The Last Spell (Early Access) Review

Introduction:

Once again I am here with a new video game, but this one is a bit different from almost all the others, as the game is launching into Early Access. Though I have not experienced any significant bugs or other issues, The Last Spell is still under active development and we can expect various changes to occur before it reaches version 1.0. The version I have been playing is 0.89.3_beta and would technically be pre-Early Access by about a week.

In The Last Spell you command a group of heroes in turn-based combat as they try to protect mages casting the titular spell that is to push back the mist enveloping the world and spawning hordes of monsters. This spell is going to take days to finish and every night waves of enemies come to attack the city, with your heroes and whatever ruins remain and defenses you build as the only means to slow the assault. Failure comes from all of your heroes dying or the mages being killed, and if that happens, you can try again with another set of procedurally generated heroes against the procedurally generated enemies. Besides your experience to learn from for the next attempt, after your first campaign you will be met by two beings with the power to grant you Favors that can improve your chances. I will cover them in greater detail later, but want to make it clear that the game does have a system through which you are strengthened, even after defeat. I know I have a great dislike for games that are both very difficult and apply total-punishment with defeat, but that is not the case here.

Speaking of difficulty, there are two options available, one labelled Standard and the other Easy that offers toggles for such things as more gold and an additional hero. I chose to play only at Standard, both because I prefer to review games at the normal, medium, or default difficulty, and so I was not relying on the tweaks to make it easier. I can believe we may see a higher difficulty in the future, or that one is unlocked after you succeed at casting the spell. Sadly, I have not managed to complete Night 5 yet and so can only speculate, but I am confident my seven campaigns are representative enough to write this review.

By the way, I am referring to each attempt as a campaign because of what I consider a poor word choice at the main menu that left me confused initially. When you fail a campaign you are able to visit the two beings and unlock their Favors, and after that you return to the main menu. The label used to try again is "New Game," which confused me as my standard inference for that is for progress to be reset. As I remark in the review playthrough, I feel a label such as "New Campaign" would be better, as that, I think, implies another attempt without anything being lost better than "New Game." I also think it would be appropriate if the Favors could be viewed from the main menu, as a way to track your larger game profile, and to make absolutely clear you are not completely reset. There are some other criticisms I have that relate to the language choices in the game, but this, as potentially small as it is, would be the most significant.

For anyone curious, if you quit the game during a campaign, without abandoning it, Continue will be added to the main menu, so you are able to stop playing and return freely.

Wrapping this section up so we can get to the meat of this review, the key was provided by Tinsley PR for The Arcade Crew, publisher, and Ishtar Games, developer. As I mentioned earlier, I have captured my review playthrough, which consists of seven campaigns, each in their own video, and while I have not seen a rating for The Last Spell, my commentary may include inappropriate language at times. I cannot recall any specific moment of frustration, but regardless, the review playthroughs might not be appropriate for everyone.

With that, time to get into this review and see if we should cast The Last Spell or allow the mist to overtake the world's final haven.