I have been playing an action rogue-lite indie game called, Secrets & Spells by Alchemist Interactive. I wrote part one of my A Quick Look about it here. At that point, I had cleared the first floor twice and died fairly quickly on the second floor. The only reward you get for beating the first floor boss is two full red hearts and one yellow heart (shield). Each hit costs half-a-heart, so basically, six total hits. Of course, if you have less than 2 full hearts worth of red heart damage, then the reward isn’t that meaningful.
It’s a minor complaint, but a complaint, nonetheless. I appreciate the hearts, obviously, but it’s just a weird reward. I would rather get an artefact or a spell (the former modifies the latter) as a reward, which is what most games of this ilk give you when you beat a boss. Still. I don’t want to be too harsh on this point because health is always welcomed.
Wait. No. I want to say a bit more. Here’s my issue with it. At the very beginning of the game, it’s a good reward. You start out with a full three hearts, which means you can take six hits. There will be light *SPOILERS* throughout this post, but nothing super big. I don’t think. Or rather, there isn’t much to spoil about the game. I mean, I could spoil the secrets, which I won’t do. The characters are, sadly, pretty forgettable and interchangeable. What do I mean by that?
I mean that some of them are clearly based on Potter characters, but in general, the students were just generic kids who you would not notice on the streets. You get one or two original pieces of dialogue from them that give you background color to the school, but nothing more than that. They also give you tips for the game, which I appreciate, but it doesn’t make them more personable, honestly. I will say that I don’t know how deep the game goes, so this may change the further I get into the game. I kind of doubt it, though.
I do appreciate the four different student factions (gee, does that sound familiar? Complete with a different color for each faction?), just to shake things up. I like that you get different clothing as you do certain things for each faction. Such as using a spell from that faction in a run. I really like the style of the game. It’s cute and cartoon-y, and it’s just all around cozy.
Back to the bosses. I just did a run in which I beat the second floor boss. Easily. I have not yet explored the third floor so I can’t talk about that. I quit out after beating the second floor boss because I was tired at that point.
I was disappointed in the second floor boss, honestly. It was a bit more varied than the first floor bosses (I have run into three different first floor bosses), but much easier. I will get to that in a minute. The getting easier part, I mean. Let’s talk about the bosses. Hm. How can I talk about this without spoiling anything?
This is a light spoiler, I guess, but not really a big deal. There is a covert group (or maybe not so covert?) who are doing somethnig or the other to move the plot along. They seem to be properly nefarious and plotting to do something or the other. The first floor bosses are three different minions of this organizations. They have different elemental effects on their attacks, but they’re pretty similar in terms of the attacks themselves. Except one can do telekinesis (which I can do) and lightning; another can do spawn toxic enemiles; and the third is fire-based.
All three rely mainly on AOE, which is frustrating to me because I have terrible reflexes and really bad spatial recognition. My biggest criticism about the bosses, though, is that they are boring. Very underwhelming. And they look exactly the same except for a palette swap with their robes/hoods. (Fire is red; electric is yellow; poison is green).
The second floor boss has the same character model and robe/hood with their robe/hood being two colors rather than one. And they have a bit more complex fighting style–that’s really stretching it, though. There is one added element to the fight (and, remember, I have only met one of the bosses), but I managed to beat this boss while only taking two hits, if I remember correctly. Again, it was more tedious than exciting. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong, but I felt all the way through the first floor that I have been doing potato damage.
This has changed somewhat now that I’m leveling up some spells, but it’s still *sigh*. I know balance is difficult in these kinds of games, so I can’t be too hard on this game. There are two guys working on the game. Two. I am much more lenient on small teams than big ones.
I will say that for me, the utility of the spells vary so wildly. As I mentioned in the last post, you can have three spells at a time (and a potion). I find myself using the basic pew-pew, jostle, and shield quite a bit. I will slide in other spelss as needed, but these are my go-to. And pew-pew is 90% of my boss fights because jostle doesn’t seem to worke too well on them.
I don’t have all the spells yet. I don’t have all the upgradess for said spells. I also don’t have all the artefacts (modifiers), so I hope that those will add more to the game. There is a breadth to this game, but not much depth yet. Yes, there are secrets on every floor, but they seem to be just puzzles for the room to get rewards–not secrets that hint at the bigger story. There are those, too, of course, but they seem very few and far between. One of the several students I’ve rescued (Robin, I think their name is), wants me to keep them updated about the secrets I’ve found in the school. I have gotten maybe two new dialogue options from them? One before going into the school and one after beating the first floor boss for the first time. I assume I”ll get another piece of dialogue after I finish this run.
Oh, and the principal of the academy has disappeared as well. No one knows where she is. She’s been nosing about in the school, and she probably stumbled over something she should not have. Or, and this is just wild speculation, she’s the reason behind the shenanigans.
I think it’s a solid game. For people without my dexterity/spatial issues, I’m guessing the combat will be on the easy side. The graphics are cute and charming, and the story is good enough for what it is. It’s not amazing or out there, but it’s sercivecable and agreeable.
I do enjoy getting pieces of clothing for fulfilling different quests for the four different student factions. I like dressing differently from time to time, and this feeds that desire to play grown-up Barbies.
One thing I’m curious about is that you can change the time in the hub world, but I don’t know if that actually does anything meaningful. So far it hasn’t–but I haven’t unlocked everything by far. That’s it for now. I may do one more ‘quick’ look on the game. Or not. We’ll see.