Incline Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, by inkle studios (Steam, iOS, Android)

[Azalin]

So which platform is the best one for these games, pc/steam or mobile/tablet?

 

[AetherVagrant]

I enjoy them on mobile, especially tablet. the controls work very intuitively for touch screens, and they are the sort of game that stand head and shoulders over other mobile competition, but I feel there are more complex and immersive titles for my time on pc. Sorcery and Banner Saga are probably my favorite things to run on my tablet, whether while on a long trip, or just to take out into the woods and play for a while without being in the darkest dungeon of the desktop.

 

[HoboForEternity]

finally finished it. i admit i am a bit burnt out in book 4 (due to libra not being there and playing them all in a row)

but that was such a great adventure. explore, investigate, fight, outwit, outspell, your enemies until the great final showdown.

the C&C is MASSIVE and i wonder how much endings there are

i got:

Spoiler

i take fynn to the archmage, took the book of magical prisoner, then forced the archmage to read it and he is imprisoned. in doing so, i released vasquesh or whoever the lady is, who is the previous archmage. i chose to stay in mampang so i can study magic, undo the ZEd curse and become the next archmage. the crown of kings was destroyed

the new game+ is such an awesome addition. definitely will play it at least 2 more times in the future. great game, great game.

 

[Infinitron]

HoboForEternity I want to add Book 4 to the Codex curator. What's unique and/or particularly noteworthy about it compared to the previous books?

 

[HoboForEternity]

HoboForEternity I want to add Book 4 to the Codex curator. What's unique and/or particularly worth praising in it compared to the previous books?

well for once,

little gameplay spoiler here:

Spoiler

positives:
-it's more "hardcore" than the previous one, since for plot reason, in the main city you cannot rewind as you please (instead there are "check point" system hidden troughout the city) (some example, there are rewind system similar to majora's mask. if you "rewind" everything you do will be undone, but you will retain items, knowledge, clues. NPC wont remember their encounter with you, but you will remember, both your character and your meta knowledge)
-it is part of the strategy on how you play the game too. for example, if you get killed by guards, or get trapped then rewind, there will be a new dialogue choice on evading those guards or trap)
-overall, it is the same experience as the previous ones, but some improvements, for example the counter spells plays a big role in this one.
-mampang is a great, memorable setting with alot of secrets to find. also probably the least linear one. (the games aren't exactly linear, but this feels the most free out of 4)
-endings are satisfying, and ALOT, i mean ALOT like TONS of ways to defeat the final boss (some of it even affected by your decisions in book 2 or 3, especially 3) aside from what i did, i figured out 2-3 more strategy to defeat the final boss, and even a super-hard to find

negatives:

-no free rewind can also be frustrating since everyone forget what you do. if you need someone's help, you have to talk and navigate trough dialouge over and over again everytime you rewind.
-it also VERY ABUSEABLE. duplicates everywhere. since you retain your items every reset, you can go back in time, buy/loot the same thing over and over again. i have like 5 sun jewels and alot of magical artifacts.
-the same thign apply for money. there are gambling place where you can obtain alot of money. because resetting retain your stuff, you don't have to worry about money cos you can always go back and play swindlestones and earn tons of coins

there you go Infinitron

 

[Jaesun]

I bought Books 1 and 2 and played the first game for like about 30 minutes or so, but this is really a fun game so far. Much more enjoyable that I thought it would be. Lot's of choices and a pretty solid magic system (from what I can tell). Interesting combat system as well.

I probably didn't prepare all to well for my journey (provisions), so I expect to die of hunger relatively soon...

 

[Gunnar]

I bought Books 1 and 2 and played the first game for like about 30 minutes or so, but this is really a fun game so far. Much more enjoyable that I thought it would be. Lot's of choices and a pretty solid magic system (from what I can tell). Interesting combat system as well.

I probably didn't prepare all to well for my journey (provisions), so I expect to die of hunger relatively soon...

Small hint: provisions aren't all that important for the first book.

 

[---]

They aren't important at all: in my Sorcery! 1 "perfect run" (max amount of items gathered) I didn't buy any provision during the game (there are some occasions in which you can collect free food, though). Instead, it's better to save the money for equip and magic ingredients.

