NYCC: Soul Sacrifice -- Spells and Specialization

Magic makes the drama of battle much more interesting. Wielding a sword has its own exhilarating charms, but wielding the elements, even the dead, dazzles in a way that wood and iron fail to do. The battles waged in Soul Sacrifice are driven entirely by magic. And you define the magic you sling and summon, which in turn defines you as a sorcerer and your subsequent style of play.

But why is all this magic crackling at your fingertips? As it turns out, you've been imprisoned by a rival sorcerer at the start of Soul Sacrifice. During your imprisonment, you find a strange (talking) journal that once belonged to a powerful spellcaster. You live out this sorcerer's memories in Soul Sacrifice by completing quests, which in turn unleashes new magic into your catalogue and inches you closer to freedom.

Before embarking on a quest you select which spells you bring into battle. These aren't your ordinary, everyday spells, mind you. These are dangerous, unstable, and often grotesque techniques that torment your body and unleash destruction on the creatures that snarl and bark before you. You can distort your hand into a seething hammer, or wield a sword wreathed in fire. Perhaps you'll coat your arm in ice and spew a frigid wind at the opposition, or summon a golem from beneath the dirt to do your bidding.

There are hundreds of spells to unlock as you journey through the dark. And by playing with up to three other friends you are encouraged -- and in some cases required -- to select spells that complement each other. Questing with an aggressive lover of blades? Select supportive magic to heal his wounds or hold his enemies in place while he whittles their flesh away.

With each monster vanquished, a choice must be made: do you save the soul of the defeated, or sacrifice it? Saving souls restores health and graces you with icy light, while sacrificing an enemy enhances your strength and bathes you in a glow as red as blood. These choices alter the appearance of your sorcerer, and purify or twist their physical form over time.

All these choices mold each sorcerer into a different conduit of mystical devastation, including the option to sacrifice your avatar's body to unleash a terrible attack onto enemies of immense power. But once this spell fizzles to a halt, you're forced to wander the battlefield as a ghost while your allies finish the quest alone. You can only heal them or hamper their foes, but you have little direct control over what's left of the battle.

The spells of Soul Sacrifice power its charm and hum with potential. While an English-version build has yet to be shown, the diversity and unique quality of the magic vouch strongly for the whole experience, which will arrive this coming spring.

Ryan Clements writes for IGN and gravitates towards ice magic. It's always so cool. Get it? Cool.

Source : ign[dot]com