Played on PC
Over the last couple of years, the Diabloid subgenre has clearly entered a new renaissance: here we have the content-rich Diablo IV, the incredibly atmospheric Path of Exile 2, and the promising Titan Quest 2, which will visit our screens this year. However, projects of this scale and level of development always have one significant nuance – they are extremely demanding of the player’s time. Especially if you like to experiment with different builds and do not experience excessive torment at high difficulty levels. And although this can hardly be called a disadvantage, sometimes you want something easier, something that can entertain well, but does not require tens of hours in return.
The Slormancer is just that – a fun and easy game where you can build a powerful build in literally half an hour or an hour. At the same time, this approach does not deprive it of gameplay depth and interesting features.
The game does not have an open world like Diablo IV, and each raid is a single quest to close rifts, defeat enemies or a boss, or find the nearest exit.
⇡#A frivolous adventure
The Slormancer demonstrates its lightness and irony from the moment you choose a hero. Or rather, as the game itself calls them, a “hero” — after all, the local mage, knight, and huntress are absolutely not eager to set off in search of adventure. The master of the bow complains about low defense and survivability, and in general came to the gathering point because of the promised croissants; the armored fighter is not eager to fight because of low damage and vulnerability to the elements; and the virtuoso of spells did not want to come at all, but his grandmother made him. And yet, one of them will have to join the campaign and fight hand in hand with the legendary Brian Pumped (orig. McRipped; here and below — the author’s translation of names and terms, because the AI translation built into the game brings back memories of “spent” localizations).
But before embarking on a dangerous adventure, we have to complete a small task: bring Brian the source of his incredible power – a special drink. An easy job turns into a tragedy: Brian is poisoned by a protein shake, and with the death of the settlement’s defender, a global disaster occurs – almost all the inhabitants of this town evaporate, and only we, under the wise (well, almost) guidance of Brian’s ghost, can do something about it. And now the “hero” has an epic quest that will take him to ominous cemeteries, gloomy casemates, intricate labyrinths of gardens, a mysterious academy of magicians or … to the royal kitchen.
Orange is the favorite color of Diabloid fans
It is from these seedy places that we have to rescue the villagers. And for saving them, the villagers will not only express gratitude (usually in a rather ironic form), but will also give a couple of plot hints and/or offer their services. Some – crafting items, some – buying and selling equipment and chests with random items, and some – revealing the potential and strengthening low-level things that you don’t want to part with because of good effects. By the way, the villagers are quite charming, with simple but expressive characters, and a lot of different situational jokes in stock. And although not all the jokes reach the goal, the humor in The Slormancer is pleasant and relaxed.
But, of course, we do not embark on adventures for the sake of jokes, but in the name of fights with hundreds of monsters and victories over ferocious bosses. And here The Slormancer does not fail, because each new location offers its own features and challenges. For example, in each new zone, we are waiting for enemies unique to the area; or instead of a standard run through a dungeon, there may be a fight in an arena with several waves of opponents; and sometimes everything can be significantly complicated by a sudden cataclysm! For example, enemies will explode after death, causing damage around themselves, or leave a trail of lava, which is also unpleasant to step on. Another cataclysm makes our opponents stronger, reducing the damage they receive by fifteen percent. And the most severe type of disaster, in my opinion, is a pillar of light chasing us throughout the location, regularly appearing a couple of steps away from us along the trajectory of the “hero”, and causing enormous damage when hitting. Perhaps the only foray that I had to replay three times, and which required serious concentration and a slight revision of the working build.
The peculiarity of garden labyrinths is that almost every task here requires finding a way out of the interweaving corridors. At some point, this becomes incredibly boring!
⇡#From “heroes” to Heroes
Despite the presence of many complications, it is difficult to call The Slormancer a truly tough game. Hordes of enemies are annihilated quickly and without any problems, and bosses, although they throw some challenge, do not pose a really serious threat, unless there is a huge gap in levels between the “hero” and the enemy. The project simply does not strive to make you sweat over more and more new challenges, because its goal is to entertain.
This philosophy is also evident in the character builds, with almost every active skill being fun to use. Whether you’re annihilating hordes of enemies with the mage’s chrono blades, the knight’s mighty sword swing, or the huntress’s immortal arrow, each of the eight abilities for each class is enjoyable to use. True, you can only equip two at a time, so at some point you’ll want to settle on the ones you enjoy most. However, you can change your active skills with just a few clicks.