Also, beware, because Chapter 2 and (especially) Chapter 3 are huuuge (I still didn't try the fourth chapter - thanks, fucking work & life ), and muuuch more complex than the first game

 

[HoboForEternity]

Chapter 2, 3 and 4 are waaaaay bigger. 2 introduce us to this huge sprawling city, 3 have new timeywiney mechanics and 4 give us the majora's mask rewind mechanics as well as spell counter.

They are all brilliant games

 

[Darkzone]

I have bought them in October, but still didn't managed to play them. Are they like the play books?

 

[Gunnar]

I have bought them in October, but still didn't managed to play them. Are they like the play books?

Yeah they're just games made from the books. There are some minor differences, like in the books you would cast a spell from a pool of words and if you got it wrong you would lose stamina, that doesn't happen in the game. I've only played 1&2 so far though, the others could diverge more.

 

[---]

There are a lot of major changes in the narrative and in the C&C.
Overall, no.

I have bought them in October, but still didn't managed to play them. Are they like the play books?

Yeah they're just games made from the books. There are some minor differences, like in the books you would cast a spell from a pool of words and if you got it wrong you would lose stamina, that doesn't happen in the game. I've only played 1&2 so far though, the others could diverge more.

Well, the third one is basically an entire new game. Completely different from the book. And so the fourth chapter (from what I heard - I still didn't play it).

 

[Darkzone]

Tried the first part yesterday out and i recommend it for those who have not bought it yet. Simply made, but a lot of fun.

 

[Urthor]

Just finishing the 4th chapter up, the first 3 games were absolute gems, underrated even on the Codex, and they're sold for literally 3 bux. The 4th I find infuriating because there's a necessary amount of backtracking in and out of the old colleges which doesn't fit the engine very well, but still is pretty much the same quality.

 

[Cael]

Wow! Steve Jackson has been milking the Sorcery! series for almost 30 years now. True classics.

 

[HoboForEternity]

This was honestly my goty 2016 or fallout: resu

 

[Ivan]

Finished Part 2. This is pretty great stuff! While I wasn't won over by the gameplay twist of Part 2, I'm entering Part 3 with some pretty big setbacks:

Spoiler

no dosh, and I burned my spellbook LULZ

 

[ga♥]

I played the books when I was a kid (also lone wolf, the King-Arthur-sarcastic-serie, the D&D adaptations; which are great btw, especially the mini serie about the mage Carling).

Huge shit in italy...but I must confess I didn't really play them... I just bought them for the story, and read them like that.

Wut iz this? Is it like the Lone Wolf mobile app that let you plays the books for free?

 

[---]

Nope, they are actual games based on the books.
There are so many differences from the books (especially in the 3rd and 4th part) that they are almost an original piece of work.

Good differences.

 

[Cael]

I played the books when I was a kid (also lone wolf, the King-Arthur-sarcastic-serie, the D&D adaptations; which are great btw, especially the mini serie about the mage Carling).

Huge shit in italy...but I must confess I didn't really play them... I just bought them for the story, and read them like that.

Wut iz this? Is it like the Lone Wolf mobile app that let you plays the books for free?

The King Arthur one you are refering to is called Grail Quest. 8 books in all, and the hero is called Pip.

 

[ga♥]

Played the first one... it's funny because I couldn't believe I would remember part of it after so many years (especially the unmistakable art).

It is quite enjoyable and now I am playing the 2nd part... but at first I thought the first module to be quite short, so I couldn't resist and found a walkthrough online and it seems I managed to miss like half the content

 

[---]

The 2nd part is much bigger and better. I consider the first one almost an... introduction, a prologue.

The 3rd and 4th parts are even bigger and more complex. You'll spend literally hours trying to take a certain path or to obtain a certain item.

 

[ga♥]

I am playing the 2nd part and I am pretty sure I already missed lot of necessary things... do I recall wrong or you need all the lines. I am certain that I missed some already.

 

[---]

You need all the lines, yes. One is particularly hard to find. If you don't have all of them, at the end of the game you can

Spoiler

time-travel at the beginning of the chapter - you maintain your items/gold, but you loose permanently a point of health - to search for the remaining ones. You can time-travel as many times as you want, but every time you loose health, and every time you are forced to fully re-play the entire chapter.

 

[Shinji]

A little off-topic, but Dragon's Crown is getting a special "Pro" version, and there is a digital gamebook (based on the same game) included with it. It's similar to Sorcery in some ways.

Here's a video showing some gameplay (in Japanese)