Info about Archmage Rises:

Official game description:
**DISCLAIMER: This game is currently in active development with many new features still to be released. We are highly dedicated to the continued development of this game and release new content and features regularly. Please read the Early Access FAQs and our development roadmap below for more info before purchasing.**  
Born with magic in your bones, use your wits and power to navigate a simulated fantasy world - dynamic, alive, and increasingly dangerous. Grow in might as a mage in an open-world RPG inspired by Dragonlance, full of kingdoms that will rise and fall, economies that can boom or bust, and monstrous creatures that can overwhelm the land if left unchecked.  
Immerse yourself in a player-driven story that evolves based on your decisions. Like in pen and paper games, every choice is yours and every choice can change the world. Will you earn the trust of the Conclave only to betray them later? Will you choose a life of crime, stealing from merchants and living on the run? Will you build friendships and rivalries with your companions from mage school? Will you forego a life of magic to pursue the simple existence of a trader? Or will you strive to ascend the heights of power, for good or ill?  
The dynamic and living land of Vaelun reacts to your deeds, giving you the unique opportunity to shape the story and the world around you. Every choice you make can have real and far-reaching consequences for all those who dwell in this world. Pursue power and prominence, eliminate monstrous threats, or spend your days harvesting resources. Serve and protect, or dominate and destroy. Will you become the world's deliverer, or its destroyer? The decision is yours.  
Create a brand new, procedurally-generated world with its own history, inhabitants, towns, dungeons, monsters, and more. Then explore that world and make it your own as it responds to your actions and decisions. Every life you live as a mage is a unique and personalized experience.

Release date: 24 Apr, 2023

Categories: RPG, Open-World Exploration, Turn-based Combat, Procedural Generation, Base Building, Choice-based Narrative, World Simulation, Resource Management


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Strong concept and potential (weight 0.99): Players generally find the game's core concept, design, and current gameplay to be promising and enjoyable, even in its Early Access state. Many believe it offers good value for its current price and has significant potential for future development.
- Rich procedural world and RPG depth (weight 0.42): The game excels in its procedural world generation, creating unique histories, characters, and events for each playthrough. This, combined with its classic D&D and old-school RPG influences, provides a deep and engaging simulation experience that appeals to fans of the genre.
- Dedicated and responsive developers (weight 0.41): The developers are highly praised for their clear roadmap, consistent updates, and exceptional responsiveness to player feedback and bug reports. Their dedication and transparency foster trust and confidence in the game's future.
- High player freedom and choices (weight 0.16): The game offers a high degree of player freedom, allowing for diverse character builds and meaningful choices in quests and interactions. The well-written quests and engaging persuasion mechanics enhance this freedom.
- Authentic wizard fantasy experience (weight 0.11): A significant appeal of the game is its focus on the wizard fantasy, allowing players to embody a powerful mage, build their own tower, and rise in fame and power within the game world.
- Engaging mage tower system (weight 0.08): The mage tower system is a notable feature, serving as a customizable base for players. The ability to build towers block by block and use portals for fast travel adds to the strategic and immersive elements.
- Authentic dice-rolling mechanic (weight 0.04): The inclusion of a visible dice-rolling mechanic is appreciated by players, adding a tangible and authentic tabletop RPG feel to the gameplay.

Common complaints:
- Game is unfinished and shallow (weight 0.81): Players consistently report that the game is in a very unfinished and unpolished state, feeling more like a prototype or tech demo than a proper Early Access title. Many core mechanics are missing or underdeveloped, leading to a shallow and incomplete experience.
- Poor value for money (weight 0.77): Many players feel the game is overpriced for its current state, offering very little content or polished gameplay for the asking price. Concerns are also raised about future price increases and additional DLCs when the base game is so incomplete.
- Prevalent game-breaking bugs (weight 0.73): A significant number of players encounter numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes, many of which are game-breaking and prevent progression. These issues severely impact playability and lead to frustration, often forcing restarts or making the game unplayable.
- Development feels abandoned (weight 0.46): There is a strong sentiment that the game's development has stalled or been abandoned, with long periods of no updates and a lack of communication from the developers. This leads to concerns that the game may never leave Early Access or fulfill its promises.
- Combat is slow and shallow (weight 0.37): Combat is frequently described as slow, simplistic, and lacking depth, especially for spellcasters. Players find it easy and repetitive, with limited spell options and issues like insufficient stamina or unrecoverable HP.
- Tedious 3D dungeon exploration (weight 0.18): The 3D dungeon exploration is widely criticized for being tedious, repetitive, and poorly designed. Players question its necessity given the combat system and find rooms often empty, leading to wasted time and a diluted experience.
- Shallow character creation (weight 0.1): Character creation is seen as convoluted and lacking depth, leading to generic characters and NPCs. The procedural generation of characters and narrative elements fails to create meaningful distinctions or immersion.
- Unfriendly user interface (weight 0.09): The user interface and experience are reported as primitive, inconsistent, and difficult to understand. Players desire better tooltips and smoother transitions for improved usability.
- Disliked aging and stamina (weight 0.07): The aging and stamina mechanics are disliked by players, as they create a constant sense of urgency and pressure, detracting from enjoyment and making the game feel like a race against time.

