Fantasy games have the potential to do extremely well in virtual reality. Especially the concept of slinging spells as a wizard is something many users would love to explore. Mage Guard: The Last Grimoire for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift is still in Early Access, but the game certainly has a lot of potential. Although it is still a wave shooter, slinging spells at a horde of enemies feels oddly satisfying. Don’t pick up this game if you care about background stories, though, as it makes very little sense.
Mage Guard: The Last Grimoire is Very Likable
It doesn’t happen all that often fantasy-related wave shooters are enjoyable. After all, most wave shooters in VR look horrible and play uncomfortably. Mage Guard: The Last Grimoire is certainly a different game in this regard, as we thoroughly enjoy slinging spells at waves of enemies. It takes a lot of effort to get this concept right, but the developers did a good job. Even for a game in Early Access, it is evident this project has a lot of potential. One downside is how the background story isn’t fleshed out that well, although that is not a deal breaker.
One of the main selling points of this game is how you cast spells in virtual reality. It seems like a simple concept, but there is a high chance the developers make it overly complicated. Mage Guard: The Last Grimoire does the job extremely well, as you draw runes in the air. This is how most wizards would perform magic and spells in real life as well. There are two main types of spells you will use most of the time: fire and ice. The runes are easy to remember and drawing them in the air takes a little practice to get right.
Do keep in mind the Early Access version of Mage Guard: The last Grimoire only has six spells in total. That isn’t all that much, but more content is expected to be added in the near future. Unfortunately, there isn’t much variation as to how these spells behave right now, which feels like a missed opportunity. Then again, things may still change as the developers keep improving the game over the next few months. It is a very simple game in its current iteration and we would like to see more variation in spells and some different difficulty settings.
On the enemy front, there are four main types we managed to identify so far. There are three levels to play, thus it is still a bit early to tell whether or not more types will be added in the future. The enemy AI certainly needs a lot of work, though, as the game feels a bit too easy right now. Moreover, with just 30-45 mins of gameplay available right now, the developers still have to add something in the near future. So far, the game is still fun to play and we enjoy casting destructive runes quite a bit. However, to justify the $19.99 price tag, we expect a lot more content and variation.
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