Hand on heart, who knows what a C64 is?
Correct!
Mostly people over 30. There was a time before the PC and today's consoles.
The C64 stands for Commodore 64 and was the first really popular Gaming PC.
In that times we used Disc to load our Games from.
There was no Internet.
But there was the Birth of Passion for digital Games.
We were amazed at new games, great graphics. Graphics about which today's generation only smiles tiredly.
But we played them, nur matter how hard they were and sometimes we have had a Trainer for it.But these Games motivated us, fascinated us, no matter how they looked.
We have had Fun and THAT was the main Reason.
Today we call it ... RETRO.

Welcome to SCHOLAR OF THE ARCANE ARTS.SCHOLAR OF THE ARCANE ARTS

(SOTAA) is a Pixel Art Game that could be out of the C64 era.
Charming Retro Style Graphics and Sounds and a simple Gameplay. Easy to learn but hard to master.So let´s have a look at this nice Pearl.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2951669688

In SOTAA you are controlling a Wizzard.
This Wizzard is more a Apprentice.
For modern Gamers, a Harry Potter in his first Year at Hogwarts. ;-)
In the Beginning you walk through a nice Tutorial that is giving you your first Spellsand how to use them. Very nice done.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2951669530

The Spells is that what you need to master the Game.
Your Spells are for attack AND defense and you can combine them.
For example, create a Fire Wall to defend yourself, but fire Spellarrows through it to make them burn and hit your opponents with more damage.
This is just one example, the Variety is very big, over 10.000 the Developer says.
So, enter Dungeons, fight your varied opponents from small to Bossmonster, solve puzzles, update your Spells, learn to use them and conter enemy spells.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2951669935

The Gameplay is very fluid.
I played with Keyboard and Mouse and it is very easy to control.Choose your Spells via Keys, walk via keys and aim with your Mouse Cursor.
It reminds me a little bit of SWEEZY GUNNER, which i really love.

The Game is in EARLY ACCESS. Momently there is one Mode, the Roguelike Mode. A Story Mode is in Progress and the Devs are working hard on the Game, updating it.The Price of 3,99 is absolutly great for the Tons of Fun.

A very big Thanks to the Developer for this nice Pearl and Flashback to the C64 Era.
So, what are you waiting for.Give it a try, dear Reader and thank you for Reading.

Scholar of the Arcane Arts is a game based around combining spells as you cast them to get more powerful and different effects. There are so many unique spells and combos that half the fun is just finding new ones.

The rougelike mode is quite challenging, but creating a spell list that combos to beat the dungeon is equivalent to building a deck and getting the perfect set up to win a game.

If you’re a fan of having as many spells as possible and crafting responses and set ups in games you play, then you might like this game.

I haven't had this much fun slinging elemental combo spells since Chrono Trigger
Dev is extremely responsive and open to feedback from the community
What's there now is an absolute blast and I cannot wait to see all the wonderful innovations to come!

I'm really enjoying what I see here currently. I love the artstyle, sound design, and core game play loop. It feels almost like a dance having to rotate spells for hidden combinations against enemies while simultaneously repositioning. There isn't a whole lot of content yet since it just released, but this is a game that I'll look forward to future updates to see how the developer improves it. Although the price tag is similar to what we now call a "Vampire Survivors Clone" this plays more like a traditional Roguelike, and has almost no similarities to VS so don't look at the screenshots then assume its just another one of those.

Another thing that needs to be emphasized: the "combine" aspect of the spells is actually a game play mechanic not a upgrade/progression mechanic. You will not be going to a menu to fuse acquired spells, but instead need to use the normally acquired ones in a way that coincides with others during the active game play segments. This isn't a bad thing, but when reading the store page description I foolishly misinterpreted the spell combining as a upgrade mechanic rather than a gameplay one. So just wanted to clarify that.

I also love that there is no MP/Mana system. Just spam your skills as they come off of cool down without needing to worry about "conserving energy". It allows to to take on each encounter to your fullest potential instead of feeling the need to ration. HP is still a thing you need to be cautious with losing, but that is a staple with nearly every Roguelike.

A few things that I would critique, or love to see in the future...

• There is a massive emphasis on spell rotation. The game is designed to make you switch to the next one after each cast. This is done through a keybinding. I was able to adapt to this quite easily because of my mouse, but for those that do not have a mouse with extra buttons this may come as a difficult thing to overcome because you would have to move your hand from the W,A,S,D keys to move onto the next spell. I think the best solution to this is to implement some sort of option "auto rotation" setting so after one spell is cast then it immediately moves to the next one the player chooses.

• There is a map you can view by pushing TAB, but there isn't a minimap option available on the main screen.

• A mild annoyance with the shift/sprint because most of the time you will be met with "there a enemies nearby". I would've rather seen that key tied to a dash with cooldown instead of a sprint that I can barley use.

• Currently only two forms of upgrades during a run. Boosting spell power, chest bonuses, and reducing spell cast speed (up to instant). Cooldowns cannot be reduced which makes sense if they want you to rotate spells, but I would just love to see additional forms of juicing up during a run.

In conclusion, I do recommend snagging this game if you are a fan of roguelikes especially for the base price. It may be worth waiting a little bit before doing so to see what direction the developer takes it. Although there is a lot of potential.

After 20 years I have finally proved them all wrong, all the haters, from my parents to those stuck-up administrators in the Hogwarts admission office who never sent me an owl. Here I am spell slinging spells and killing elder gods, don’t see Harry Potter doing that. That kid took like 7 years to learn 3 spells, me I already know so many more and the game has only been out for a day. I don’t need a group of friends to carry my dead weight like that Potter kid did, nope, its just me and my book taking on the world.

fun quick paced crawler with plenty of decisions to make

Game has amazing potential, its already lots of fun creating powerful spell combos. Can't wait to see what future content may come down the line!

This game has changed my opinion roguelikes. I feel like i am have just scratched the surface and am eager to keep exploring and experimenting with the spells. 100% recommend.

One spell good. Combining spells better. I'm a wizard.

Game is a blast. Most fun I've had playing a roguelike in a while. Doesn't fall off but I still can't wait for more content!!