Gameplay feedback:
- Prevalence of Bugs and Glitches (weight 0.41): The game is plagued by numerous bugs, errors, and glitches, including game-breaking issues and problems with character creation and NPC dialogue. This significantly impacts the player experience and indicates a need for more polish.
- Significant Lack of Content (weight 0.39): Players report a significant lack of content, including missing features, limited loot/gear, and a general feeling of the game being barebones. This is often attributed to the game being in early development, with only a few hours of playable content currently available.
- Magic System Potential, Limited Spells (weight 0.33): Magic is a core concept with multiple schools and a system for learning and specializing. However, players note a limited number of spells, difficulty in understanding spell progression, and a perceived downgrade in spell power from earlier versions.
- Mixed Reception of Combat System (weight 0.21): Combat is turn-based and occurs on a grid, but player feedback is mixed, ranging from simple and boring to unbalanced and frustrating. Some find it basic and repetitive, while others note its changing nature and potential for strategic depth.
- Hex-Based World, Room-Based Dungeons (weight 0.14): World exploration is primarily conducted on a hex-grid map, while dungeon exploration is a room-by-room process. This dual approach to movement defines the game's exploration mechanics.
- Strong Procedural Generation (weight 0.1): The game features extensive procedural generation for its world, dungeons, cities, and characters, utilizing seeds to create unique experiences. This is highlighted as a strong aspect of the game's design.
- Enjoyable Core Gameplay Loop (weight 0.09): Despite its current limitations, the game's core loop and underlying systems are considered enjoyable and playable by some, offering enough engagement for several hours per 'run' and providing choices for player growth.
- Mage Tower Building Unclear (weight 0.08): Players are intended to be able to build and develop a mage tower with various room types, but some users report difficulty or confusion in accessing or understanding this feature.
- Ongoing Development and Overhauls (weight 0.07): The game is undergoing significant development, with recent updates bringing major changes to characters and combat, including a combat overhaul. This has led to content cuts and save-breaking updates.
- Basic Survival Mechanics (weight 0.07): The game incorporates basic survival mechanics, requiring players to manage stats like hunger, stamina, and happiness through actions like sleeping and eating. A shield system protects HP.
- Random Town Start (weight 0.07): Character creation places players in a random starting town, where they can access various facilities like taverns and guilds, establishing the initial hub for their adventures.

Performance notes:
- Sluggish performance and delays (weight 0.1): Players report that the game feels generally sluggish, with noticeable delays between combat turns, enemy moves, and UI interactions. This contributes to a slow overall pace.
- UI scaling issues at high resolutions (weight 0.05): While higher resolution support has been added, some UI elements do not scale properly, impacting the visual experience for players using 1440p or 4K displays.
- Stable and few crashes (weight 0.04): Players have noted that the game is relatively stable, with few crashes or game-breaking bugs reported during early access.

Recommendations:
- Wait for further development (weight 0.72): Many players recommend waiting to purchase the game until it is more developed, has more content, or leaves Early Access. Some suggest checking back in 6-12 months, while others advise against buying it at its current price or state unless one is comfortable with an unfinished product.
- Promising future potential (weight 0.15): Some players express optimism about the game's future potential, hoping it will evolve into a great title. They see promise despite current shortcomings and are willing to give it a chance, even if it's not fully polished yet.
- Good for specific player types (weight 0.15): The game is recommended for players who enjoy specific genres or experiences, such as solo D&D-like campaigns, turn-based chill games, text-based adventures, or RPGs with character freedom and a focus on gameplay over graphics.
- Similar to Rimworld/Dwarf Fortress (weight 0.04): The game has been compared to titles like Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, suggesting it might appeal to players who enjoy the deep simulation and world-building aspects found in those games.

