Counter Spell

nothing fancy but a good fun/cost ratio for me.

Just good clean rpg'n fun

A poor man's The Elder Scrolls game, but quite entertaining!

Six classes, lots of different game modes, an amazing map system, tough as hell enemies and full co-op for many players!
I'm not sure exactly how many people can play at once, I've seen up to five.

With this being a lesser known game there's not much outside content to help you through areas if you get stuck.
I've only found two people on YouTube play it, and there's only a few guides.
One part I really struggled with until finally finding a hint was figuring out how to access the Castle Keep in the Valley. To gain access, swim around the back to find the secret wall/door.

The price point is reasonable for the content, although I picked it up on sale for $1.99!

The game released in 2015 but has been updated and content added up until late 2019.
When playing Quest/Story mode, the last two areas seem to be missing the Relics to complete the final quests.

Overall I really enjoyed it and recommend playing it with a friend or two, or more!

7/10

I have no idea how this game got 88% positive reviews. I think the developers had good intentions, but the game feels like it was made in a week by a high schooler.

The games been abandon, if you can get it on sale somehow its a great game for a group of friends or even just you and a friend.

Just be aware, what you buy is what you get. There hasnt been an update since Nov 2019

Purchased it years ago, it was great then and still is a great game today. Play with friends and you'll have a blast. I can't recommend Reforged though in it's current state, play the original story instead.

This is not only one of the very best RPGs I have played in years, but it also has great multiplayer integration! You can play with friends with shared experience and have a lot of fun exploring a world that is absolutely packed full of content! The game has several modes, but I have only gone through the regular quest so far.

The enemies are brilliantly designed, and they each have a unique fighting style that I think added a lot to the overall experience. The combat is so enjoyable that I found myself seeking out battles wherever I could find them!

It has a LOT in common with old PC immersive sims like Thief, giving the game a very nostalgic feel.

It is not grindy whatsoever. Enemy levels do suggest a sequence of events, but in no way are you ever blocked off with a hard wall you cannot cross. It's always possible to sneak into high-leveled areas and grab some cool loot.

If you are someone who dislikes the path that games have been going down in recent years and wish that you could go back to when games were less grindy and restrictive, and allowed you to freely explore and enjoy the world at your own pace, then be sure to give this one a try! If you like this sort of game, you will sink in 6 hours at the absolute minimum if you do not try any other modes and you complete it quickly.

The way this game deals with resources is also brilliant. It reminds me a lot of Resident Evil, in the sense that I only ever had exactly how much was needed to make it through each given area. You can return to old areas and find useful items if necessary, but returning to old locations is not required.

NOTE: This game does not have a dialogue system or detailed quest lines. It's more about combat and battling your way through areas and dungeons.

Probably the best indie game i've played tbh, had an awesome time with my friend. My friend and i played it back in 2015 and leveled a character to 20. Today my friend and i played it for the first time since then, and i'm really happy to see a reforged version and work still being done.

TLDR; if you have the money to spare or it's on sale, buy it :)

Can't wait for 1.0 to ship, and the game to be feature complete! over all, its still fun, Got my 7 hurs out of a sale price of 4 dollars, so it was fair in my eyes. And these new updates are great! can't Wait!

I don't know why but I really like this.
The graphics are very pleasant, they do not distract. They immerse.

It reminds me of Strife. An old FPS with RPG elements. A town with both waterways and alleys, forests, castles, ships dungeons, sewers et cetera.
The maps are enough to confuse at times but not confound.
A solution generally shows itself soon enough.

The sound is good enough for jazz, nothing spectacular but again it adds to the game.

I have not tried MP yet, only the QUEST mode which is the basic single player RPG.
How many hours it'll take to complete, I don't know...but I'll find out.

EDIT
I have played MP and it is a hoot. The game plays at the host's level so think ahead before person A joins person B.

The graphics look better than before?

This game was a complete experience when I purchased it years ago for about 3 bucks on sale. Since then the Dev(s) have added and continued working on the entire Reforged expansion including a whole new map to quest in with each area being useable in the existing (and new) arcade style modes like survival or hostage rescue. Best of all, Reforged is just free content. Even if I end up not liking the direction it goes in, I didn't pay for it.

