Arcane Brawlers Hot

I fooled around with the game for a bit, and to be honest, I don't think they really did enough with it.

I mean, the idea is good, and most parts were made the way I'd imagine they'd be made. The whole four-elements-one-on-each-face-combine-them-to-do-kooky-stuff thing has already been done a few times, and it didn't seem like they really added anything to it.

A lot of the combination spells don't really do anything interesting, and are really avoidable. Seeing as you'd only be using one attack at a time, it's not like you could do something clever with them, unless you were in a team setup and your teammate was in on it. Even then, it seems like it's far too easy to dodge a lot of the moves, and it's not like any of them do anything spectacular. I did get what the steam spell was supposed to do; it was supposed to cloak you in a giant shroud. However, seeing as the steam moved along with the caster, it's fairly obvious where they are. I guess you could use it to hide what you're stacking, and again if you have a teammate they could run around in the steam without the opponent knowing what to do. I feel it'd work better if it was a giant stationary cloud that just sorta whisped away.

Three suggestions:

1. Make different classes, or at least different selectable characters - maybe some of them have more mana in one element or another, or have some sort of scary 3-or-4-element Ultimate Spell. It's really hard to identify or care about characters in a top-down game - all you can see is the top of the head and the shoulders, which is why spaceships are usually used in top-down games.
2. Rebalance the spells a bit. With multiplayer games, balance is everything. I found the fire-based spells were almost always more effective than the others. I could win very easily by literally running circles around everyone with the double-fire spell. They'd be so busy fire-shielding they'd end up not being able to shield what others are dishing out, killing each other off. I'd just have to deal with a straggler with little effort.
3. Find some way to be able to use two spells at once - remove the whole "spells float around you" bullcrap and replace Hotkey onto Left Bumper, putting a second attack button on Right Bumper (let's call it a left-handed attack). You can use the d-pad to stack/stock (it's hard to tell from the font, but you know what I mean) for the left hand.
4. Geography. Make some spells have a longer-lasting effect. Maybe you can summon semi-permanent rivers that you can't cross without water-shielding, or set traps that are only triggered when stepped on. You've got a giant blank palette you're running on, and you're not using any of it.
5. Make the healthbar larger, as well as the mana bars. The whole compass rose design looks neat and all, but it's really hard to read. Usually all I know is whether or not I have any particular mana at all. I'd suggest making 5 horizontal bars stacked up vertically, the health bar being the most prominent.

After seeing that 10 I decided to check it out. He is full of it. This game is lame.

This game has a little bit of a learning curve, but once you learn a few spells the rest are easy to experiment with. The game is all about mastering the art of stacking spells before unleashing a hurricane of damage and effects on your opponent. The spell system is unique and the action is addicting.

Overall, this game gets an A+ in my book!

Afterthought: The game could use some improved AI. The AI only uses the simple spells, but I just use them as practice for the real challenge... my friends!