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Quantic Dream, the studio known for rich storytelling games like Detroit: Become Human, announced something completely different last month. Broadcasters’ records It is a competitive 3v3 action strategy game, which promises to have an element of ongoing storytelling. The game just announced that it will enter closed beta from December 4 to 7.
Spellcasters Chronicles follows the general template of a massively multiplayer online battle arena game like League of Legends: your team fights along three lanes, with player-controlled characters assisting waves of computer-controlled minions as they rush toward objectives (“life stones”) deep within enemy territory. Player characters have different classes and abilities, giving them specific strengths and weaknesses.
I played an early version of the game earlier this month to get a feel for the gameplay loop and general atmosphere of Spellcasters Chronicles. The usual caveats apply: this is an early release of the game, so things haven’t been optimized, features may change, etc. I should also point out that one or two games isn’t much material to judge on, so I’ll focus on the broad strokes.
Based on a quick game and a half, here are the three things I hope the game changes.
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Surprisingly, we came back to win this one.
Put more action into your business strategy
The game I played, which came down to the final seconds, seemed to be decided primarily by the strategic decisions of the two teams rather than individual play. Our opponents summoned a Giant early on, a massive creature that helped them control most of the map, but my team worked together to stop it before it damaged our Life Stone (each team’s most valuable structure). We used this momentum to flip a lane and eventually destroy one of our opponents’ lifesavers.
At the end of the match, the other team made another giant push while one of our teammates had a long wait to respawn. But we stocked up on resources and were able to spend everything on eliminating the giant before it snatched one of our lives, even though we came very close to it.
Those big swings seemed to come down to our strategy, rather than relying on hitting shots or important abilities, which is what I would have liked to see in an action and strategy game like this. And the deck-building elements of selecting ability cards to bring into the match, which were limited in our playtesting, further tilt the game toward rewarding strategy over real-time combat skills. This is certainly unheard of in MOBAs, but I’d like the balance to shift more towards the action side, or at least somewhere in the middle to reward great games.
Existing action items need some help
To be clear, the game has action elements, but they probably need a little tweaking if Quantic Dream wants to stand out. Flying around the map using dash abilities and pouring spells when summoning an enemy was fun, and by far the most dynamic part of the game, but other parts of the action fell a bit short.
The biggest thing for me was that I felt like it was impossible to hit other spellcasters with basic attacks and abilities due to the time it takes for projectiles and the small hitbox of spellcasters. Maybe the struggles were specific to the spellcaster I was playing (the Swamp Witch), but about halfway through the game, I just gave up shooting enemy spellcasters because I felt like a stormtrooper from the Death Star shooting Luke Skywalker. The Swamp Witch is listed as a duelist, so I was hoping to feel more useful in 1v1 matches against other spellcasters.
Unlike traditional MOBA games, players must summon minions manually, rather than them automatically appearing from their base. This gives you some control – you can choose which path you want to deploy them on, and when you gain control of the map, you can deploy them at the top of the path. But spending time summoning minions felt like a chore, even if it happened very quickly. There were times when I wanted to rotate to another lane, but felt like I had to wait to summon more minions in the area I was currently in. In fairness, the deck I chose was quite heavy on minions rather than spells or other effects, so other versions may have a different experience, but that doesn’t change the fact that the practical summoning process really slowed down the game for me.
Titans are massive creatures that can swing a match, and fighting them was among the highlights of my experiences.
The art style is attractive and fun, but difficult to read visually
The game features a bright, lively art style that makes spells and parts of the scenery stand out. But sometimes, there was a little pop. I’m a long-time Overwatch and Marvel Rivals player, so I’m no stranger to a barrage of particle effects, but there were moments where I got completely lost in Spellcasters. Three-wheeling a giant with spells in front of a glowing lifestone can be quite visually disorienting.
In the visual style of Spellcasters Chronicles, size is power. Ultimate abilities have massive areas of effect, and the most powerful summons, Titans, are kaiju-sized threats roaming the battlefield demanding your attention. Overall, I think this works, but when those big elements come together, it’s hard to decipher what’s going on.
Half of my screen is particle effects, which makes it difficult to follow the game’s events.
What’s next for Spellcasters Records?
Spellcasters offers an interesting twist on a popular game genre, and it actually does a few things right. Games last 25 minutes, which helps avoid the classic MOBA pitfall of feeling trapped in unwinnable games or slowly achieving victory for 45 minutes to an hour. (Although 20 minutes might be sweeter.)
Seeing a giant charging towards your Lifestone is suitably exciting, and summoning one feels nicely catastrophic. It’s one of the game’s biggest strengths in the current state.
But I hope Quantic Dream spends some time tightening up the action elements and some of the visual chaos. The early game state probably wouldn’t be enough to break into my rotation for other competitive games, but if spellcaster combat seemed more consistent, and if the game relied a little more on landing shots and spellcaster abilities, he would be a more serious contender.