Years after my initial purchase I've come back, reported bugs, gotten responses and patches very quickly and played with new content. That kinda blows my mind, ya know.

This is an incredibly fun game that is easy to just jump in on and goof around for a while with friends. Its reminiscant of classics like Hexen, but I feel like everything about it is just a bit better.

EDIT: The new direction they are going with customized wands (hint: they're guns) is really incredible. Like yourself a reliable shotgun to see your way through some tough areas? Make one! Want a machine gun that leaves explosions on impact? Easily done! This is an amazing addition to the game!

Its a quaint game.


Update [10/17/2016]


Graphics had a massive improvement
Minor Gameplay changes
Devs very involved with community.
Would recommend using the reforged beta over vanilla.

[Original review]

There graphics are not really something I would judge this game on as the pictures and trailer show that quite plainly.
Its like Barony but a bit more open world. It has an adventure but Its fairly short.
I want it to be like daggerfall, I really do but it dosent do that for me.
There are definitely things that could be added and adjusted to make it have better flow like defined towns and npcs with time to breathe in between the swarms of monsters.

I think its worth the 7$ I paid for it. Its appropriately priced; it is at least a better deal than a lot of 15$ EA games.

Counter Spell should be far more popular in my opionion :) It's the perfect example, how Indie Games should be developed! Constant updates, ideas for the future, absolut playable base-game, editor + workshop support for new stuff and so on!

The Game it self is a quite good retro RPG which should catch the heart of oldschoold RPG Fans as well as of other people ;) I can absolutly recommend to give Counter Spell a try!

This is a great little game! Cheap and fun fantasy game that includes co-op and pvp modes. Pick a class and start kicking some a**! Many areas to explore and bosses to battle. Animation is a bit rought but at this price totally fair. Pick it up for a fun couple evenings of monster bashing!

Ah. Counter Spell.

How I love the.

This game is insane once you get into it. And no we're not talking rubber room insanity here. This is full on 25+ enemies rushing you and your party that total only 3 or 4 people. Sure you can have more people if they join you or if you drag them into it. But you will know when you find that other person that knows what they're doing with this game. Because then things just explode forward.

Survival is the best mode in my opinion. Endless waves of enemies that grow in level. Your level caps at 20, but not the enemies. If you can survive. As of right now, me and some other people have hit wave 200. And because I had to go, didn't get a chance to see how much longer we've could've gotten. The enemies were level 50 or 45 I believe, while again we stayed at level 20.

As for the other modes. I've not tried them much. But it mostly depends on what you like and who you play with. You can build maps then upload it to the workshop. Which the building system is a little tricky, but you can do quite a bit with it. Plus it's fun to make a map then survive on it.

Let's talk about the dev a moment. The dev is great with updates and he/she listens to suggestions and updates roll out regularly. Which is a huge plus for this game, and I love how this game is shaping up to be.

15/10 Gameplay
15/10 For the dev being active.
10/10 for the graphics
20/10 for the price

999999999999999999999999999999999999% Fun.

If you enjoyed old RPGs like Hexen, Daggerfall, Enclave, Gauntlet or Thief, buy Counter Spell! This game may be Early Access, but you're getting a quality game with tons of content for under $10.

▼ THE GOOD ▼
● Singleplayer took me 5-6 hours with the Warlock Class the first time. About 2 hours as the Shaman the next. It takes long enough that you'll feel satisfied but short enough you won't get bored. Also you can play Singleplayer with friends :)
● The game world is a LOT bigger than you'd think! It's not Skyrim big, but big for an indie game and filled with hidden passages, loot and monsters.
● Each class has their own unique spells but most of the funnest ones are at max level so it gives you something to work towards (like the "vine-ladder" spell in the trailer). The game also let's you blatantly see what spells you'll unlock when picking a class.
● Very well balanced! You should reach level 20 (max) by the time you reach the final boss without any grinding outside of killing everything you see once. The game does a good job being tough, but not impossible and has harder modes for those who find it too easy.
● Treasure and enemies respawn so you don't need to worry if you miss anything, chances are you can find it again.
● Aside from the passive quests (kill enough enemies in zone-1, collect 3 unique items from zone-1, kill a unique boss / enemy in zone-1) there are player activated repeatable quests. These are great for leveling up as most of them spawn lots of enemies in an area that's just been cleared.
● TONS of other game modes for Co-op and PVP!
● In-game Map Editor is very in-depth and allows some super complex builds.
● Constant game updates. We're talking a couple a week (depending on what's added), not once every 5 months.

