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Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: General Battuta on March 03, 2011, 07:10:11 pm

Title: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 03, 2011, 07:10:11 pm
QFSAA

DFFE

SEDQFS

ASA

ASF

If you've got the aforementioned key combos stuck in your muscle memory you are a true mage, a man who bends the warp and weft of reality to your will, capable of destroying not just everything in your path but yourself and all your friends too.

Magicka is a superficially simple game with a great deal of depth. You play a wizard with access to eight elements, each one activated by pressing a key:

Q - water
W - life
E - defense
R - cold
A - lightning
S - arcane
D - earth
F - fire

You have 5 rune slots. Tap a key to fill a slot. Right click to cast, shift-rightclick to area cast, middle mouse to cast on yourself. As you combine elements, you get effects. Fire alone is a flamethrower spray. Arcane alone is a beam of energy. Combine fire and arcane and get a beam of fire. Water makes things wet; lightning does extra damage to wet; combine fire and water you get steam; combine fire, water, and lightning and you get electrified steam; combine that with arcane and you get a beam of electrified steam.

Fire said beam into another wizard's beam and they'll join into a Death Star laser.

Laugh. LAUGH as you shower in the exploding giblets of your pitiless foes. CRY as you accidentally set yourself on fire, or richochet a spray of frost needles off your buddy's shield and gib yourself.

Is that not enough depth? You want MORE DEPTH?

Certain rune pairs can combine into new runes! I already mentioned steam! You can make ICE! You can make well okay that's all I remember

Wait, you want MORE DEPTH?

Well certain combinations of runes are MAGICKS. Press spacebar with them held in your cast chain and you'll get special effects. There are many such magicks, some of them game-breakingly powerful. HASTE and FEAR and METEOR SWARMS and mighty THUNDERBOLTS and CRASH TO DESKTOP (not kidding, that is a spell) and 5-5-5-DEATH (also a spell)

Who wants to play some co-op Magicka?
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: StarSlayer on March 03, 2011, 07:13:41 pm
Just to sweeten the deal. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCFtiO5j97M)
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: redsniper on March 03, 2011, 08:05:42 pm
You said S twice.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 03, 2011, 08:07:40 pm
It's cold fire bro
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Liberator on March 04, 2011, 11:26:27 am
I have the demo installed on steam.  It's distracting to be sure.  Can't get past some pigmy's on a staircase tho, they have casters also and I die before I can get them.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 04, 2011, 11:28:39 am
I have the demo installed on steam.  It's distracting to be sure.  Can't get past some pigmy's on a staircase tho, they have casters also and I die before I can get them.

QFSAAA them

Or spam rock barriers, DFFFE rocks.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Ravenholme on March 05, 2011, 05:22:22 pm
Batts, I shall definitely co-op with you at some stage
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 05, 2011, 06:31:26 pm
Fantastique.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Sushi on March 05, 2011, 08:23:53 pm
Played the demo for about an hour. Experimenting with the different magic types is fun, but so far I'm not as impressed with the rest of the game... the checkpoint thing is straight-up aggravating, and I'm worried that (what appears to be) one linear campaign would get old as soon as you get through it once or twice. If they release a map editor (or otherwise make it easy for community content creators) I might have to rethink that assessment, though.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 05, 2011, 08:40:28 pm
Played the demo for about an hour. Experimenting with the different magic types is fun, but so far I'm not as impressed with the rest of the game... the checkpoint thing is straight-up aggravating, and I'm worried that (what appears to be) one linear campaign would get old as soon as you get through it once or twice. If they release a map editor (or otherwise make it easy for community content creators) I might have to rethink that assessment, though.

There's a challenge mode wherein you fight waves of spawning enemies. The game is essentially built for co-op play and you will not have much fun with it unless you are rolling with at least one other wizard. For example, in co-op you almost never need to go back to a checkpoint because your buddy can revive you if you go down.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Scourge of Ages on March 06, 2011, 12:27:01 am
I played the demo, and enjoyed it muchly. I expect to be purchasing the game soon for some co-oping. My favorite so far is Battuta's ASA "Shivan LRed".

Btw, what language are the NPCs speaking? I'd like to say Swedish, but it could very easily be Swedish for Non-Swedish speakers, or some other European language I'm not familiar with.

P.S. Magicka Vietnam = Cannon Fodder with fireballs.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: blackhole on March 06, 2011, 12:50:45 am
QFSAAA is ultimate beam spam.

Spamming lighting and arcane AOF is fairly effective as well.

Healing AOF is interesting because it boosts shields and consequently lets someone throw up a shield and then boost it to instant full health and keep it there even under an absurd barrage of attacks.

The NPCs are speaking a mix of swedish and total nonsense. The tvtropes page has several amusing examples.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 06, 2011, 08:28:23 am
I played the demo, and enjoyed it muchly. I expect to be purchasing the game soon for some co-oping. My favorite so far is Battuta's ASA "Shivan LRed".

ASA is actually the magick code for Teleport, which you don't get until pretty late in adventure mode. If you want to upgrade to BFRed go for the QFSAAA.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Sushi on March 06, 2011, 10:00:50 am
My current favorite is QRQRSAA / QRQRSSA (not really sure what the difference amounts to)
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: TrashMan on March 07, 2011, 01:59:52 pm
I like this one..will purchase it.

Then maybe we can play co-op :)
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Titan on March 08, 2011, 09:06:37 am
I've wanted this game since it came out, I'm just a cheap bastard.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Sushi on March 08, 2011, 11:00:01 am
After finishing the demo a couple of times, I think I'm done with the game. Not my taste, I think.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 08, 2011, 11:01:22 am
After finishing the demo a couple of times, I think I'm done with the game. Not my taste, I think.

Did you read my previous post? This game is not meant to be played solo. It needs to be run with at least one other person, preferably with voice chat or in-person contact.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Scourge of Ages on March 08, 2011, 11:42:17 am
I haven't played multi yet. Is there a voice chat option in game, or do you need a third-party chat client like Ventrilo? Speaking of, is there a HLP Vent server somewhere?
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: General Battuta on March 08, 2011, 11:56:49 am
There's an HLP Teamspeak, join IRC to get the address. And I don't think Magicka has any ingame voice.
Title: Re: Magicka (the best game you're not playing)
Post by: Sushi on March 08, 2011, 12:09:31 pm
After finishing the demo a couple of times, I think I'm done with the game. Not my taste, I think.

Did you read my previous post? This game is not meant to be played solo. It needs to be run with at least one other person, preferably with voice chat or in-person contact.

Of course I read it. :) Obviously, coop isn't an option in the demo, so I'd have to buy the game before playing it the "right" way. That seems like a bit of an oversight if the game is meant for coop and you want people playing the demo to have the best experience possible, but whatever. I'm not sure how much the multiplayer aspect would help anyway: I just don't think it works for me as a game, on a fairly low mechanical level.