Each new level of the character gives an increase to the basic characteristics, and active abilities are pumped up for a separate “currency” that drops from enemies
And it makes sense to periodically review your build, because over time (even if you don’t use a certain skill), each ability increases in mastery level, and with it additional effects and bonuses appear. For example, the hunter’s explosive arrow will be able to disintegrate into five daggers upon contact with the enemy, and the mage’s incinerating beam will double. And having achieved the necessary mastery in wielding the knight’s whirlwind, you will drag enemies right under the deadly blades.
And the “heroes” also have specializations. Upon reaching level ten, you can choose an additional skill and a corresponding additional upgrade tree. For example, an armored fighter can choose between an “honorary knight”, “spontaneous champion” or “tenacious defender”. The first specialization will open the possibility of placing banners on the battlefield that provide bonuses, the second will allow you to soar into the sky and land right on the heads of enemies, and the third will create an impenetrable shield that also reflects enemy attacks. The huntress’s specializations allow you to do somersaults, place turrets or even disappear from the enemy’s sight. The mage can teleport and immediately summon a clone, which, with a certain leveling, will also help in battle, create a barrier that will absorb projectiles flying at the “hero” and return them to their senders, or erect a wall of concentrated temporal magic, which will noticeably slow down enemies.
Additionally, the power of the “heroes” can be increased with the help of special stones invested in the skills of the ancestral heritage, which include auras and various passive effects.
In short, there are enough combinations of skills and opportunities for their development. Add to this an interesting weapon mechanic, where weapons, unlike equipment, do not become obsolete with new levels, but improve as you use them, and here you have a cheerful fun for a couple of evenings. Namely a couple, because most of the content, including maximum levels of abilities, can be seen in five to six hours. Together with them, the story mode will stop giving new tasks, and the game will offer to move on to special tests, reach certain heights or defeat bosses on sorties in the expedition mode.
Expeditions are special dungeons with difficulty settings, which determine the reward you receive. It’s a shame that these forays quickly become boring, and neither the plot teaser nor the prospect of gaining even more power are able to motivate you enough to run through the same type of dungeons over and over again. The lack of a network game, which is just begging to be in a project of this genre, does not help to prolong the pleasure. And if the single-player campaign has at least a plot justification for single campaigns, then the expedition mode would only flourish if there was an opportunity to team up with friends or random players to prove to the horde of monsters that you are not “heroes” at all, but real Heroes.
Over time, the screen is covered with a myriad of pop-up numbers. A real “diabloid”!
***
The Slormancer leaves behind only positive emotions – thanks to the casual humor and cheerful gameplay. Fans of the genre who are thirsty for bottomless content will most likely be disappointed – for everyone else, the project will be a cheerful, rich and easy adventure.
Advantages:
- Light and easy adventure;
- A pleasant combat system with some interesting nuances;
- Even taking into account the overall compactness, there is room for development and leveling up of heroes.
Disadvantages:
- No team play;
- Additional entertainment, such as expeditions, quickly becomes boring.
Graphic arts
The very expressive pixel art perfectly captures the cheerful and light mood of the project – even when the screen shows gloomy cemetery views or the darkness of prison cells.
Sound
Powerful abilities, hordes of monsters flying into dust and other sound effects turned out decent, although I personally didn’t hear anything outstanding.
But The Slormancer’s soundtrack is truly interesting and diverse – the music sometimes adds mystery, sometimes adds epicness, sometimes accelerates into a battle hymn, sometimes supports the comedic tone of the game with a silly melody.
Single player game
A pleasant and simple “diabloid”, skillfully entertaining and quite quickly giving the opportunity to play “to the fullest”.
Estimated time of completion
It won’t take you more than eight hours to master the core content of the game. And about the same amount of time to try out different builds, experiment with other classes, and watch the trials and expeditions.
Collective game
It is not provided. Which, of course, is not at all according to the genre canon.
General impression
The frivolous presentation and simplicity of the gameplay cycle do not cancel out The Slormancer’s decent gameplay depth and high entertainment value. And even the short duration rather benefits the project, leaving behind a pleasant impression of a bright adventure without unnecessary complications.
Rating: 8.0 / 10
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