▼ THE BAD ▼
● Finding other players online is a bit tough since the player base is so small. This isn't really a problem with the game, just it's popularity. If you're buying Counter Spell specifically for multiplayer, make sure you have some friends to play with you.
● Online play can be very laggy depending on the host and result in game crashes.
● The Map Editor doesn't have a tutorial and is very complicated to learn.
● Ranged enemies are all over the place making the fighter classes very difficult as a starting character.
● Combat is shooting with spells / arrows or slashing with a sword. If you've played one mage, your basic attacks won't change, only your spells. There isn't any way to "fix" this, I just found the game gets a bit grindy on your second playthrough with a similar class.
● XP drops from enemies in the form of purple crystals and forces the player to collect them. This isn't so bad at first, but try doing it for the entire game. Quests give XP instantly and even playing online shares XP as soon as an enemy is killed, so I'm not sure why the crystals are there.
● Enemy AI either "sees you" or "doesn't see you yet". When activated, they'll run towards the player no matter the distance until you or they are dead. NOTE: Minions use the same AI so they will aggro everything they see. I'm not really complaining about this feature because the AI works fine for what the game is, but I didn't consider it a "good" selling feature :P

If you want to see some gameplay, here's my First Look video where I explain the basic game mechanics and show a few spoilers about the end-game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5zmVlBg5Ss

Thanks for reading! I hope you found this review helpful ^_^ v.

Very fun game, have played it solo and with friends. With 6 classes and various game modes, has good replayability, not to mention the farming aspect to get gear sets youd want. Reminds me of a diablo but as a first person. Dev is very receptive to the community and has good communications. Would recommend higher if I could.

I love RPGs, it's my video game genre. While I did enjoy playing Counterspell for a little bit, it still needs a lot of work to make the game a lot more fun and a lot less frustrating.

For starters, spawn poins can be pretty unpredictable. I started the game at level 1, only to die in a level 16 zone. Unable to kill anything or find out where to go, I had to die at least 6 times until I spawned in a level 2-3 zone. Enemies can be overwhelming. At times, it seems like they have the eyes of a hawk and attempt to snipe you from a large distance, and if this happens, you can bet there's at least 6 other NPCs following you.

The Questing system is unfavorable. I would start a quest, fail because I died, only to complete another quest that I never started, which was pretty confusing.

On the brighter side, I love the spells, armor, and items. It feels a bit like a retro version of World of Warcraft, which I'm a big fan of.

Has the potential to be a very fun game, but still currently could use a good amount of polishing to avoid headaches and frustration.

in general, i like the game, however i think it needs a lot of work.

the questing system is bad, and the inventory system is also a bit dodgy. there could be a bit more characters in the game, NPCs that you actually can interact with. so far all i've seen is 1 vendor, 1 guard, and a few quest givers.

the game has a great style and i would love to see it being worked on.

the game will give you an hour of enjoyment, after that your basically done with it.


Good game, but not finnished. will not recomend it for now.

8\10 (10/10 for price)
Ok so first things first I dont have hours of playing time on this but from what i did play it kept me entertained. It was actully a lot more than i expected when it comes to wepons (a lot of throwables.) and the gameplay even though at first i was roming around without a clue what was going on. I honestly got the game because I was bored and wanted a game to play and thought i'd give this a go thinking i'd be returning it. Hopefully they will add a little bit more to the game from what I seen. For the price you pay its great.

Awesome voxel mage Rpg with co-op, pvp, and Steam workshop. Tons of loot, spells, and enemies with one of the hardest working and most diligent developers I've ever seen. The dev puts out constant meaty updates and implements constructive player feedback like no other dev I can think of. So yeah buy this game cuz it's awesome, has a great price point, and the dev is a complete Wizard among weinies when compared to some other EA devs/companies. I recommend this game wholeheartedly and Kudos to you Abnormal Software, cuz in the modern age of gaming devs like you truly are abnormal.