Few things have made me happier in video games the last few years than Riot Games's decision to expand the lore of League Of Legends into other genres. More than a decade's worth of lore and worldbuilding is ripe for the picking, so I imagine Riot and the developers they choose to work with will not be at a loss for ideas. 2021's Ruined King got the ball rolling thanks to Airship Syndicate's turn-based RPG prowess, and now Digital Sun gets a turn with The Mageseeker: A League Of Legends Story.
The Mageseeker follows Sylas, a fugitive in Demecia, a region of the world known for its prosecution of mages. Sylas discovered at a young age his ability to absorb the powers of other mages, but unfortunately, the discovery led to his spending 15 years in chains. Now he's out, and he's ready to find out who's responsible for what happened to him…and where they are.
Mageseeker is a 2D pixel action RPG, and right off the bat, the unique look offers some incredible artwork. Backgrounds are vibrant and detailed, and the characters on-screen animate in such a way that their emotions come out despite the retro aesthetic. This is a gorgeous game with some amazing setpieces; in one instance that sticks out in my mind, Sylas is addressing a crowd of people who, knowing his past as a fugitive, ignore his every word. When Sylas summons a spell to get their attention, the bouncing crowd immediately stops, and the mood changes just as quickly. It's a small detail, but it speaks to how the team at Digital Sun is able to use this pixel art to properly tell the story they want to tell.
The combat system takes a nifty new direction that plays into Sylas's absorbing abilities. While he has close-quarters attacks that can deal damage to nearby enemies, his main weapons are the massive chains on each hand. Sylas can attach them to an enemy, absorb their powers, and then launch an energy attack of his own in the same element of the enemy he absorbed from.
Absorption allows for a whole mix of combat situations that kept me on my feet throughout the demo. Two enemies approach Sylas, one wielding fire magic and the other ice magic. Using Sylas's chains, I can absorb one element, in this case fire, and launch it at the other enemy with a different element and cause extra damage. It's a rock-paper-scissors layer to the combat I wasn't expecting, but I definitely enjoyed it.
The most frenetic part of the demo involved a boss battle from later in the game, but before I get into the nitty gritty of the battle, I have to mention one thing: the soundtrack to this game is incredible. Every song I heard in the short 20-minute demo was a beautiful composition – I'd expect nothing less from Gareth Coker of Ori fame – but the best by far (and the reason I bring it up) was the boss theme. It's the kind of theme that makes you sit up in your chair, fully engaged in the battle to come, and I wish I could listen to it on Spotify right now.
As for that boss fight, it went from a measured, strategic fight to enemies and energy blasts filling the screen in Vampire-Survivors-esque numbers. The boss I was fighting is important to the story, though it was never revealed in this demo why that is, but what's unique about the battle isn't the boss herself, it's that she's not my target. A fellow mage is trapped behind a gate, and I have to attack the gate in order to free her, all the while dodging and protecting myself from the big bad inches behind me. It's fast and gets tricky in a hurry, but if it's any indication of the boss fights to come, Digital Sun is on to something here.
Mageseeker: A League Of Legends Story seemed to come out of nowhere, announced only a month ago and releasing in less than two weeks. However, after having some hands-on time with it, I highly doubt it will disappear as quickly as it showed up. The demo shows that Digital Sun understood the assignment, and I can't wait to get my hands on it again.
Mageseeker: A League Of Legends Story launches April 18 for all consoles and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.com.
