We at Geeky Hobbies would like to thank inkle Ltd for the review copy of Sorcery! Part 3 used for this review. Other than receiving a free copy of the game to review, we at Geeky Hobbies received no other compensation for this review. Receiving the review copy for free had no impact on the content of this review or the final score.
Overview
Sorcery! Part 3 continues the journey started in Parts 1 and 2. After making your way through Kharé at the end of part two, your adventurer continues their journey towards the Crown of Kings. In part three you must make your way through a cursed land as you face the Seven Serpents who are trying to warn your enemies of your position. As you journey through the lands you can either take the time to find the Seven Serpents weaknesses and kill them or you can try to move as fast as possible in order to beat the serpents to your next location.
Not surprisingly Sorcery! Part 3 plays a lot like the first two parts of the game. The game is an interactive role playing game reminiscent of classic choose your own adventure games. Along your journey you will encounter various people and creatures. There are plenty of ways to approach a situation which includes using items and many different spells that can have profound effects on the story. Your decisions will impact the story of part three and the upcoming part four.
The combat from the first two parts returns. For combat you choose how much of your attack power you want to use for each strike. If you use more of your attack power than your opponent, you will damage them. If they use more attack power than you, they will damage you. You can’t use all of your attack power though because it takes time to recharge. You win the battle by reducing your opponent’s health to zero.
Swiddlestones also returns from part two and is still fun but plays a smaller role and the computer is still pretty easy to beat.
The new mechanic added in part three involves traveling through time. Scattered throughout the land are various towers that shine a beam that transforms the land back to a past time period. When you reach these towers you can adjust their beams which allows you change the time from the present to the past and vice versa. To fully explore the land you need to visit the present day and the past so you see how the land has changed between the two periods.
My Thoughts
If you read my review of the first two parts of Sorcery! you already have a good idea of why I really like the series. While the game is not going to be for everyone, I really enjoy that the game does a great job of storytelling. The Sorcery! series is the modern choose your own adventure book. Each action you make in the game drives the other events you will encounter. Sorcery also adds combat and other interesting video game mechanics to the choose your own adventure genre. The game’s world is lively and is a place you want to explore. In a lot of these type of games I would probably mostly just play through the main path and not really adventure far from it. Sorcery crafts such a good story and interesting world that it is worth exploring as much of it as you can.
Basically my thoughts on the first two parts of Sorcery apply to the third part as well. If you liked the first two parts you will like the third part as well. Instead of rehashing what I liked about the original parts, I would rather talk about what is new in the third part of the game.
While Sorcery! Part 3 plays very similarly to parts one and two, the game still feels fresh. The story feels familiar but at the same time feels a lot different. Part three plays more like part two than part one. Part three is an open-world as you can explore the land however you want and can quickly revisit areas if you missed out on anything. Part three gives you a lot of flexibility of how you want to explore the world.
The one new unique mechanic of part three is the time traveling mechanic. I liked the mechanic quite a bit since it brought an interesting element to the story as you explore the present and past of the area. How the two time periods interact is quite interesting as you explore how the land changed over time. This area also gives backstories to some of the characters you met in the first two parts of the game since you can meet the younger versions of the characters.
The other unique thing about part three is the Seven Serpents. While the Seven Serpents are the main focus of part three, you actually don’t have to face a single one of them since you can choose to travel through the land and leave as soon as you reach the end. While this is an option, I think it would be a pretty dull way to play the game. Basically to defeat the Seven Serpents you need to interact with the characters/creatures you encounter to find clues that lead you to each serpent’s location and their weakness. I don’t know if you need to find each serpents’ weakness but if you figure them out you can quickly dispatch them instead of facing a difficult battle.
Just like with parts one and two, Sorcery! is not going to be for everyone. The game is not an action packed game and relies pretty heavily on the story. If you don’t care about a game’s story or only care about action packed games, Sorcery! is not going to be for you. Your enjoyment of Sorcery! comes from exploring the world and story. If this doesn’t appeal to you Sorcery is not going to be for you. If you like story based games though I think you should enjoy Sorcery!
Bang For Your Buck
The amount of time you get out of Sorcery! Part Three will depend on how much time you want to put into the game. If you don’t really explore the world and just try to finish as fast as possible I think you could finish the game in two to three hours. Part three can be quite short if you want it to be.
If you have made it to part three of Sorcery! though I have to believe that you aren’t going to just rush through the game trying to finish it as quick as possible. If you take your time and fully explore the world you can get a lot of time out of the game. When you add in the fact that you can visit the past and present, there is a lot to explore and many different encounters to handle. I pretty thoroughly explored the world and I got about eight hours out of part three.
The unique thing about Sorcery! is that all of the decisions that you make impact the story. Playing part three you start to see more of how your past choices impact the current story. Part three has some unique encounters based on what you have done in the past. I don’t know exactly how much your choices affect the game, but it feels like it has more impact than most choices do in video games. This gives Sorcery! more replay value than a lot of story based games. While I will wait to replay the game, I can see coming back to the game in the future which isn’t something I would do for most story based games.
Final Verdict
If you have played parts one and two of Sorcery! you should know what to expect from part three. Part Three is more of the same great gameplay/story found in parts one and two. While the basics are very similar to the first two parts of the game, part three still feels fresh and entertaining thanks to the time traveling mechanics.
If story based games really aren’t your cup of tea or you didn’t like the first two parts of Sorcery!, Sorcery! Part 3 is not going to be for you. If you enjoyed parts one and two, I don’t see why you won’t also love part three. If you haven’t played the first two parts of the series yet, I would recommend trying them out first especially since you will get a lot more out of the story starting from the beginning.
