7 Mages

Though it doesn't stand out much at first glance, this is actually a damn good dungeon crawler with a unique feel that I regret waiting so long to play.
The most unusual mechanic here is being able to split the party. I expected this to be more of a novelty, but it's well-used. Positioning is crucial during combat, and a number of puzzles require you to be in multiple places at once. This breaks with the usual blob paradigm and requires you to think of the party as individual agents. I would have liked to see it go even further, such as a dungeon that must be explored by two independent groups at the same time.
Music is another interesting mechanic. The stock bard trope has been expanded so that any character can play music in lieu of actively fighting, with each song supported by one or more types of instruments. The more unique instruments you devote to a song, the stronger its effects. These songs are quite powerful, so you'll always want at least one character performing in combat. Despite the large variety of songs, though, there are a few that are by far the most important. I almost always used the single-instrument looter song during combat, which increases enemies' often stingy loot drops (though in retrospect, I didn't really need to use this quite as much as I did). A really cool touch is that these aren't just buffs, but actual songs that comprise the game's soundtrack (there's no music otherwise), with the audible instruments matching the ones you're playing. These are all great compositions, but since I mostly used the looter song, that's what I heard for the majority of my playthrough.
Character development is quite interesting. Basic leveling follows a typical 5-points-per-level stat allocation, which unfortunately doesn't provide much tangible advancement past the mid-game. On the other hand, spells, songs, and weapon skills are found scattered around the island, either as treasure, available from trainers, or acquired when another mage joins your group. Once acquired, they are available for all characters. This is a strong motivator to explore everywhere you can. Oddly, offensive magic is outclassed by physical attacks pretty early on, though support magic remains vital throughout the game.
I really enjoyed the diverse biomes and their minor progression puzzles, which all have a unique and entertaining flair. You'll bait undersea creatures, ride flying lizards, resurrect helpful skeletons, and more on your travels. The undersea area was a personal favorite, as it forces you to juggle multiple overlapping mechanics to stay alive and progress. Puzzles are presented to you in purely observational language with no immediate verbal guidance. These can be somewhat obtuse at times, but there is a built-in hint system in the form of the True Sight spell that will give you a nudge. The way it works is a bit janky, though, and the hints are not always clearly translated. Enemy variety is also a bit weak, as there are typically two unique enemy types per area, but they're all very well-animated and have their own tactical quirks.
Finally - yes, this is a mobile port, but don't let that deter you. Although the interface suffers a bit from being designed for touchscreens, the game still looks great and plays very well on PC.
Be warned that there are ways to soft-lock yourself, so advance carefully and save frequently in multiple slots. In particular, do not let your mages die, and do not attempt the dragon dungeon until you've cleared the ship (it's possible to do these out of order, but it's clearly not intended).
Overall, yes, it's flawed, but it's fully worth your time. A bargain at full price for dungeon crawler fans.

Steam User 1

Reviewed 4 weeks ago

Though it doesn't stand out much at first glance, this is actually a damn good dungeon crawler with a unique feel that I regret waiting so long to play.
The most unusual mechanic here is being able to split the party. I expected this to be more of a novelty, but it's well-used. Positioning is crucial during combat, and a number of puzzles require you to be in multiple places at once. This breaks with the usual blob paradigm and requires you to think of the party as individual agents. I would have liked to see it go even further, such as a dungeon that must be explored by two independent groups at the same time.
Music is another interesting mechanic. The stock bard trope has been expanded so that any character can play music in lieu of actively fighting, with each song supported by one or more types of instruments. The more unique instruments you devote to a song, the stronger its effects. These songs are quite powerful, so you'll always want at least one character performing in combat. Despite the large variety of songs, though, there are a few that are by far the most important. I almost always used the single-instrument looter song during combat, which increases enemies' often stingy loot drops (though in retrospect, I didn't really need to use this quite as much as I did). A really cool touch is that these aren't just buffs, but actual songs that comprise the game's soundtrack (there's no music otherwise), with the audible instruments matching the ones you're playing. These are all great compositions, but since I mostly used the looter song, that's what I heard for the majority of my playthrough.
Character development is quite interesting. Basic leveling follows a typical 5-points-per-level stat allocation, which unfortunately doesn't provide much tangible advancement past the mid-game. On the other hand, spells, songs, and weapon skills are found scattered around the island, either as treasure, available from trainers, or acquired when another mage joins your group. Once acquired, they are available for all characters. This is a strong motivator to explore everywhere you can. Oddly, offensive magic is outclassed by physical attacks pretty early on, though support magic remains vital throughout the game.
I really enjoyed the diverse biomes and their minor progression puzzles, which all have a unique and entertaining flair. You'll bait undersea creatures, ride flying lizards, resurrect helpful skeletons, and more on your travels. The undersea area was a personal favorite, as it forces you to juggle multiple overlapping mechanics to stay alive and progress. Puzzles are presented to you in purely observational language with no immediate verbal guidance. These can be somewhat obtuse at times, but there is a built-in hint system in the form of the True Sight spell that will give you a nudge. The way it works is a bit janky, though, and the hints are not always clearly translated. Enemy variety is also a bit weak, as there are typically two unique enemy types per area, but they're all very well-animated and have their own tactical quirks.
Finally - yes, this is a mobile port, but don't let that deter you. Although the interface suffers a bit from being designed for touchscreens, the game still looks great and plays very well on PC.
Be warned that there are ways to soft-lock yourself, so advance carefully and save frequently in multiple slots. In particular, do not let your mages die, and do not attempt the dragon dungeon until you've cleared the ship (it's possible to do these out of order, but it's clearly not intended).
Overall, yes, it's flawed, but it's fully worth your time. A bargain at full price for dungeon crawler fans.
Steam User 1

Reviewed last year

There are plenty of better and less clunky dungeon crawlers but if you like the genre it is worth a play.

7 Mages

Game Discussion

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Steam User 1

Steam User 1