Review: Spellspire for the PS4/PSVita/Switch

V1RACY May 23, 2017 Games, News, PC, PlayStation 4, PSVita, Reviews, Windows, XBOX One 4 Comments

Spellspire at its core is a mashup of a word game and a role playing game from developer/publisher 10Tons Ltd. The gist of it is pretty simple: Your wizard strolls through levels, encountering monsters. You blast the monsters by picking letters from a ten letter grid.SpellspireThe longer the word, the bigger the blast! And then there’s the action RPG aspect, where you fiddle with your gear to up your stats. It’s pretty fun.  The more detailed explanation straight from Tero Alatalo, CEO of 10tons Ltd., ‘Spellspire is an utterly charming and entertaining game. It’s uniquely thrilling to try to put together words at a feverish pace to blast away a goblins and zombies, and the role playing game aspects of the game work really well as well. It really pays off to figure out the best robes, wands, and items for the toughest levels!’

And it boasts some features that make this game unique against a backdrop of other word games that get pumped out nowadays.

‘Features:

  • Exciting mashup of word game and action role playing game
  • Pick letters to spell words
  • Collect gold and buy better items between levels
  • Use consumable magical items to push through tough encounters’.

 

Audio:

So the audio in this game is quite exquisite.  There was a sound effect for each and every creature, spell, weapon hit, and item selecting.  And on top of all of that they all sounded clean and crisp.  Not once while I was playing did I come across any instance where so many sounds were over lapping that sounded like a mess.  No, this all seemed so well planned out and all details were considered.  I would call that ‘orchestrated’ and I would be right.  10/10

 

Soundtrack:

The soundtrack in this game definitely felt like it had a lot of love put behind it.  The various tracks Sounded So intrinsically Like a period piece set in medieval times when might think of knights and monsters and wizards.  There were some tracks that were ominous and foreboding if there was a boss.  But then there were other tracks that seemed light and mystical if you were heading into a level with some goofy looking monsters.  So you definitely had tracks that set the mood more in this game than other games where you’d rather just set a custom soundtrack.  Even when on the screen where you select your tower you have a song that plays and it makes you feel all powerful and ready to take on the level that you’re about to play.  I was genuinely surprised with the soundtrack and I mean that in the best way possible. 10/10

Visuals:

The visuals were my favorite part you guys!  There were oh so many details that were put into the look and feel of this game and I dug it.  Even characters that looked similar maybe walked differently or had different colored accessories.  The high def rendering of the 2D graphics was just a treat for my eyes to behold.  It was like I was playing a cartoon.  Characters both good and bad had facial expressions depending on what they were doing.  All of these things that I just listed are generally parts that indie devs or smaller studios skip over to save time or money.  But Spellspire…no.  10Tons Ltd. had your best interests in mind when they were coming up with the style and look of this game.  I have nothing but good things to say, and I could talk about it all day, but I’ll just stop 😀 10/10

 

 

Gameplay:
The game-play in Spellspire is explain as the player assuming ‘the role of a tiny wizard making his way to the top of a 100 level tower. The player picks letters from a grid of ten letters to spell words. Valid words are blasted out of the wizard’s wand as spells. The longer the word, the bigger the blast. Slain monsters drop gold and loot, which is traded in between levels for more potent wands, hats and robes with magical special effects and abilities.’  Now not only is that spot on, but it really doesn’t mislead it’s audience or confuse them either.
 The core gameplay is absolutely simple and fun for people who love word games.  I would even wager that it’s a good learning tool for K-12 students.  I have played more of Spellspire than any other game that I’ve reviewed thus far on Hackinformer.com.  I would also go so far to say that it’s my new favorite as far as word games are concerned.  This game beats out others like Scrabble and Wheel of Fortune for me, and that is saying a lot.  You get to replay levels to unlock more items and gold to help you along your way.  You can level up weapons if you aren’t quite beating the baddie.  You can even use one time spells that help you maybe get past the challenge in general if you’ve simply exhausted all word options from the arrangement of letters that you’ve been given.
If the game feels imbalanced to you, I would say that you probably aren’t playing it right.  If I ever felt that there was a challenge that was too steep to pass, it turned out that I had just simply not upgraded something or I was missing a tip, a new spell, or something else.  This game is just simply chock full of options to help you succeed without holding your hand too much.  So it’s definitely a win in my book.  10/10
Replay-ability:
In terms of replay-ability, in this game specifically, it would depend on your definition.  If your definition is replaying a game so that you can unlock all items and see what everything does; then yes.  That would make this game replayable at least one more time through.  You could try to unlock other weapons and beef them up and see what hell you can unleash on the bad dudes.  However, if your definition is just beating the game once through, I would say that you wouldn’t get much more out of it after you’ve beaten it once.  Again, it is 100 levels of a tower, but once you’ve beaten them, then that’s it.
 It is a pretty meaty game, so I feel like after you’ve beaten the game you’ll have had your fill.  I can’t imagine that it will draw you in that much.  I love the game, and it does call to me, but I’m definitely done at the 100th level.  But that’s just me.  TL;DR version 9/10
Switch Impressions:
The Switch version is out today and I was able to get my hands on it as well. Let me tell you, it simply does not disappoint. Anyone who has played the PlayStation Vita version will be quick to notice how similar the Switch version is. I would say that it’s identical because you get to use either the physical buttons to play or touchscreen! So many of the subtle nuances, like the cute monstery sound effects, are still there and sound great on the go. I rather like this version better than the Vita if we’re being honest. There is so much more real estate on this screen compared to the Vita.
I know that the screen of the Switch probably can’t compete with the OLED screen of the 1000 series Vita, but this game looks good! I think given the graphics and how cartoony they are, they are right at home on a Nintendo platform. I had so much fun with this game that I actually felt myself smiling and getting lost in the game. This was just a game that I loved all over (given what I had written above), but now I have it on a more up to date hand held that I can take on the go that has a great screen size.
Are there any downsides though? Sure. The game doesn’t have anything added to it, it is just a straight port. They give you the same options and no new modes. So when I said before that there was no real replay-ability, that still stands. Other than that though? I really couldn’t find a single reason to hate this game. At just $9.99, the Switch version may be the best version for your money. You get to play it on the go and you get to have it in its full-fledged console glory when it’s docked at home!
If you want this game for the PlayStation family, click here.
If you want to get the game for the Switch, click here.

Stay tuned here on Hackinformer.com for more reviews and follow us on Twitter @Hackinformer !

Thanks to 10tonsLtd we have a copy of Spellspire to GIVEAWAY! So leave a comment below to double your entry then let us know which console you would use it on PS4 or PSVita or you can checkout this tweet to also double your entry.

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4 comments

  1. Jon Stangroom
    May 24, 2017 at 9:29 PM

    I’d love to pick this up on Vita! Love these types of games, reminds me instantly of Letter Quest Remastered which was a total blast and makes you think too!

    • V1RACY
      May 25, 2017 at 1:22 PM

      I would definitely recommend it, if you couldn’t already tell. It presents actual obstacles and is more objective based than other words games. If you love word games, do not hesitate, just get it!

  2. Metal Velcro
    May 26, 2017 at 9:23 AM

    Who doesn’t love a free PS4 game especially one that looks so cool.

  3. hackinformer
    May 27, 2017 at 5:27 PM

    Congrats too @SgtStangroj as you were randomly selected in our giveaway for Spellspire for the PS4/PSVita check your DM/email for the redeem code.

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