Sometimes reality can really suck. Especially the year of 2020 where it seemed like there was an apocalyptic event every month. A great way to escape is through the amazing world of gaming as you can create a new persona, a new life, and meet new friends, all while safely practicing social distancing! It’s all fun and games right until others don’t want to play fair and cheaters begin bending the rules. They’re hard to catch and even harder to bring down, but sometimes to catch the villains, you got to use their same methods. This is exactly what you must do in the 2-D adventure, Terrain of Magical Expertise. Developed by NEO-C Productions L.L.C., and published by 1C Entertainment, this turned-based RPG will have you playing a game, within a game.
Based off of the animated web series, Terrain of Magical Expertise aka TOME, has you playing a hacker, who must play and track down a band of ill-intentioned hackers to prevent them from causing more chaos within. There is no need to have watched or read up on the TOME web series as this game can be played with zero knowledge of the world or of its characters. The game follows the standard RPG adventure components such as having multiple areas with differing monsters, items and currency that can be found in chests or as loot from battles, as well as different character types/attributes for you to customize with.
If RPGs are not a common genre that you play, there are also plenty of tutorials to help you better understand the game mechanics. That being said, there are aspects of this game that are still a bit harder to grasp, even with these instructions. Not all key controls are familiar buttons when playing PC games and the timing during battle scenes is difficult to master. For example, it is crucial to hit the attack buttons at the appropriate times to execute consecutive attacks. However, there is no indication of when these moments are and this could mean the difference between landing just one hit or seven.
TOME does start off a bit slow, especially with the progression of the story, but this eventually picks up later when the player obtains more members to their party. Fighting the other “players” within the game is the main way to progress the storyline as fighting the monsters that spawn on the maps is essentially a time waster. You gain little of the game’s currency, netti, and you do not gain any experience points to level up with. The only way to increase your characters’ power and defense is through buffers so be sure to check every nook and cranny for those wooden chests.
Terrain of Magical Expertise certainly has a fascinating concept that is furthered by the great voice acting and its likable characters. However, the slow pace and frustrating timing of the battles can be a deterrent to continue with the storyline. If patience is your key attribute, you love following the journey of fun characters, and you have a soft spot for nostalgic games, then TOME will be for you.
PROS: Great voice acting and interesting/likable characters.
CONS: Timing is difficult to manage during battles, starts off slow and unable to skips scenes.
Check Out the trailer – https://youtu.be/HB_EwiZ7qdU
Terrain of Magical Expertise is available for PC via Steam.
Video games have always been a huge influence in my life and have definitely shaped me to who I am today . Some of my best memories growing up were the many adventures and stories I was able to experience and become immersed in. If my hands aren't either covered in clay, typing, editing, creating, or helping shoving food in my mouth, they would either be gripped to a controller, tapping away at the screen of my phone, or clicking away on my PC. I am always up for trying something new because why live just one life when you can live many.
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