Archmage Rises

Aight so, after 39 hours of gameplay and not finishing the game (provided that there is an ending but i'll assume that there really isn't), i can provide my opinion on this.

So far this game has the potential, it has some things in there but me personally i feel like there's still some things missing even while it's in early access and at the time of me writing this. Has the classics of DnD rules, with a small complaint of wishing that there was some form of a save rolls because of undoing your work building relationship with some npc's but honestly that's something you can fix it with a save n reload even if RNG was completely unfavorable and you died because of it.
Honestly as i was playing and getting on the late game stage, i couldn't really figure out on what else to do since i'm doing the standard quests or otherwise improving npc's store level (basically you get better gear the higher the npc's store level is) leaving me hanging and confused on what else should i do rather than just simply increasing my renown status (once more, 39 hours of gameplay speaking) and things just started to feel repetitive real quick and getting bored fast.
There are some bugs that i've encountered, most notably where using storm shield resulted in my enemies bugging out before making any move like moving to the side or any other direction but before they make an attack, hard lock the game and forcing me to go back to the last save (And Pray God You Saved Before You Entered The Dungeon), as well as game showing you the dice roll where it clearly shows 15 roll, but due to some RNG sorcery you rolled 1.
There are some other problems to the game where when i'm trying to find a npc name, the town UI is for whatever reason in the way, preventing me on checking where the npc is and left with raw guessing or just wasting time, same can be said when going through inventory and trying to check what kind of book i need to read, the town UI is also in the way and can't check as well.
In overall: Obviously having this game still in early access i'd highly advise on getting it for discount with the things i've covered unless they fix the said issues and release the game on 1.O, definitely a game which i'll come back to later when i'll hear the news of it's updates or otherwise coming out fully, despite hearing from other people saying that they've gone MIA but devs are making some updates which is at late march, so perhaps this game may have some hope yet, but i'd give it a pass for now.

Ambitious with massive potential. Needs support to stay afloat. This could turn into an excellent vehicle for RPG storytelling and turn-based tactical combat. Id hold off on buying for now, unless you like to support development. As of 01.03.25 this game is definitely NOT abandoned, and is updated and worked on regularly.

wow... heroes of might and magic, mixed with might and magic. 10/10 banger.

Got no clue why everyone review bombed this a couple months back. Its like nobody read any of the announcements from the devs. Idiots just hop on a bandwagon with no knowledge of what is going on. At least its back up to mostly positive, but there are heaps of negative reviews saying the game has been abandoned and its not likely those dummies will change their review to positive. This game has huge potential and the devs obviously care about putting out a good product. If you are one of those people who left a negative review thinking this game was abandoned, you are the reason gaming has gone downhill. Rather than dogpile on some indie devs, why dont you do your own damn research and form your own opinions before writing some bs review.

The Dev is back from hiatus and is working hard with a lot of new ideas. Please give this man a chance he deserves this, there is a lot of potential here for a game that will be no like the other.

I really appreciate how much the dev is communicating, updating, and keeping this game alive. I cannot wait to play the finished product. I am so sorry that the publishing deal fell apart.

The games development is in doubt, wait and see.

BEWARE!
This is very early acces, a lot of stuff is not in yet.
It might never be. Look on the forums, there's been a lot downtime since update + questions if there is gonna be funding.

But what I've seen gave me so much joy that I just have to support it. This is a little bit niche, so look at a playthrough before you buy

its got a classic rpg feel too it which is cool, and a deep sim experience. still rough around the edges, and the dungeons all look the same lol, but ultimatly fun.

great Old School Feel game

its a fun game

Dev has bitten off *way* more than he can chew and what is currently in the game is horrifically undercooked. It's a super expensive tech demo where the tech isn't even that impressive. The odds of this actually becoming anything worth buying are incredibly slim.

Dev is making a bunch of what if or what do's and promises. wait and see don't throw your money at dumbasses who look basic financial sense.

Was promising...
Some drama story about dev.
Don't expect it to be finished in Jan 25.

Vaporware.

Fun RPG :)

Update after reading the update from nov 19th: I think there is a great game here and the dev has had some short commings, I think even from what is here now, the game is worth the $15, I hope the developer does what he can! I support this game!!!

TL;DR For the price of 15.99 US, for a development team who have posted near-weekly updates since EA release, and who are having problems and suffering heartache, I STRONGLY recommend this game to anyone who has the funds to help. For the price of supporting people in their time of need, you will receive a hand-crafted labor of love with beautiful art and and a lot of depth with a real future if they manage to bounce back from their misfortune.

The game has a surprising amount of depth already after only a year in constant development. I have been following it's progress since shortly after release and the dev team is small and talented. The art and writing is excellent and the rolling die is a very nice, crunchy TTRPG touch.

I honestly feel like a jerk that I haven't reviewed this game earlier. Please don't let it get an undeserving Steam score from a community of vocal gamers with plenty of time and so little heart that they would kick people when they are down.

