In the past, my partner and I followed the instructions on the box every month and ‘gathered’ with our friends to play Magic: The GatheringWe had a loose sealed version of whatever the latest set was, and at the end of the (sometimes very long) night, the winner walked home with a few premium packs and bragging rights. With Magic: Legends“Our meetings could soon migrate from kitchen tables to our computers.
Magic: Legends is a free to play “hack’n’cast” game from Cryptic Studios. It’s coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC later this year, with an open beta starting March 23. Legends asks “What if we obsessively stitched together one colossal ogre is made from Destiny 2MMO aspects with Diablo 3-gameplay in one Magic: The Gathering theme puzzle boxThe answer is a slick, if at times impractical, action game that I think is my cohort Magic play buddies will enjoy. I recently participated in a directed demo of the game, with Stephen Ricossa, Creative Director at Cryptic Studios, as my Faerie Guide Mother, and show me the details of the game and how to play.
In Magic: Legends you play a Planeswalker, the “main characters” of Magic that have incredible magical powers and the ability to warp (or walk flat) between the multiple realities of the Magic multiverse. But instead of one of Magic’s ancient heroes like Teferi, Chandra or Cloud Strife impersonator Jace Beleren Magic: Legends lets you create and customize your own Planeswalker. I find the prospect of creating my own Planeswalker like Kaya or Vivien extremely exciting. My preview didn’t include much of character creation, but from the few minutes I had to tinker with it, you have a sufficient number of options and styles.
After you create a character, you have five options to choose from for your Planeswalker’s class, with each class aligned with a piece of Magic’s foot color: Beastcaller, Geomancer, Sanctifier, Mind Mage and Necromancer. I have spent my time with the Necromancer.
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The game is top to bottom, isometric and click to move. (There are also WASD and controller assisted moves.) There are objective missions that you start that take place in specific areas. Enemies swarm around you, and you fight them in real time in battles that, if you looked over someone’s shoulder, would remind you of DiabloBut instead of relying on a weapon or wand to fight, your Planeswalker fights by collecting, assembling, and casting a small pack of spells.
There are spells like Goblin Offensive who summon goblins to fight by your side. There are spells like Zealous Charge that amplify those creatures and hit them harder, and spells like Lightning Strike that deal direct damage to your enemies. Just like on paper Magic, spells require a specific amount and color of mana, and as soon as you cast a spell, it exits your bar and is replaced by another random spell from your deck. You never know what you’re going to get, so make the most of it. You do have a weapon that can kill enemies, but only if you want to be slow and be eaten alive by swarms of enemies.
You also have static skills specific to your class (as you would see in Overwatch) and a super-powered ultimate ability that you can only use after it’s had time to recharge. (Also see: Overwatch.Your class is only important as far as the static and ultimate skills you can use. What I liked the most about the game was that there were no further restrictions on the spells I could use to build a deck. I could be a Necromancer – a black mana-aligned wizard traditionally associated with colossal constructs of flesh, zombies, and skeletons – and play a deck of cards without a single black spell. Basically that’s what I did on my first mission: I played as a Necromancer with a red / white themed deck full of angels and goblins.
What I appreciated the most Magic: Legends is that level of freedom and the great effort it takes to still maintain the essence of one Magic: The Gathering card game. If I cast a spell like Diligent attack In order to pump up my creatures, the little followers who followed me actually grew in size. You can “stairsCertain spells, just like you can “kick” cards in paper Magic, by paying more mana to get a more powerful creature or spell. And, just like on paper Magic, it still feels good Shock a creature for deadly damage when they least expect it.
I’m not as interested in the game’s story as I thought I would be. (I’m one of the few people in my group who really likes it Magic‘s lore.) You can complete Legends solo or with two other friends. There are several planes to explore, fight your friends in 1v1 PvP, and mythical-level bosses roam the overworld to take them down.
From what I saw, the thing that will hook me Magic: Legends test my courage to build deck with and against my friends. It’s free to play so I don’t think I’ll have a hard time convincing mine Magic bros to try it out. And for what it’s worth, I think they’d like it – at least until we’re all vaccinated and can “collect” safely again.