Sorcery! Parts 1 and 2 Reviews

Overall, I recommend it. It's a fun even though sometimes punishing foray into interactive fiction and it stands well amongst other titles. Sorcery! Is forty-three years old overall as of this review and this version is nine years old. When I first played this version made by Inkle, I didn’t expect it to be anywhere as good as it is. When I played through even just Part 1 and Part 2, I realized just why the original gamebooks were so popular. It still stands, though admittedly Inkle did do a bit of updating to the story in 2016. One of my favourite game series of all time! — A good fantasy story bettered by the fact that it’s reactive and often dark and/or humorous. — You won’t see everything every playthrough and it can get /rough/ at times. — There’s many niche reactions that are built upon the path of choices behind you across the games, some things being profoundly hard to see without a guide. — Has a mechanic which encourages you to retry choices and see them again. So, don’t feel bad about save scumming — after all, people playing gamebooks definitely “cheated” too! — The combat is simple and may seem arcane, but reading the text will help. It can feel obscured but there’s a strategy to it that can make fights way faster. And gear/magic can be very helpful. Sorcery! Part 1 and Part 2 reviews often says it “feels like playing a singleplayer DnD game” but I’ve played many interactive fiction games and I can say “it feels like a damn good interactive fantasy fiction game” instead. It doesn’t have the same character building as DnD and the fantasy world is removed from comparisons to the modern DnD setting for the most part. Will it satisfy the itch for a tabletop campaign? Maybe, but I feel so-so about that common comparison. It has a unique magic system that will make you excited for items that you probably wouldn’t be excited for any other RPG. The art is scant but great and the writing doesn’t try to overstay its welcome. — Note that this is a mobile port. — I’m not sure if they’ve changed it since I played it last but the audio cannot be adjusted in game, so you’d have to limit the audio using your system. — There’s no flashing images. Images are still. — I always had a problem with how light the text is, if it were a little bit darker, it would be better to read. — The game would be served well by having a journal of sorts for those who have memory issues. Part Two is a lot longer than Part One. Taking long breaks may feel punishing and have you lost and confused. — There’s some issues where it feels like the game doesn’t remember what you did, and some grammar issues, but there isn’t very many of both thankfully. — The art can sometimes be hard to parse. I /like/ this about this art style, though.