Magicka 2 dumbed down?

[AizenSousuke]

This is not a hate thread.

I just want opinions in the next question:

Do you think that Magicka 2 was dumbed down to fit playing the game with a controller (PS4)?

I am asking this because I am thinking if this is worth to buy since the Steam reviews are not going very well for this game, but I like Magicka, the first one. There are some points in those reviews that honestly, made me dissapointed of this game and glad that I did not pre-order it, but sometimes Steam reviews are not very good, so if anyone want to share their feelings about the game here, it will be appreciated.

 

[sgt.stickybomb]

I don't feel that it's dumbed down.

 

[smileyssd]

I have just started playing it.

I don't think it was dumbed down really. The one major thing I dislike is how magicks have cool downs now, but other then that it is great.
Plus you can now make black hole bombs!

 

[Zupanicarr]

I don't understand all the negative reviews, I played a few hours of it thus far, and I quite like it. It's quite different than the original Magicka, but that doesn't mean it's worse, there are a lot of things improved.
And while I've only played a few hours, I notice most of the reviewers have played less. I've also never played Wizarding Wars, but It seems people are comparing it to that unfavorably.

As a big fan of the original Magicka, I'd recommend it. It doesn't really seem any better or worse than the original, yet very different, in good ways and bad.

 

[zharliette]

Dumbed down...If anything it feels a bit more difficult and skill based. Compared to M1 at least.

 

[Peco]

I just have to say that I really appreciate the leveled, mature tone in here and the whole forum.
This is a great place and you are a great bunch of people. Glad our forums is still a hate free place.
We come here for feedback and to hang out. This is the kind of tone that makes us enjoy doing both.
Thanks for your feedback and for informing each other.

 

[ZekeHooplaman]

I think it's not a bad game by any means. My biggest criticism is the lack of equipment variety. All the robes and weapons and staves are.. boring. The first game had really cool stuff, like the Knife of Counterstriking and Holy Divider, and staves that have active abilities. I think console kiddies can wrap their head around those. I don't really miss lightning beams, but I loved the old weapons. I hope that they eventually add more equipment.

 

[Nenoxx]

Yeah I kinda miss the active parts of the staves like becoming invisible to surprise-buttsex monsters or blasting a fireball.
Also the game is reaaaaally harder than M1 in single player (made me rage ALT+F4 :d) so saying it's dumbed down is highly inappropriate imo.

 

[TehJumpingJawa]

Magicka 2 is more puzzler, less arcade button spam fest.
While it's undoubtedly more challenging & tactical, I do miss the sense of empowerment that you got from playing Magicka 1.

For me part of the joy of Magicka 1 was that from start to finish it was OTT; not afraid to sacrifice balance for fun.

The classic example being:

 

[Nenoxx]

I kinda miss the feeling of being an overpowered wizard that can eradicate everything on its way if he wants to..

 

[Pakalolo]

I don't think its dumbed down, I think it just took a few steps forward as well as a few steps back. What appears to be lazy design and a result of much recycling from Wizard Wars development.

What I like:
Able to customize equipment before playing
Unlocks give incentive to play every level
Stabler game (no random crashes as of thus far)
New magicka system makes it easier for devs to balance magicks (prevents things like Raise Dead Spam/Thunderbolt spam)
Prism magicks
Unlockables being tracked


My biggest problem is the removal of many things from Magicka 1 already previously mentioned.

Stacking elements often don't make any "visible" difference. IE. 1xRock shield looks exactly like 4xRock shield; 1xDeath+1xFrost/Fire looks EXACTLY like 1xDeath+4xFrost/Fire
Unable to combine elements into ice and steam.
No active abilities on staffs.
Weapons lacking impact (weapons don't give any bonuses/negatives besides elemental/physical damage)


The biggest thing is that these were all flaws that were apparent in Magicka Wizard Wars. These flaws were acceptable in Wizard wars because it was balanced around the fact that it was a pvp environment and there were less elements that could be queued. The fact that Magicka 2's overall feel is pretty much built off of Wizard wars is unacceptable. It feels incomplete and lazily done.

 

[Darkath]

Yes Magicka 2 feels like a lazy sequel with some more of the same game, same monsters, same spells, but with features that have been removed. I can't understand how paradox let this kind of game design fly, it's kinda against what Paradox stand for as a brand.

