After the first 5 hours I was delighted with Lichdom, shocked by its awesomeness even. Then repetitiveness reared its ugly head and my enthusiasm started fading, especially when around the 12 hour mark (when the game should have ended for its own sake) I realized that the story is far from over. Anyhow, Lichdom has a spark that makes you want to come back to it and the spell crafting system is truly amazing. It’s just better to enjoy it in small doses. [Nov 2014, p.68]

Lichdom: Battlemage makes being a magic user feel properly badass, and if there’s a little bit of homework involved in creating the spells necessary for badass-dom? That’s just the price of being a mage.

With an remarkably robust spell crafting system and spectacularly entertaining combat, Lichdom: Battlemage finally brings the glory to the magic user that it has long deserved.

Lichdom: Battlemage is a fun, if shortsighted RPG with some fantastic upsides. Is it worth the asking price of $40? I’d say no at this point, and hold out for a Steam sale. It’s definitely something fans of the old Hexen will enjoy, but fans of open ended RPGs will find Xaviant’s game lacking. A solid effort, but not quite what I’d hoped for after seeing the game at PAX East this year.

But even if the spell creation had been perfect and as pretty as much of the graphics are, the adventure is just too scripted and too predictably paced, and the combat is too backpeddally to recommend highly.

The combat-system is working nicely and intuitively. Creating thousands of spells is quite fun – for a while. The levels often seem to be just never ending corridors, filled with hundreds of the same type of monsters. Boss-fights are challenging but can be very frustrating as well because of the complex mechanics the game uses for damage and control.

Editing in game design is as important as it is in writing or filmmaking. Get to the point. Respect both the time and financial investment of your audience. Above all else, don't send me chasing after the goddamn lorry.