Author Topic: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?  (Read 42032 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Goatmeal

  • Mastermind
  • *****
  • Posts: 775
  • Liked: 579
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #60 on: December 25, 2018, 08:34:05 AM »
Well, there WAS a reason it wasn't on GoG as we both know... :)

It's not considered "old" enough to be a "Good OLD Game"?...   ;D

MusicallyInspired

  • Villain
  • ***
  • Posts: 119
  • Liked: 120
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #61 on: December 25, 2018, 09:38:06 AM »
Yeah, like The Witcher 3. Man that is one OLD good game.

MusicallyInspired

  • Villain
  • ***
  • Posts: 119
  • Liked: 120
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #62 on: January 30, 2019, 02:36:34 PM »
It's out! You can pick it up at Steam, GOG and Humble for 10% off!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLcT8l-G7J8

shoptroll

  • Lackey
  • **
  • Posts: 53
  • Liked: 27
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #63 on: January 31, 2019, 10:10:07 PM »
Only two hours in but liking it so far!

MusicallyInspired

  • Villain
  • ***
  • Posts: 119
  • Liked: 120
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #64 on: February 13, 2019, 09:22:02 AM »
For those interested, the game soundtrack is now available to buy on my Bandcamp store. 92 tracks (12 bonus) with over 2hrs of music plus 4 album cover art variations for each mage type.

$12 CAD (or $9 USD)

http://music.brandonblume.com/album/mages-initiation-original-game-soundtrack




Athanasius

  • Testers
  • Lackey
  • *****
  • Posts: 51
  • Liked: 25
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #65 on: February 14, 2019, 02:06:27 PM »
I've waited all the years from 2012 for MI, craved every screenshot and video piece... now Mage's Initiation is here - and I have to confess: I find it underwhelming. I don't even know why exactly, it seems to be a very refined game with beautiful graphics and great voice-acting. I didn't play very far into the game, I have to admit, but while playing I began to feel the irresistible urge to play QfI. Now I'm playing QfI once again and I'm enjoying it like the first time. QfI has so much charme, character and self-irony I haven't found in another game. The impression of exploring a vast valley is so well done. I seriously know no other game that gives me such a pleasurable feeling of adventuring (not even the QfG-games). QfI is one of the few games I play when I feel down, and it works wonders to cheer me up. I consider it to be one of my very few absolute favourites in thirty years of gaming. Oops, I'm getting off-topic here with my rambling praise... ;) I'll definitively continue MI at a later time, somehow it just couldn't catch my attention at the moment.

Blackthorne

  • The Big Boss.
  • The Bosses
  • Mastermind
  • *******
  • Posts: 4946
  • Liked: 2812
  • Marmite is the Devil's Seed
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #66 on: February 15, 2019, 08:31:12 AM »
This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about my game, and it really amazing to read something like that.  I know that a lot of people put a lot of love and talent into QFI, and I know how much life, blood, sweat and tears I put into the game.  It's nice to know it has connected with someone the way it has with you, Athanasius. Thank you so much, really.


Bt
"Any statements made by this member of Infamous Quests is his own personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Infamous Quests. Any official statements made about Infamous Quests by this member will be clearly identified as such."

Athanasius

  • Testers
  • Lackey
  • *****
  • Posts: 51
  • Liked: 25
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #67 on: February 15, 2019, 12:18:16 PM »
I thank you and your team for the dedication you put into QfI! :)

Nowhere Girl

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 44
  • Liked: 22
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #68 on: February 15, 2019, 04:03:37 PM »
I like "Mage's Initiation". Well, at first I got the impression that differences between classes are really small, but later I got used to it. Graphically speaking, it is one of the most beautiful games ever. Combat sequences aren't perfect, but also graphically speaking it's the best among all adventure-RPGs I have played (QfG 1-4 + 1-2 remakes, QfI, "Heroine's Quest" and "Mage's Initiation" - I haven't played "Hero-U" because it's mostly 3D :(*). The spell icons and decorative borders look beautiful, I have even set the bar's opacity to maximum so that I could admire it in all its beauty, without the rest of the area peering through the bar. What I find a bit missing is good, consistent storywriting - the game rather drags on at first, feels unimmersive... only somewhere around the middle the story gets more interesting - not really through the "planned" plot of D'arc's quest (though the places he visits are beautiful), it's rather the conspiracy he discovers that really makes the game more exciting.
I hope that more parts will be made, but the developers wrote that they just can't spend almost 10 years making each part, so they are looking for some publisher who could help speed up the process.
*Btw - the cartoon cutscenes in "Mage's Initiation" are definitely ugly and just don't suit the rest of the game at all. I don't dislike cartoon graphics either, for example I really like Humongous Entertainment's games, particularly the Pajama Sam series - but, well, in "Mage's Initiation" these cutscenes look much worse. They would be much better if they were done in a style similar to the intro and outro.

