Review: A Mage’s Power (Journey to Chaos Book 1), by Brian Wilkerson

Disclaimer: I was asked to review this book honestly. So I am.

A Mage’s Power is a fantasy story, initially set in the real world before moving into a fantastical one. The protagonist is one Eric Watley, a chap with low self-esteem and a bit out of a down-and-out. He encounters a cosmic trickster, whose blend of help/annoyance soon propels Eric off Earth and into a strange new realm.

Clearly influenced by classic fantasy RPGs, the plot sees Eric enter the world of Tariatla and he discovers a penchant for magic. After a spell in school, he becomes a mage and a mercenary with the Dragon’s Lair. Although there are a series of almost self-contained story arcs, Eric is always at the centre as our protagonist and there are some interesting twists, particularly towards the end when he finds himself confronted with political intrigue and some characters of dubious loyalties.

The style is a bit lighter/more young adult than what I usually go for, and a little more grit would’ve been my preference. The setting’s interesting, mixing together ye olde swords and spears with magic and (effectively) technology powered by magic. It’s a bit reminiscent of some Final Fantasy worlds, and it all fits together nicely. There’s a nice pace to the story and some interesting twists and turns. Because of the tone, the peril/adversity seems a little on the low side, but that’s a choice the author’s made rather than a failure to execute anything else, so more of a style point than a criticism. The upside of that is that the story’s fun and the character interactions, particularly Tiza and Nolien’s bickering, work well.

There was some head-hopping which could’ve been handled better, and sometimes it was unclear which dialogue came from which character. It does take a little while to get rolling, although later on I did end up reading more than intended on numerous occasions (my reading time is pretty short right now).

If you’re after a fun story with an easy to read style, then I’d suggest downloading a sample and giving it a look.

Thaddeus

Review: Civilization VI (PS4)

Please note that this is a review of the base game only, and that, at the time of writing, I’ve played exactly three games (winning the last) all on standard/Prince difficulty.

My prior experience of Civilization was Civ II (released in 1999) and Civ Rev for the PS3 (but which is a lot more streamlined than main Civ games).

For those entirely unaware, Civ is a strategy game whereby the player picks a civilization and leader from history and aims to lead them to greatness, with victory being achieved in various ways (science, culture, etc. In my win I went for a domination victory, which means conquering everyone else’s capital city). Players can forge alliances with other civilizations, research together, trade, or declare war. Cities themselves flourish or flounder based on food, resources, housing, amenities and whether or not your enemies invade and annihilate your hopes and dreams.

In terms of the learning curve, it took me about three games on standard difficulty to feel like I’d gotten to grips with most of the mechanics, using the base game (there is an expansion bundle available as DLC).

Generally, controls worked well but there is room for improvement. There’s no handy button to flick from city to city. The game does auto-prompt you to pick things when a city’s finished whatever it’s doing and lets you know when housing/amenities are a problem, but it still would’ve been nice.

The AI isn’t the most challenging. Once you get how combat works, the computer-foes tend to be rather foolish and easy to defeat. This is both in terms of combat and diplomacy. I was attacking everyone, one by one, and regularly got denounced as a warmonger, but nobody ever declared war on me.

Barbarians, however, are more numerous and a bit trickier early on than they were in other games. Scythia can be a handy civ for this as they gain a bonus against damaged units and heal upon defeating enemies, which can make an early game a bit more straightforward.

Changes I enjoyed include cities with walls getting to shoot nearby enemies, and the ability to link units as escorts (so your settler can have a warrior companion) without needing to move them separately.

Changes I did not enjoy were housing and, to a lesser extent, amenities. Housing decreases growth when you don’t have enough (you get it from water sources, plus improvements). It just seemed a pointless faff to me. Amenities are pleasant distractions to keep people happy. That said, on Prince I had a lot of unhappy cities but not one ever revolted.

There’s a nice variety of civilizations from which to pick although I must admit it still annoys me Victoria is described as English (a far better choice would’ve been Elizabeth; Victoria was British).

The search function in the Civilopedia didn’t seem to work. Most stuff is easy to get to grips with but early on that would’ve been handy.

And I only found the lens menu (L1, the left hand menu) late on. Probably very useful for people after a religious victory.

In terms of PS4 performance and the jet engine noise that certain games cause: this didn’t happen. From start to finish, there was a low amount of noise but with earphones in I couldn’t even hear it. This was a pleasant surprise given that (albeit on a standard-sized map, which is still pretty large) at the end of my third game I had a hefty empire and quite a lot of units moving about.

Good music, and I like Sean Bean’s narration. That said, still a very good game for the radio or playlists.

One annoyance was the total absence of any instructions. It’s an ideal game for a basic instruction book, even if it's just civics and research trees.

Overall, I like Civ VI a lot. It’s very moreish, most of the mechanics etc are easy to get to grips with, and there’s a lot of customization possible when it comes to setting up games. It’s not without the odd flaw or room for improvement, but the base game is well worth a look.

Thaddeus

Great Games in Early 2020

I haven’t written too much on videogames recently compared to a few years ago (my Civ VI first impressions aside), but the release calendar for the first half of 2020 is one to delight the soul and wound the wallet.

