Stylish, fast-paced, action-focused, and various powers to unleash on enemies. These are all commonplace in the roguelite genre nowadays, with a few exceptions.
Wizard of Legend 2 does not veer away from those elements but is taking itself in a slightly different direction with what will eventually be a four-player co-op experience—something that is not the norm in these games.
In the early stages, Humble Games and Dead Mage have created something fun, albeit unbalanced. Wizard of Legend 2 expands on what its predecessor did so well and attempts to build a larger world with a more elegant style.
The game hits early access on October 3rd with a decent amount of content and some pretty great ideas. I’ve had a chance to dig into these early stages of release and found it a fun time despite some much-needed tweaks to its formula.
Equipping Your Arcana
The main thrust and mechanics of the game centre around Arcana. Your wizardly powers include fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, and chaos. From the beginning, Wizard of Legend 2 has you choose which one you want to focus on with your wizard. I wish I knew a little more about each one before I made this choice, but luckily, the game doesn’t tie you down, and you can combine Arcana and mix and match your abilities later on.
So, what do these powers look and feel like? I went with water at first. The primary attack is a water boomerang that whips out and strikes multiple enemies. It’s hard to describe precisely what it feels like, but it’s fun to wield as it can bounce between baddies before returning to you. Another favourite of mine was a set of fire dragons in a different ability slot. They operate pretty simply as the wizard reaches out their arm, and several spiralling dragons shoot before them.
These are just two examples, but there are dozens. And it feels like it’s an easy place to focus on for Dead Mage as they expand the game and what each wizard can do. You can also unlock more as you go. Like other roguelites, collecting items and currency to return to your home base will help you gain more powers and unlock new play methods.
My issue here isn’t that we’ve seen this mechanic repeatedly; it’s just a part of the genre, and I enjoy it. For me, it was just how difficult it was to obtain these items.
Wizard of Legend 2 Will Test Your Might
All the wizards you choose from differentiate themselves by the colour of their robe and what their Arcana loadout is. Otherwise, the two-player (and eventually four-player) co-op experience plays out the same way: the roguelite setup comes from trials you’re asked to go through. That’s why there is repetition, boss fights, and returning to learn more from your elders. It’s a decent enough setup, but it doesn’t provide anything that blew my cloak up in my time with it.
This game sits in a place that feels fun but is too unbalanced and challenging in many ways. The genre is supposed to be difficult. The player is meant to fail, learn from mistakes, and use multiple attempts to grow stronger. But for me, I never really felt that strong. Sure, the Arcana can be combined to make fun and creative loadouts, but they never felt like they did enough damage to feel powerful.
They look great, control well, sound fantastic, and I wondered which one I could wield next. But they were all just that… calm, not assertive. Bosses, in particular, hit so hard compared to your damage output that it took dozens of attempts to get past the first one.
I’m a player who enjoys a good challenge. I enjoy ramping up my abilities and loadouts in games rather than coming out swinging and owning every enemy I encounter right out of the gate. But in the early access days of Wizard of Legend 2 (so far), that build-up was far too slow. This can be tweaked as the game develops and may feel even better in co-op. I was only able to play solo.
New Team, New Style
Gone are the pixelated characters and worlds from the original; Dead Mage has taken the reigns and crafted the sequel with attention to detail. Despite some of my reservations about Wizard of Legend 2, I believe it is in good hands. This is the team behind the excellent Children of Morta, a story-driven isometric action game that hooked me through its main story and DLC a few years ago. While they may not be the same games, they share similar ingredients.
As I mentioned earlier, the game is stylish. I think it looks and sounds great already! The colourful palette is fresh air as the wizards whip through enemies with robes and flashy Arcana. Enemies are varied and fun to tackle, while the trials worlds around you can be intricate and a joy to traverse.
The music and voice work are also great. The characters carry themselves with personality as the voice actors bring them to life, even if some of the dialogue can sometimes be really corny.
Wizard of Legend 2 is in a curious place at the moment. It plays well but feels a little unbalanced. Great mechanics and ideas are at work but don’t feel rewarding yet.
And that’s the key here. It would be hard to recommend if this were a full 1.0 release. Thankfully, the Dead Mage and Humble Games teams are working to make this bigger and better than it is now. I have no doubt it will improve and feel more rewarding. There’s magic to be wielded here; it needs some time to conjure.
