Wizards of Brandel Review

Take on a new game they said. It’ll be fun they said. How wrong I was, I wont lie but when I here the company name Kemco, I shudder, and it’s not because the people who make the games are greedy and make terrible games with loads of pointless stories or charge people money to have an ability to be invincible or fight no enemies… oh wait, that’s exactly why I don’t like Kemco. Well folks I’m back with another one, Wizards of Brandel; read on if you wish to see how far this one goes down the rabbit hole.

Darius is your name, and late repayments resulting in your house being taken as collateral is the game. So you borrowed money and you didn’t pay it back; this results in you being rather angry. A young boy appears in your anger who’s a fan of your work – as you come to find, Darius is an author of magic books – but the boy upsets Darius and reminds him of his dark past. After a brief conversation you’re invited back to the young man now known as Marks house to stay to get yourself back on your feet. After some talking (and then more talking) you’re finally able to take control of your player and the game can begin.

So much like any RPG you will be on the move a lot and will stumble across enemies. The enemies are a little odd in this game, but like most RPG’s its turn based and there wasn’t to much to shout about; in fact it felt some what over complicated just to attack and kill them, but once they are defeated you get some items and coin and of course EXP.

Less enthralling is the ability to buy – with real money – buffs to make the game easier. From increasing each characters SP gain to 3X to doubling their damage, that the combat is so awkward almost feels as though you are being pressured into buying these just to complete the game. It’s perhaps not a coincidence that all of the available packs amount to the same price as the base game. It’s a pretty shitty tactic in a FTP mobile game as it is – charging £15 for the game only to try to fleece the same again out of players is just greedy.

Visually the games made by Kemco all look the same and don’t really have that wow factor anymore, all done in the retro pixelated style. It is at least very colourful and vibrant, but alas the music that goes with the game is very repetitive and annoying.

Conclusion

I have done a few Kemco games now and they have all basically blended into one. If you enjoy these simpler RPG titles then may get on with Wizards of Brandel better, but the fact you can buy cheats for the game just puts a sour taste in my mouth. Seeing as the game is not very long in the first place, this just adds insult to injury.

This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox One. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.