MusicallyInspired

  • Villain
  • ***
  • Posts: 119
  • Liked: 120
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #69 on: February 15, 2019, 05:49:38 PM »
I feel bad about people being so critical of the cutscene animations. Not that the criticism is not founded or unfair, but for the sake of the animator, Akril. She's been a longtime member of the Sierra/adventure community and is a great artist. She is also the designer of the "Adventure: The Inside Job" trilogy of games. But she was not involved in any other facet of the development process. The animated cutscenes were a stretch goal addition during the Kickstarter campaign. So she was not part of the original team and was hired on to tackle that. I think she did a great job considering. She did what she was best at. But the problem is that her style clashes with the style in the rest of the game (including the hand-painted closeups). The game probably rightly deserves the criticism, but I just hope Akril doesn't take it all too badly. Some people have been very harsh about it. I haven't seen her comment on it so I don't know. Perhaps it would have just been better if that wasn't a stretch goal and the game stuck to the regular game art/sprites for those sequences. Or even just some of the hand-painted closeups.

Chadly

  • Senior Villain
  • ****
  • Posts: 373
  • Liked: 170
  • Gender: Male
  • Guinness it's not just for breakfast anymore!
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #70 on: February 16, 2019, 11:00:25 AM »
   From what i have seen of this game it is good. I haven't played it yet. I will tho. Have to say I don't care for the main characters voice. This game certainly took a long time to make, and least what i have seen they did a very nice job of it. I like the selective icon choices. (Sierra style/Lucas Arts.) I will buy this game and give a play-thru when I have time.  On a different note, I very much enjoyed Hero U, yes it was 3d. I would have preferred a 2d style. Yes it has bugs, which have been corrected. For the amount of money and time far more than they Kickstarted over 2 campaigns, Im happy with what I got. I got what I org pledged for.  Many detractors. One guy trashed the game. attacked me personally for supporting it. I actually got banned for a month for KS for Engageing said Troll/Asshole.
**********Chadly*********************

Chadly

  • Senior Villain
  • ****
  • Posts: 373
  • Liked: 170
  • Gender: Male
  • Guinness it's not just for breakfast anymore!
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #71 on: February 16, 2019, 11:02:45 AM »
@MusicallyInspired I very much enjoyed your music composed for the game. Nice job and impressive. :)
**********Chadly*********************

Blackthorne

  • The Big Boss.
  • The Bosses
  • Mastermind
  • *******
  • Posts: 4946
  • Liked: 2812
  • Marmite is the Devil's Seed
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #72 on: February 17, 2019, 05:10:17 PM »
I've really enjoyed Mage's Initiation so far.  I haven't beaten it yet, and I'm totally playing it old school style - a chunk at a time! It's nice to play a QFG-like that I didn't make! It's sad that it takes so long to make these kinds of games, and the budgets we have to work with!

The cutscenes..... they definitely clash with the art design of the game, and honestly - they should have been cut.  A decision should have been made at the executive level.  The clash in art design between the animated scenes and the rest of the game is SO disruptive... Akril did a fine job with them, but it just doesn't fit.  I know how it is, too, holding on to something because so much work as been done, but sometimes you have to throw it all out and start over.  But other than that, Mage's is absolutely beautiful and a wonderful game.  I really do get sad that all of us adventure game makers can't just crank these games out in 9 months-a year.  I'd love it if we could sell enough to do that. Unfortunately, the market just doesn't support it.

Bt
"Any statements made by this member of Infamous Quests is his own personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Infamous Quests. Any official statements made about Infamous Quests by this member will be clearly identified as such."

MusicallyInspired

  • Villain
  • ***
  • Posts: 119
  • Liked: 120
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #73 on: February 17, 2019, 10:08:35 PM »
@MusicallyInspired I very much enjoyed your music composed for the game. Nice job and impressive. :)


Thank you, sir! Remember, you can also buy the soundtrack! ;)

shoptroll

  • Lackey
  • **
  • Posts: 53
  • Liked: 27
    • View Profile
Re: What do y'all think of "mage's initiation"?
« Reply #74 on: February 24, 2019, 10:23:17 PM »
The cutscenes..... they definitely clash with the art design of the game, and honestly - they should have been cut.  A decision should have been made at the executive level.  The clash in art design between the animated scenes and the rest of the game is SO disruptive... Akril did a fine job with them, but it just doesn't fit.

Agreed.  Didn't Al Emmo (which I didn't play) have a similar issue?

I know they were a stretch goal (god, it's so frustrating to see games get burned on stretch goals, happens way too often sadly) but I wonder how much it would've cost in terms of time and resources to have done them "in-engine" instead.