➤ The magnificent seven 🎮

When the legendary Roven Island is besieged by demonic creatures, its inhabitants decide to hire seven powerful wizards to protect them: this is the incipit of 7 Mages, the new title developed by Napoleon Games for iOS, Android and PC, in this case available in Early Access on Steam.

It is a dungeon crawler with traditional traits, indeed characterized by a very slow start and a learning curve not suited to the usual immediacy of mobile gaming., without suggestions or indications on the interface, something that could put in crisis especially the casual gamers. Having overcome this obstacle, however, some interesting variations on the theme are introduced, in particular the possibility of controlling up to seven characters in place of the only initial wizard, which gives the gameplay a not indifferent strategic substrate. The game immediately catapults us into action, starting with the first of the fourteen scenarios available with a view to a rather long and demanding campaign, gradually more complex. The approach adopted by the developers in this regard seemed to us the best possible: you can play up to the fourth setting completely free, then decide whether to buy the new levels individually for 99 cents or unlock the entire experience for the price of 6,99, XNUMX euros. At that point, you can be sure, you will have a precise picture of the product and you can decide whether or not to invest your money to fully enjoy it.

7 Mages is a great exponent for the dungeon crawler genre, an interesting and challenging title

Underground

7 Mages has two configurations for touch controls: the default one works by gestures and allows you to advance, reverse, turn or discard to the side by drawing lines with your fingers in the respective directions, while a second option has virtual buttons for greater precision . During our tests we found both solutions valid.

The icons at the bottom of the screen find a function during "combat mode", which is activated as soon as an enemy appears on the horizon. When he is within range we can hit him with conventional weapons or use magic, while always keeping an eye on the values of vitality and mystical energy, which can be restored by taking potions or simply taking a nap if possible. The combat system works in turns and, as already mentioned, the strategic depth of the game takes on different connotations as you progress, you unlock new characters and skills, collect objects to enrich your equipment and so on. At first, even in this case, the situation is a bit desolate, slow and boring, and the same should be done for environmental puzzles: very often opening doors and activating mechanisms requires somewhat obscure reasoning, so it could happen that you stay stuck because you don't understand how to solve a puzzle, and this factor will artificially increase the duration of the adventure. However, it must also be said that the fast moving function, once the map is recalled, manages to smooth the corners of an experience that with less care could also have become tedious due to excessive backtracking. On the technical realization front Napoleon Games did a great job, with settings that are certainly repetitive in their elements (see the textures on the walls), but with a precise personality and capable of creating a great atmosphere. Also thanks to a functional and well-chosen sound accompaniment.

Comment

Tested version iPhone (1.0.31019032) Digital Delivery Steam, App Store, Google Play Price 6,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.0

Readers (2)

Your vote

7 Mages is a great exponent of the dungeon crawler genre, with some interesting ideas, a great atmosphere and a long and challenging campaign. We liked the model chosen by the developers, devoid of any in-app purchases other than the one to unlock individual levels after the fourth or the whole experience. Of course, we are talking about a particular trend, which you may like or not like, and which in this specific case does not discount those who try to approach it for the first time, thanks to an initial slow, cumbersome and sometimes obscure phase: a sort of proof of focus on whether this game is for you or not.