 

[MasterBorg]

I'll be sure to let the others in the development team know about your feedback

 

[TheArkayn]

I bought the original Magicka as part of a bundle, and it sat in my steam library for who knows how long, before one day I decided to install it. Wow, was I blown away. The original Magicka was the most fun experience I'd ever had outside of strategy games. Being a ridiculously powerful wizard where half the challenge is not killing your friends was so much fun. Magicka 2 has lost much of that charm. It's still a good game, no doubts about that, but it isn't quite on the level of the first Magicka. Everything feels too restrained. This sounds silly, but I feel like the gameplay has improved, but at the expense of the chaos and madness that was so crazy fun in Magicka 1.

Again, you still have a really good game here, and I'm enjoying it. I just miss that spark that Magicka 1 had.

 

[Angirux]

I bought the original Magicka as part of a bundle, and it sat in my steam library for who knows how long, before one day I decided to install it. Wow, was I blown away. The original Magicka was the most fun experience I'd ever had outside of strategy games. Being a ridiculously powerful wizard where half the challenge is not killing your friends was so much fun. Magicka 2 has lost much of that charm. It's still a good game, no doubts about that, but it isn't quite on the level of the first Magicka. Everything feels too restrained. This sounds silly, but I feel like the gameplay has improved, but at the expense of the chaos and madness that was so crazy fun in Magicka 1.

Again, you still have a really good game here, and I'm enjoying it. I just miss that spark that Magicka 1 had.

I completly agree with you

 

[Philantrophe]

I miss being able to knockup people high. Some fights are fun when you find a way to beat them easily. (Example: Knocking Vlad off the edge in World's End using RASE mines)

 

[Sleight of Hand]

Having never tried Magicka but hearing good things about it, I was tempted to give this a whirl as it's quite cheap and looks fun. However, I've just spent some time reading thru the Steam reviews and this forum, and decided against making a purchase - for now at least.

One thing I will say is that when I saw 'Available now on PC and PS4' I had a feeling there may have been some design sacrifices.

I'll see how things pan out in terms of patching and DLC, and then perhaps decide on a purchase later.

 

[Zupanicarr]

Having never tried Magicka but hearing good things about it, I was tempted to give this a whirl as it's quite cheap and looks fun. However, I've just spent some time reading thru the Steam reviews and this forum, and decided against making a purchase - for now at least.

One thing I will say is that when I saw 'Available now on PC and PS4' I had a feeling there may have been some design sacrifices.

I'll see how things pan out in terms of patching and DLC, and then perhaps decide on a purchase later.

Something tells me it'll be a lot better later, though it's worth saying it's still pretty good, it just doesn't live up to the original.
(Though I personally think it's not necessarily worse than the original, just better in some ways, less so in others.)

 

[AizenSousuke]

Thanks everyone for their thoughts, I think I will give it a try to the game since its not expensive, at the end of the day I love tactical and grand strategy, so if the focus of this new Magicka was more aimed to the tactical aspect, I can give it a try.
Its way easier to get good opinions here rather than steam reviews, I can see that now.
And yeah, as some said, I will miss some of the chaos of the first one. +
Maybe they can fix the lck of steam spells and thing with a patch later, and add more equipment with DLCs.

 

[TehJumpingJawa]

Just finished the campaign; sorry to say I found it utterly forgettable.
The story, characters, environments, and weapons are all meh.
While this opinion is probably not helped by clients in pubs being able to skip the host's cutscenes (this really needs fixing!), compared to the variety of environments, characters & story twists we had in Magicka 1, I found Magicka 2 a decidedly mediocre showing.

The good news is that I've come to (largely) accept the balance of Magicka 2's combat mechanics, which follows the rock/paper/scissors design philosophy.

That said, I still have a few gripes:
- strongly dislike the cooldowns on manually cast magickas; these really need to go, they're hurting the skill cap of the game.
- dislike that hotkey magickas bypass casting limitations. (e.g. you can shortcut-cast resurrect when you're wet, mitigating the need for better ward management when fighting in the rain)
- airborne stunlocks are infuriating, at least let us queue elements while in the air. Also spawn damage immunity needs to be extended to prevent knock-back too. (this would greatly improve the single player experience)
- number & variety of magickas is extremely lacking
- earth projectile charge-up speed is far far too slow.
- A lot of the combat arenas felt very cramped; like the camera is closer to the combat than it was in Magicka 1.