On the lookout for an open world game of some effect to take me away into a new world of magic and mystery, I found myself upon the Steam Store page for Realms of Magic. Initially after an open world game of splendour and beauty, I was instead intrigued by the offering of a 2D Terraria-lookalike that promised much more.
Realms of Magic is a game that promises you freedom of choice. A game where you can choose your own story however you see fit. Perhaps you will be a grand adventurer of great renown, or perhaps you'll cook up the finest pies in the land. I like that in a game. And it was half price, so why the hell not? 😁
You can find Realms of Magic on the Steam Store behind these blue words.
Let's get started.
There are many races to choose from, most of them with interesting racial abilities. The gnome's ones amused me. It's a weakling, playing it is akin to hardmode, no one will ever call you a filthy casual. 🤣
I decided to go with the Human though, for my first little tutorial playthrough. Humans seem to be the Jack of All Trades, so to speak, so I figured that would be a wise first choice. There's a little character customiser after you select your race, which is lacking but welcome.
"Lacking? It's a pixel game, so of course it's lacking?" you might say. But I come from other pixel games where there are most assuredly more hairstyles and colours available. Still. It'll do.
I create my character and accept the option to run the tutorial.
After doing all the preliminaries, I was greeted by a cutscene! With no subtitles. It's 6 in the morning as I open and play this for the first time, I have my volume down low and no, I don't have my headset on. I can't hear a friggen word the voice over man is speaking and I can't read the words either because there are none.
Sigh.
The images give the gist though. This is a land in peril. Welcome to your new life.
The tutorial is pretty standard. I escape bandits, fall down a hole, traverse the underground and find a dark elf who offers a small bit of help before he dies.
We have some standard pickaxe-work to dig through a cave-in and find the next area. And I did my way straight into an underground castle complete with strange wizard.
If the multitude of RPG's I've played have taught me anything, it's that an adventure doesn't start until you kill some rats for someone. Lo! This magical man has a rat problem in his basement and sends me forth to annihilate the little beasties... not because he doesn't like them, but because he needs their entrails for a ritual later.
His basement looks pretty creepy. Not going to lie. xD
Either way, this strange magician preparing for a strange ritual teaches me how to do basic combat, crafting and using tools to hoe up the dirt and plant flowers... until some Witch Hunters come along and murder him before my very eyes. They can obviously see that I'm no threat and direct me to safety at a nearby village.
Travel is pretty standard. Open up the map and teleport to a new area you may have unlocked via the art of conversation. I can also go to a rat pit apparently! But I decide to just go to the village. Knowing my luck those rats will be Epic Rats of the Evil Variety and will murder my brand new human and a split second.
In the village I'm supposed to look for a Blacksmith, but I talk to everyone else instead. I can ask people about the village, if there are any jobs around, and there are a few people who will train you if you have the coin. Which I don't.
I also talked to some soldiers who were cheering on a Captain Kael. I am offended that this captain stole part of my name.
After speaking to everyone in the village, I finally talked to the Blacksmith who tasked me with gathering some sticks and ore and making some war axes for the soldiers. On my way to deliver these things, I stumbled across the village idiot who happily told me about how he enjoyed watching this couple snuggle in the hay. Wink, wink. Voyeur.
After delivering the war axes to the Captain Who Had Stolen Half My Name, he asked me to scout a local area as his soldiers had gone quiet. Sure, I said, and off I went... only to be met by a dozen bandits.
The combat in this is fairly easy. You have stamina that you need to watch out for, as if you don't have any you can't attack or block. I'm now wondering if there is archery combat in this instead, that's more up my alley, being ranged.
I returned to town to deliver the news to the Captain of Kaels, that his men were dead and I, a lowly untrained peasant, had defeated the bandits that had vanquished them.
He said it was a test and I could now be a part of his soldiery. I... simply said Bye and ran off. I don't want to be a soldier. I want to be an adventurer! I want to see if I can build my own home somewhere, explore for treasure, and hoard it all in my vast mansion in the wilds.
As I ran away from the captain, I discovered — no thanks to any tutorial — that there is a hunger/thirst system in this game and my person was getting quite thirsty. Woops. So I hopped off to the Tavern and rectified that little issue. Apparently I can gather water from water sources and fill empty bottles too. Good to know.
Now that my person had a supply of water bottles, I decided to look at the map and explore the nearest empty plains area around the village. The information says that it's 'sandbox' here, so I assume I can do whatever I want.
In this area I find jute to harvest, chickens that I can't feed yet as I don't have food for them, trees to chop down, wolves to kill, caves to explore. Nice!
This is also where I discover that I have two talent points and a massive talent tree. There doesn't appear to be archery, but I can spec into swords, axes, maces, daggers, or spears, there are several magic trees to choose from including necromancy! And a basic lifeskill tree where I can get more health, stamina, and other regenerative things.
I explore the land, dig up sand, chop trees, kill chickens xD and other, more violent beasties. There's ore underground, of course, and I imagine there is treasure and things under there too if only I dare look.
Most importantly, I can indeed build! Yes, my shack in the screenshot above is basic and unfinished, but from what I can tell there are many building materials and a lot of furniture and things you can craft, a list that grows longer as you further hone your crafting skills.
So far I have only touched the surface. And I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far!
Now that I've dabbled in it a bit and have learnt the basics and see that I do indeed enjoy the game, I'm totally going to start a new character with intent for a proper in-depth playthrough!
Quests, do-what-you-want, talent trees, magic, crafting, building, exploring, farming, a world full of lore if you read the books and talk to the people... it's all there and I'm going to fully sink my teeth into it! 😁
$15 well spent!
Until next time!!! ✨
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 