The new Master of Magic is a very faithful remake of the original game from 1994 in all the good ways. The tile system has been replaced by a hex grid which is much better than the 'fat cross' for cities. The movement of units is basically doubled which improves the pacing of the game a lot. The graphics and user interface are so much better. And so while the overall game mechanics still feel very faithful to the original game - the experience as a user feels very modern.

The original game was a gaming classic that many other fantasy 4X games have used as inspiration. And there are some great games in the fantasy 4X genre. The thing I really love about this remake is that the game is on the easy end to start learning but can ramp in ways that can stretch you strategy gamers. I urge you, if you are wanting to see what the AI and gaming challenges are like, to try and find gameplay footage from the middle of the game (around turn 100 onward). The game absolutely shines when opposing armies of experienced units are fighting it out.

I think it is important to mention that this is a 'Master of Magic' remake, not a 'Caster of Magic' remake. If you are used to playing Caster of Magic you may be expecting something quite different here. I would have loved a Caster of Magic remake but that was not the brief to the developers and I think they threaded the line between being faithful to the original, and making it modern, brilliantly. As a remake they can't have the apples fall too far from the tree but from this baseline it will be very exciting to see where the game can now be developed.

My biggest issue with the game is the Surveyor Mode is very much like the original and that would have been a lot better as map overlays. So not really much to complain about overall.

At time of writing this review I've got about 60 hours in the game and I'm still coming back for more. It has such a breadth of gaming experiences. I'm also really looking forward to see where modders take the game as well.

For me, this is one of the most exciting releases of 2022. Loving it.

Cheers

DasTactic

The new Master of Magic is a very faithful remake of the original game from 1994 in all the good ways. The tile system has been replaced by a hex grid which is much better than the 'fat cross' for cities. The movement of units is basically doubled which improves the pacing of the game a lot. The graphics and user interface are so much better. And so while the overall game mechanics still feel very faithful to the original game - the experience as a user feels very modern. The original game was a gaming classic that many other fantasy 4X games have used as inspiration. And there are some great games in the fantasy 4X genre. The thing I really love about this remake is that the game is on the easy end to start learning but can ramp in ways that can stretch you strategy gamers. I urge you, if you are wanting to see what the AI and gaming challenges are like, to try and find gameplay footage from the middle of the game (around turn 100 onward). The game absolutely shines when opposing armies of experienced units are fighting it out. I think it is important to mention that this is a 'Master of Magic' remake, not a 'Caster of Magic' remake. If you are used to playing Caster of Magic you may be expecting something quite different here. I would have loved a Caster of Magic remake but that was not the brief to the developers and I think they threaded the line between being faithful to the original, and making it modern, brilliantly. As a remake they can't have the apples fall too far from the tree but from this baseline it will be very exciting to see where the game can now be developed. My biggest issue with the game is the Surveyor Mode is very much like the original and that would have been a lot better as map overlays. So not really much to complain about overall. At time of writing this review I've got about 60 hours in the game and I'm still coming back for more. It has such a breadth of gaming experiences. I'm also really looking forward to see where modders take the game as well. For me, this is one of the most exciting releases of 2022. Loving it. Cheers DasTactic