Dates are correct at the time of writing (UK), obviously delays can and do happen. Information revealed through trailers is mentioned but no spoilers beyond that. I’ve listed the titles and dates immediately below if that’s all you’re after, with more detail underneath.

• Final Fantasy VII Remake – 3 March [PS4 Exclusive]
• Cyberpunk 2077 – 16 April [PS4, Xbox One, PC]
• The Last of Us Part II – 29 May [PS4 Exclusive]

Final Fantasy VII Remake – 3 March [PS4 Exclusive]

When I first got my original Playstation back in the late ’90s, the games I got with it were Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VII. And I really liked them, especially FFVII. The materia system was simple to grasp and brilliant to use throughout the game, interacting with weapons and armour to create interesting combinations. The characters were fun, the world huge, and the villain has gone on to become an icon of videogames. Plus the music, especially the reactor theme and One Winged Angel, are great. Bit tricky for Square Enix to decide what to update and what to keep the same, but the combat system has been modernized (mingling real-time action and strategic commands, apparently). Will it live up to the hype? No idea. But I reckon it might just sell by the bucketload.

Cyberpunk 2077 – 16 April [PS4, Xbox One, PC]

The Witcher 3 was the game that made CD Projekt Red’s reputation for a lot of people. It combined an open world and meaningful choices with a pre-determined character who already had relationships with most of the major characters. On top of the fantastic writing, storylines, music and graphics, CDPR also handled the DLC brilliantly, giving away 16 items for free (from quests to costume changes) and then charging reasonable sums for substantial expansions. Cyberpunk 2077, featuring the breath-taking Keanu Reeves, is a long way from Novigrad. It’s the near future, where corporates hold sway in crime-ridden Night City. Cybernetics are routinely used to enhance humans, and the player-character V is after one that might just grant immortality.

The Last of Us Part II – 29 May [PS4 Exclusive]

The first game has a strong claim to be one of the best ever made, combining visceral combat and nerve-shredding tension with an enthralling story and engaging characters. The surrogate father-daughter relationship of Joel and Ellie worked fantastically well, and a lot of people have mixed feelings about a sequel given that living up to the first game is a pretty tall order. From what we’ve seen so far, Ellie appears to be the primary (possibly sole) protagonist. She’s a young adult now, and Joel’s grown a little greyer. Although they do seem to have found a semblance of civilization there’s still a very grim and violent world. We’ll have to see if Naughty Dog can live up to the very high expectations they’ve created for themselves.

Whilst this is a PS4-heavy list, that’s just the way the calendar’s worked out. If you’re more of an Xbox player then there is good news down the line, with Halo Infinite anticipated as a launch title for Microsoft’s new console (set to come out at the end of 2020).

Thaddeus

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Civilization VI (PS4): First Impressions

I was rather looking forward to this. Although I’ve played Civilization: Revolution for the PS3 the last ‘proper’ Civ I’d played was Civ II for the original Playstation, which released in 1999.

As preparation I cunningly watched quill18’s excellent mini-series on Youtube (it’s well worth a look), and then completed the tutorial, which was rather more forgiving than I deserved.

Then I cracked on as Rome. At the time of writing I’ve probably played an hour and a halfish of my first game.

The basics are mostly intuitive, although it took me a little while to realise that clicking on a city first selects the unit on that square (and units, excepting siege/settlers, don’t appear to stack) and you need to press up or down on the d-pad to select the city. One thing missing is a straightforward toggle between the cities. Not a problem early on but I’m guessing that could be irksome late on in a massive game.

The housing and amenities stuff is a little bit over my head right now, but I'm sure I'll get the mechanics down after a game or two.

All the combat stuff is basic but sensible, with bonuses/penalties based on terrain, damage, and policies (which are very simple to set and change).

The art style is cartoony but works fine, although the pedant in me has to point out that Victoria was a British not an English queen (Elizabeth I would’ve been a better choice).

When it comes to the perennial PS4 problem of noise due to insufficient cooling, there’s a little bit but it’s nowhere near the jet engine certain other games produce.

One problem others may face (which I learnt via the Multiplayer Media Youtube channel) is that screens sometimes eat the edges. Which is a huge problem if that affects you here because critical info is on the edges of the screen. You’ll need to satisfy yourself that isn’t the case, or have a tricky time of things. Multiplayer may or may not be functional, but as I’m a solo player that’s not a problem for me.

I’m enjoying it a lot so far. Even being acutely aware of the time, I found myself losing an hour or so before getting ready to leave the game (currently, Qin and Gilgamesh like me, and Cleopatra’s being a bit of a bitch). I’ve already managed to bugger up one city’s location (although Ravenna’s looking good). Incidentally, renaming cities can be done by entering the screen with all the housing/happiness info and tapping triangle. Units can also be renamed but do need to get two promotions first.

Bit of a learning curve right now, which I expected. On Prince, the standard difficulty, things seem decent enough for someone who does have outdated experience of the series.

The loading time (standard map size) was not very long, which was another pleasant surprise.

All in all, I’m liking it a lot, minor quibbles notwithstanding.

Thaddeus

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