your magnificent collection of spells and skills to destroy that evil summoned beast, crush the enemies' shields or simply bring down a fiery hell onto the enemy in the shape of a meteor. Although it might sound easy, it's not. With incredibly advanced AI, the computer really makes a great challenge and even adapts to the player's personal skills. The game is greatly balanced and it's quite difficult but not so hard it's frustrating. Hectic, excellent music composed by Rob Westwood makes the game even more fun to play. To tell the truth, it's addictive. Great particle effects and good character artwork and a simply awesome user interface the game looks really good. But the biggest, enjoyable part is that the author has avoided to fall into that well-known gap which is known as the "monster hairyness hole". Many RPG's, such as Baldur's Gate II, have this fault in that the more powerful you get, the spells simply increase in strength. This is not the case in MAGI. Many times I have ended up using low-level spells because the "stronger" spells are simply just not strength increases of earlier spells. Firebolt to fireball to firewall to meteor? Really boring, isn't it? But MAGI avoided this by very original spells which are very different and have very many uses. Your demon got crushed by the enemy's unsummon? Just summon up a low-level swarm to disturb the enemy's casting. Broke down the enemy's shield but don't have the time to cast an powerful essance drain? Just cast a few low-level magic missiles and he'll be down in seconds. This just adds to making the game even more balanced, which is it's main asset. It's been rebalanced time after time and it just keeps getting better.
The game is not without flaws, however. Gameplay suffers from a slightly too fast-paced flow; sometimes you wish you could hit the space key to pause and choose your spells wisely like in the classic D&D games. It's also rather hard to tell what sort of new wizard you will duel the next year; they can be too easy or too hard. In the latter case, you usually withdraw a year, just moving closer and closer to the doom-day (the day when you meet Death, and duel her in a match to the... death). Moreover, the magician's actual artwork is great; but they are not animated. This makes them look like puppets, balls of colored energy flow into their staff when casting a spell and that's about it. There's no character animation at all, but it can be understood that there are over 10 characters which must be drawn in 2 ways. A Game Maker game does have limits, which is acceptable. Moreover, although the music is far better than imaginable, the game sounds are a bit annoying and badly fitting sometimes. It would be good if the game was constructed with the help of a professional sound technician.
But on average, MAGI is one of the best games done by Game Maker out there today. It's really creative and original; who would have thought about a tactical game where non-movable magicians duel? This is where the tilt point comes in; it's really quite original and has it's great moments of exceptioness which no other games have. It will offer the strategy-loving gamer or those who used to play tactical D&D a great experience. With great replay value, addiction and simply awsome graphics, music and gameplay, MAGI is an imperial success.
[i]Jonah Schreiber
Learning Curve: Takes a while
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