The game is quite good, but due to a lack of funding, all updates are delayed. A company that was supposed to help has gone silent

DO NOT PAY THIS MAN.
The developer "Defiance Game Studio" is now being run by a single man. Because all his employees QUIT. They quit because HE FAILED TO PAY THEM AT ALL FOR NINE MONTHS. And now he's not able to work on the game for "personal reasons" for another two months, too.
So while the project itself seems very ambitions and the finished product might have been fun, I CANNOT support this type of employee abuse. The company is now embroiled in a labor lawsuit regarding the unpaid wages, a clear violation of the Employment Standards Act (they're based in Canada). He basically wanted to own programmer slaves, and eventually they all stood up and walked out on him - and rightly so.

Here is the latest newsletter for the game, in which he cries about being cheated by a mysterious publisher but ultimately he was responsible for his own team and he FAILED by endangering their livelihoods and stealing their hard work.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/506480/view/6833743964072313353?l=english

Ultimately I don't care how fun a game is... at the end of the day he CHEATED his own employees and they walked off the project because of it. He broke the law in doing so. And now it seems like he'll have to work on the game alone, which will increase the planned release date to... when exactly? "Uncertain and indefinitely" I think. And yet he still expects gamers to throw money at him?? That's the biggest form of disrespect, and theft.

Please do NOT support this type of behavior. Do NOT support this game. Maybe someday if he gets his head out of his arse and settles his debts to his former team FIRST, but that will likely take a couple of years if it happens at all. As a community we should NEVER be supporting liars, cheats, or thieves. We should be supporting people and companies that have integrity and DO THE RIGHT THING instead.

Wow!

The Head Developer of this project coats himself in silence for nearly half a year...
...then posts a statement which I just don´t want to dignify by commenting it...just: WOW!
...triggering the vague hope that in spite of being bancrupt, having lost his team and lacking a publisher he and his wife will finish the game from January 2025 onwards...
...and - of cause - during all those months the game was kept purchasable in early access while the developer must have known that the chance to adequatly complete this title was rapidly worsening from month to month.

Investing in early access games means: Sometimes you win (investing in developers with a solid plan regarding project and finances and showing responsibility) and sometimes you lose (investing in developers lacking a solid plan and not caring for their investors). This game developer belongs to the second category.

DON´T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Game was fun but there won't be any more updates (Abandoned), dev reliability seems more like those Crypto Bros as they were sprouting all the buzz words like spent millions on developing this game which is not true. (Not actual money but their own opportunity cost such as quitting their job and developing the game, real or not we don't know) and establishing Roadmaps but missing all the target dates and 99% of the roadmap features shows that it's either they are first time developing a game or a cash grab team. Worst of all, some people actually spent $40 on this game until they dropped it to $10 later on.

Not worth the money unless development resumes. So close yet so far. Real shame.

Dead Game don't waste your time and money

So this turned out to be a scam. Dev gone. Game dead. RIP. You win some, you lose some.

Abandoned, no updates in 3 months, devs keep going on about not corporate shenanigans, do not buy, will update this review IF updates start back up

abandoned

no news from the dev team in the last 5 months - consider it abandoned

Downvote is purely based on my personal preference, has to do with what i really dont like.

Im someone who doesn't enjoy the feeling of age creeping up on your backside in a computer game from the moment you start the game.

It gives me the instant feeling of, jup nope, it doesnt matter what you do.. you better do this and hurry up before you die.

Especially when i see how much time it takes when you travel just one hex, it feels like death is just breathing in your nek even do, aparently you do have more then enough time to get to the main end quest and do extra, i personally just dont like it.

(I died within a couple of days and that actually gave me a sensation of relief from it. Besides this, the game is great but i just dont want to play it any longer becouse of it).

Was very excited for this game. But the developer has been MIA for a long time now. I don't mind development taking a while but the total silence makes me feel like this project is going no where. Hopefully i am wrong but only time will tell.

Awesome Game. Adventurous

Game is super bugged would be good if it worked half the time. The game forces you into iron man, you spend all your money on a bugged weapon, start a new game repeat.

The game had potential while it was under active development until early 2024. Interesting setting, world generation, mechanics, the works. In mid-2024 the dev suddenly went silent and stopped doing regular upgrades after they changed their publisher/ownership structure. They then took some time off, but we've had more than 2+ months of silence, which is not okay in this situation.

At this point (Oct '24) I assume it's a classic EA-abandonware pattern until the developer actually communicates and continues to deliver regular updates.

Abandoned

Once you get the hang of it, my god does it just devour time. It's an incredibly dope wizard game, worth every cent.

Cool game, worth the price. very unique

no word of the dev for a while ( as of early september 2024), until further notice, concider the project as dead

Disappointment EA with no updates; This game is not even an EA , it's "Concept demonstrator " at best

its Fun

a lot of fun, somewhat unforgiving at times, but it really feels worth the price even given that its early access (and the dev has a clear roadmap and plan for expanding and finishing this game, is very responsive)