Other player notes:
- Released too early/incomplete (weight 0.54): Players consistently highlight that the game, despite its potential and engaging concept, was released in a very early, incomplete state. Many feel it's more akin to a tech demo or alpha than a typical Early Access title, lacking advertised features and content for its price point. This has led to concerns about the definition of 'Early Access' itself.
- Active and transparent development (weight 0.53): Despite its early state, the development team is highly active, transparent, and responsive to community feedback. They are consistently releasing updates, engaging on forums, and sharing their progress, which instills confidence in players about the game's future development and potential.
- Strong concept and potential (weight 0.48): The core concept and underlying idea of the game are widely praised and seen as highly promising. Players are excited by the game's potential and express a strong desire for it to succeed and reach its full vision, indicating a solid foundation for future development.
- Long, challenging development (weight 0.11): The development of the game has been a long and challenging process, spanning many years, with the team facing funding issues and other difficulties. This context helps explain the game's current early state.
- Frequent saving recommended (weight 0.07): Players recommend frequent saving to mitigate the impact of bugs, suggesting that minor issues can accumulate and worsen over time. This indicates a need for improved stability and bug fixing.
- Review bias suspected (weight 0.05): There's an observation that some positive reviews might be influenced by a desire to support the small game or balance out negative feedback, rather than solely reflecting current gameplay experience. This suggests some review bias.
- Niche game appeal (weight 0.05): The game is described as very niche, attracting a small but dedicated player base. This suggests it appeals to a specific audience rather than a broad market.
- Old-school RPG influences (weight 0.05): The game's mechanics and style are compared to old-school D&D and pen-and-paper RPGs, appealing to fans of those genres. It also draws parallels to games like Mount and Blade in its character creation.
- Exploration freedom (weight 0.04): The game offers significant freedom to explore and doesn't 'play it safe' with enemy placement or progression, which can be a unique aspect for players seeking less linear experiences.
- Enjoyable character creation (weight 0.03): Character creation is noted as an enjoyable aspect, involving detailed choices like schooling and initial relationships, similar to other RPGs.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.17): Players expressed disappointment due to the game's unfinished state, including missing advertised features, game-breaking bugs, and a general lack of content and polish despite its price and development time. This was compounded by a perceived lack of developer communication and slow updates, leading to feelings of the game being abandoned or 'undercooked'.
- Frustration (weight 0.16): Frustration stemmed primarily from numerous bugs, crashes, and UI issues that hindered gameplay and progression. Players also cited slow, repetitive combat, tedious mechanics, and a lack of meaningful updates, leading to the perception of the game as an 'expensive tech demo' or 'concept demonstrator'.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.11): Satisfaction was derived from the game's core concept, its value for money, and its adherence to old-school D&D principles. Players appreciated responsive developer support, quick bug fixes, and the game's replayability, finding the basic mechanics and procedural generation enjoyable.
- Hope (weight 0.1): Hope was consistently tied to the game's perceived massive potential and the belief in ongoing or resumed development. Players expressed optimism for future fixes and updates, seeing a solid foundation despite current shortcomings and appreciating the developers' efforts.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement was generated by the game's engaging nature, its concept, and its development roadmap, particularly after combat updates. Players were thrilled by the immersive world, player choices, and the game's ability to fulfill a 'wizard fantasy' or 'D&D-like' experience.
- Appreciation (weight 0.06): Appreciation was directed towards the developers for their transparency, responsiveness, and dedication, especially in keeping players informed about funding issues. Players valued the game's uniqueness, its well-written quests, and the depth of its combat system and world generation.
- Optimism (weight 0.05): Optimism was fueled by noticeable improvements with every update and the game's ambitious roadmap. Players believed in the game's potential and the developers' dedication, anticipating future content and improvements.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.05): Enjoyment came from the game's fun gameplay, its core loop, and tactical combat, even in its early state. Players found pleasure in the world-building, character creation, and the overall challenge the game presented.
- Concern (weight 0.03): Concern arose from the game's very early access state, potential funding issues, and a perceived lack of communication from developers. Players worried about insufficient content, numerous bugs, and the project potentially dying before leaving early access.
- Skepticism (weight 0.03): Skepticism was rooted in a lack of confidence in the product's future, particularly regarding developer promises and progress. Players expressed doubts about the game's Early Access duration, potential paywalled features, and its perceived status as 'vaporware'.
- Support (weight 0.02): Players expressed a desire to support the game and its development team, driven by the game's potential and the perceived talent of the developers. This support aimed to help the project progress and succeed.
- Joy (weight 0.02): Joy was experienced by players who found the game fun and engaging, particularly those who felt it aligned perfectly with their interests. The ability to explore a fantasy world and fulfill an 'inner nerd' fantasy brought significant happiness.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom set in during the late game due to repetitive content, a lack of direction, and unchallenging combat. Players found quests uninteresting and the overall experience lacking variety.
- Belief (weight 0.01): Belief was centered on the game's vision and the development team's ability to realize it. Players had faith in the game's potential and its ambitious scope.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation was driven by the expectation of future updates and the hope that game-breaking bugs would be addressed. Players looked forward to the game's continued development and improvement.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion stemmed from unclear aspects of the game, such as skill effects, quest guidance, and NPC interactions. Players struggled to understand the UI and what to do in the late game.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration was directed towards the game's depth, art, writing, and mechanics. Players also admired the developers' active engagement and responsiveness to the community.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger arose from the decision to uninstall the game, often linked to the potential for core features being paywalled as DLC. This indicated a strong negative reaction to perceived unfair practices.
- Trust (weight 0.01): Trust was placed in the developers' commitment and engagement with the project. Players believed in the team's long-term dedication to the game's development.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret was expressed over the purchase of the game, often tied to its pricing and DLC strategy. Players felt that the value received did not justify the cost, leading to remorse.}