On the evening of March 23, 2021, the open beta of the action RPG hope Magic: Legends started. Many players hoped to be able to pass the waiting time for Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 – because the title certainly has some exciting ideas to offer.
However, Magic: Legends is currently being completely torn apart by the fans. And there are two big reasons.
Pay2Win and miserable technology cause frustration
If you look at the comments on Reddit, in forums or on GameStar.de, it quickly becomes clear: People are mad at developer Cryptic Studios (Star Trek Online, Neverwinter) and publisher Perfect World. Two major points of criticism in particular cause frustration among the players.
Ingame-Shop
Probably the biggest problem is the in-game shopas Fabiano already suspected in his preview of Magic: Legends. Because here there are tangible Pay2Win advantages to buy:
- You can buy booster packs (loot boxes) that cost between two and three dollars – depending on the number of packs purchased and the premium Zen currency.
- A class is hidden in the packs, the Dimir Assassin. To get this, an average of several hundred dollars must be invested in loot boxes.
- There is a Battle Pass with two premium options for ten and 25 dollars each.
- Paid XP and dungeons boosts allow you to advance faster.
- Convenience features such as additional deck slots also cost.
Incidentally, the Magic: Legends Open Beta is, as is so often the case, a real release. According to the developers, there should be no more wipes, so any progress made will be retained even after the beta has ended. So it seems unlikely that Cryptic will change anything in its shop system again.
Technology problems
In addition to the payment system gross technical error for problems. What is immediately noticeable when playing: Everything you do has a slight delay. This is particularly noticeable when casting abilities and spells, which are always accompanied by a short delay.
The reason for this is the servers: Currently there are simply no European servers, all players from Europey are directed to the US servers. This usually results in a ping between 150 and 200 milliseconds.
The developers speak in the Forum of the fact that there are supposed to be “problems with the European servers” – but it was quickly discovered by the players that these do not even exist. All players land on servers in Boston, on the American east coast.
To top it all, there is still numerous bugs and performance problems, even with a high-end graphics card, many players experience stuttering.
What do the players say?
Magic: Legends is not doing well at all with players because of these facts. In the comments on our open beta news, many of you have already commented on the condition.
Shackless:
“That was my current most-wanted game, because it actually combines everything I’m into. Unfortunately, after playing the game for the first time, I have to say … Phew! The game looks like a medium-sized mobile game. Very slow and sluggish for an ARPG Technically not yet well optimized and in total quite generic and also a bit characterless. The world is totally sterile and the core idea with the decks and spells somehow does not ignite. Should I really identify 12 active spells using a very similar icon in random positions and with Combine a total of 6 buttons in a sensible ad-hoc manner in combat? In addition, there is an unnecessary and spongy camera control.
Lordex32:
“So big hope so big disappointment … What the hell is THAT please?”
Bamboo toaster:
“Everything feels sluggish, it takes forever to play animations and use a skill. It’s just not fun at all.”
MADE:
“Just tried it. I don’t know Magic, so it seems more generic to me. The mouse / keyboard controls are from hell.”
The well-known streamer Day9, who is a big fan of Magic: The Gathering, also entered devastating judgment from. His rating: 1 out of 10 points. He doesn’t even criticize the obvious problems, but the core game system – for him the game is pointless “button mashing”:
“It’s not that the game lacks interesting choices. (…) I really think the current implementation of the deck and how it works in combat feels like an anti-system. It feels like the gameplay does hurt instead of creating something new, cool and funny. “
Our Magic and Action RPG expert Maurice also checked out the Magic: Legends beta. You can read his first impression here:
Maurice weber
@MauriceWeber42Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to release Magic: Legends in this form? Even with a 3080, I can’t get the thing to work smoothly, the stutters and lags take the game out of the fights. And of course, open beta and such – but there was hardly any hype for this game, it had to make a good first impression! Instead, it’s going so badly that most players will just turn their backs on it and never come back.
But that’s only where the problems begin. Personally, I like a lot of the basic ideas behind the gameplay – the card system and the great focus on summoned servants may be strange, but for me a fun way to add some magic flair to a classic action RPG. But: You can’t make an action RPG in which it takes hours before I can even find significant loot and start adapting my character! Who should stay loyal to the game long enough if the performance ruins the feeling of fighting and the spiral of prey only sets in after an absurdly elongated mega tutorial? Why should anyone stay tuned?
The fact that, despite all these problems, Legends still has to face the need to sell essential content such as new classes in loot boxes – sorry, card boosters – completes the unattractive first impression. I actually wanted to love Magic: Legends. Diablo in the Magic Universe? I’m the perfect audience for that thing! But even I had lost all interest after a short time. The developers are going to have to work hard to get me – and all the other disappointed players – to give the game another try.
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