I'm checking out another free eShop game again! Today, it's all about Spellbreak. BACKGROUND:
I saw the launch announcement for this game on Nintendo's Twitter. I watched the trailer and thought it looked cool, so here we are. PLOT: From what I can gather from the trailer, it seems that magic is outlawed and forbidden, and those who harness it are called Vowbreakers. There's not a lot to it after that, and the game itself (as far as I can tell) doesn't have a story component to it. PRESENTATION: The game takes on this sort of cel-shaded art style, and while it's no Wind Waker, I think it looks pretty nice. The look of the terrain is decent (and quite varied), and the visual effects on the spells look real flashy. There's not much to say about music, because it's pretty much dead silent in gameplay, and the few tracks there are didn't really do anything for me. GAMEPLAY: Spellbreak is a battle royale, but instead of shooting guns, you cast magic to deal damage. I like to think of it as an action RPG in battle royale form. The structure of the gameplay is identical to a lot of games in the genre. There's a massive world map, you choose a place to drop, you go down and collect some loot, the play area gets smaller over time, and last person standing wins. If you've played one of these before, you won't have trouble grasping the fundamentals. Before you get into a match, you select a gauntlet corresponding to an element. This determines your default spell loadout, which is your primary mode of offense. There are six elements, each with their own basic spells (the standard attack, if you will), and what's called a "sorcery" (the equivalent to a special attack or powerful skill). For example, the fire gauntlet's basic spell is a fireball (classic projectile), while its sorcery casts a large wall of fire across a small area. Each element lends itself well to different play styles, so it may serve you well to experiment to see what works for you. Casting these spells isn't free; they cost mana. Basic spells are cheap and can be cast until you run out, while sorcery spends more mana and has a cooldown. Don't worry if you run out, because mana recharges over time (unless there's another person nearby, in which case you should be concerned for your immediate survival). Mana is also used for levitation. Yes, you can sort of fly in this game. Holding down the jump button allows you to levitate up to higher elevations and hover over gaps. It's nothing complex, but it's a really fun mobility tool and makes combat more chaotic (most fights devolve into everyone zipping around the sky). Additionally, each gauntlet has levels, which increase over time as you survive into the match. Reaching these levels grants special passive effects unique to the gauntlet element. Poison, for instace, can grant you immunity to your own toxic cloud spells if you reach level 2. I thought this was a neat mechanic; these passives make each element's play style more distinct from one another. Completing matches not only levels up your player, but also your proficiency in the gauntlet element you were using. Leveling up in general gives you neat rewards like currency and special cosmetics, but leveling up element proficiency unlocks special passive skills called Talents, which you can also equip before battles. Talents are classified based on three stats: Body, Mind, and Spirit. Each skill has a set value of Talent points, and your equipped skills cannot exceed your limit (the default appears to be 6; I do not know if that can be changed). These skills have all sorts of effects, from defensive buffs that protect you from status ailments, or offense oriented skills like faster cast speed. Each element has its own unique set of skills that you can unlock, so it may be worth it to level them all up to a certain point. Instead of Fortnite's flying bus that flies a random path each time, the way you drop into the map is through an assortment of portals whose locations are random every match. I found this to be a easier way to handle controlling where you land, as the portals are usually distributed somewhat evenly across the entire map, allowing you to go pretty much anywhere. In some cases, you still have to go out of your way to reach a certain spot, but I generally had a solid sense of control as to where I wanted to go. Once you land, you'll want to find some loot, of which there are many kinds. These can be found littered about in the world, or in chests that you can open. Defeated enemies will also drop all their loot. First, you have your consumables: health and armor, which come in small and large varieties, restoring a respective amount of each stat over time. Pretty self-explanatory. Next, you have equippable items. You have boots, which increase your running speed, belts (which give you armor), and amulets (which increase your max mana). These all come in different rarities (from common to legendary), with the better ones granting higher stats. You'll want to find these as soon as possible and upgrade when you can; you will get your ass kicked without armor and extra mana can make a difference in a fight. You also have runes, which are a sort of active skill that grants you buffs. There are ones that grant invisibility, ones that let you teleport, ones that reveal enemy locations for a short period, and more. These also have rarities, with the better ones lasting longer or having less cooldown. Finding these can definitely help you out, and while you can stick to one rune throughout a match, it's not a bad idea to swap out runes depending on the situation you're in. There are also scrolls, which upgrade the Body, Mind, and Spirit stats and improve their effects. You can only get three of each, but the boosts are significant if you manage to get that far along in upgrades. These scrolls are a bit harder to come by, but defeated enemies usually drop them. Lastly, you can also find other elemental gauntlets. "Don't you already have one going in," I hear you ask. Well, you have two arms, so that other gauntlet goes on the other one, and that grants you access to more spells. The ability to wield two different elements is easily the most fun mechanic in the game. Not only is it cool to fling boulders and launch fireballs simultaneously like you're the fucking Avatar, some of the elements actually synergize with each other. For example, the toxic cloud sorcery of the poison gauntlet will explode if you hit it with a fireball, or freeze if you shoot an ice lance at it. It's a lot of fun to see what different element combinations do, and it makes battles with other players absolutely bananas as everything on the screen explodes into a million colors. Like the other items, gauntlets also have rarities, which determine the damage output of spells. Equipping a secondary gauntlet unfortunately does not grant you passive buffs like how your default upgrades over time. Finding a duplicate of your default gauntlet isn't terrible by any means, as finding one of a higher rarity allows you to upgrade. There are three game modes: squad (which puts you in a team of three), duos, and solos. You can't play the other two until you've played a bunch of squad fames, so you'll probably spend some time getting needlessly frustrated with unhelpful randoms. Solo is way more fun in my experience, but if you have a couple of friends, I'm sure the team modes are a blast. Like in other battle royales, the team modes have a revive mechanic once you're downed. Their take on it is you become this ball of light that can move around towards teammates, but enemies can get to you first and confirm the kill. I found it amusing to zip around the map in a middle of a firefight as a dumbass orb hoping to be revived. As this is free-to-play, you would be right to expect microtransactions. The only thing you can pay real money for is gold (the premium currency), and they're only used for cosmetics. The shop's daily rotation is rather limited, which I find mildly vexing, and you only get a modest amount of gold by leveling up, but other than that, this isn't egregiously bad. On the subject of cosmetics, you can change a lot of stuff, from your player card, to emotes, skins, and fun knick-knacks your character can have on their person. Some are unlocked by just leveling up, but the rest are found in the shop. I wish I knew the scope of what was available, but the shop's limited selection doesn't help with that. VERDICT: Spellbreak is a fun spin on the battle royale formula, with simple spell-based combat that has a respectable amount of depth to it. In a genre slowly but surely getting saturated with loot-and-shooters (I have nothing against those, mind you), I appreciated the more fantasy-style setting and a visual style that doesn't feel overly realistic. I likely won't stick around long-term, but I have enjoyed my time so far playing a few matches. This game is free, so check it out for yourself and see it's for you. Don't worry; there's crossplay and cross-saves, so you can carry over progress on your preferred platform and play with anyone regardless of console! Here it is on the Epic Games Store: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/spellbreak/home - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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