There are plenty of nods to make sure the player is connected with the world, an abundance of climbing for instance, as well as light environmental puzzles which require magic to keep those hands busy. There’s smooth movement, teleportation (or both together), snap turning of various degrees, a vignette and support for lefties, which covers most base needs. A minor gripe but one that was noticeable when trying to move around the environment whilst engaging multiple enemies.Īs for movement and the overall immersive qualities of The Wizards – Dark Times, Carbon Studio has players well covered. This meant the system could get confused as to whether you were activating a grip function when simply pressing the trigger. Testing The Wizards – Dark Times with Valve Index also caused casting problems as your hand naturally grips around the controller. However, in the heat of battle there were a number of occasions where trying to cast the Arcane Shield would bring up a fireball, or vice versa. Generally, the spells aren’t difficult to master as it just takes repetition. There’s enough of a mix for an abundance of strategy options when engaging in battles. These include the homing Radiant Missiles for those distant enemies and electrical Storm Nova for stunning nearby opponents. Then there are their powerful secondary functions, all activated by bringing both controllers together, pressing grip and then pulling apart. Then there’s the shield which is a horizontal arm motion and super useful now that you can have one in each hand. The fireball is the first you learn, activated by a flick of the wrist whilst holding the trigger. Some of the same spells return whilst getting an upgrade. You can also be completely ambidextrous with your conjuring, casting spells in either hand – great for double fireballs. This has been one of the big upgrades from the original, providing hand/arm gestures that aren’t overly complicated, becoming intuitive with practice. These are introduced gradually so you aren’t suddenly overwhelmed trying to learn the various gestures each requires. While the story is decent enough, it’s your narrator buddy Aurelius who keeps the journey light-hearted with the odd quip in the quiet moments between fights so not to be distracting.Īs a mage, all these fights require magic with 11 spells to learn over the course of the journey.
This sets the scene for an epic adventure across a mixture of regions from poisonous swamps to lakes which don’t exactly obey any physical laws. This has altered the inhabitants, turning the elves into a plagued army called the Unlit while others have become more aggressive. Still set in Meliora, this time the magical land has been twisted and taken over by a dark force called the Umbra. The levels aren’t constrained like they used to be and the spells feel more powerful and natural to wield, yet the experience seems shorter with less to do. Originally The Wizards – Dark Times was going to be an expansion for the original title but Carbon Studio rightly did away with this idea, envisioning a grander adventure with more freedom to do what you want. Now there is a sequel, The Wizards – Dark Times, expanding on the original premise that conjuring spells shouldn’t be a button press away. Back when VRFocus reviewed Carbon Studio’s The Wizardsin 2018 there was also The Unspoken, Wands and The Mage’s Tale. Of late there seems to have been a real drought of fantasy, magic-based virtual reality (VR) experiences, a genre which was once teeming with new titles.