Developer: Tortuga Team
Publisher: Tortuga Team
Rrp: £4.89 (gog.com), £4.99 (Steam) and £4.99 (Humblebundle)
Released: 4th December 2014
Available on Steam, gog.com and Humblebundle
Played using: Mouse and Keyboard
A wizard in training heads off on her way to take the final test and finally become a full blown wizard, but the world outside of the Academy has changed since you went in. To complete your training your going to have to over come some hurdles first.
Braveland: Wizard is the sequel to Braveland and for the most part it’s no different from its last incarnation, but that doesn’t mean that this game isn’t worth a look.
Just as it was in the previous game, this is a lite strategy game using a hexagonal tile based combat.
You control Diana a young woman who after ten long years of training and study sets off to pass the final test and finally be granted the title ‘wizard’. But she soon finds out that it won’t be as simple as that.
As with the previous title the game utilizes a world map to separate the various combats and progress the story. As you wander the map you’ll encounter small camps where you can replenish your forces as well as perhaps buy equipment. But what kind of game would have only good encounters? There are plenty of battles to be had between these camps and even dungeons to grind in.
Every time you win a combat you gain coins and experience. If your units were lost in the fight some will be taken to bring them to full health.
Eventually your accumulated experience points will cause you to level up, granting you talent points. These points are spent on learning new skills making your army more powerful. As well as the talent points your ‘leadership’ is also increased which increases the maximum size your army can be.
The art style is no different than from the last game, I suppose it was a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, in fact I think it’s safe to say that most of this game follows that philosophy.
For the most part this game remains the same as its predecessor, there are only really two new mechanics one of which is the battle spell system which only unlocks once you’ve progressed to a certain point. Once you have it you are able to summon a limited number of spells per battle. You have a mana pool which decreases every time you cast a spell (depending on the spells cost), thankfully it regenerates by one point every turn.
The second is the branching skill tree that appears as you continue to play and increase, in the previous game all the skills you could acquire were laid out to see.
As I said at the start of the review just because this game is essentially the same as its predecessor doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It’s a fun little distraction with a few gags and pop culture references thrown in here or there. The whole thing should last approximately three to four hours, which is about what I’d expect for a title of this cost.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Braveland
Costume Quest
The Heroes of Might and Magic Series
