Folly of the Wizards Review

A simple, wholesome roguelike released by two hard-working developers with the collaboration of other developers, Folly of the Wizards is a prime example of what one might think of when considering an indie game—a project of passion made by a few artists.

Folly of the Wizards, a game made by the developers at UpFox Labs and published by the company Numskull, is the first game ever publicly released by this small studio of two. It is a roguelike RPG where the player takes on the role of tiny characters known as wizards.

The story of Folly of the Wizards entails a world where evil was vanquished by wizards who gathered to stop that evil long ago, but after the disappearance of this coalition of wizards, the evil had reappeared, and it was now time for the cast of characters you can use to deal with the evil; the game tests whether you prevail or whether it will be your folly.

The game is a standard roguelike where you play as a character with an ability, where you start off with nothing but just that ability, and where you have to fight through levels and unlock abilities such as changes in the element of your character's ability, add-ons such as relics and tomes, and weapons that shift your ability entirely. 

In this game, you use ranged attacks and summons to attack enemies that spawn in an arena. The arenas themselves are separated through platforms, creating changing elevations, allowing you to approach the fight in different ways. 

You also get to interact with many NPCs that help you with combat and are the way you gain knowledge on the lore of this game. They also have a system of NPC affinity, where interactions between NPCs can affect both their own affinity and their affinity to other NPCs.

Although Folly of the Wizards is developed by a small studio, it is packed with content

Folly of the Wizards has multiple endings, 7 to be exact, which are based on the choices you make throughout your run and your affinity with these said NPCs. There are nine biomes. A vast number of relics and quests. Although it is developed by a small studio, it is packed with content.

The movement in this game incorporates both vertical and horizontal elements, allowing you to dash in any direction, including horizontally, vertically, and at an angle. The player can also perform a double jump, which further enhances their freedom of movement.

Even with all the additions of these features, I still feel that the movement feels incomplete and a bit clunky. It feels like that for some reason; even with the almost negative gravity, you are bound to the ground, a weirdly floaty yet trying to add a sense of weight where it shouldn't be present. The collision with the platform feels nice. But overall, the movement in my eyes needs work to be perfect and can be easily made better.

Getting back to the combat mechanics, as mentioned before, the character has ranged attacks. You get two attack options: a primary spell, which is the one you start off with, and a secondary one, which you get by advancing the levels. 

Primarily, projectiles. There are summons as well, which shoot projectiles. The projectile shooting is actually fun; you can spam as much as you want, and the hit detection is actually pretty good. The summons are also very fun to use. The vast diversity of element types is another fun aspect that I liked; you never run out of combinations to try in each run. Each run feels different.

As for Folly of the Wizards combat system, even though it's diverse, it can be a double-edged sword. Firstly, it creates a sense of confusion in the player as to what each power is supposed to do; as for the fire element, nothing differentiates its effect from that of the lightning. Secondly, despite the diversity, the combat seems somewhat flat due to the aforementioned lack of differentiation in attacks. 

The secondary can be acquired from completing each level and then interacting with the NPCs. Each NPC gives a different type of weapon each iteration, and each NPC spawns at different intervals between the levels. The system of the secondary is also a bit unusual, as you cannot switch the weapons you pick up, which restricts the player.

In the combat sections, the movement also has a big role to play; you can use the dash to dodge the attacks of the enemies, and you also have to dodge the swoop attacks of the enemies by double jumping over the bosses that do that sort of attack. You can also dash diagonally, but it was hard for me to initiate that on the keyboard and mouse.

Speaking of keyboard and mouse, you have to be aware of the controls of the game before you start. Before you begin a run, you will see the tutorial option toggled off. Initially, it may seem good, as tutorials can be very annoying, especially due to their useless advice; however, I strongly advise that you start the tutorial to get used to the controls. As the keyboard controls are not changeable in this game.

This is a notable downside to me and is something the developers should address immediately. Yes, it is possible to change the layout through other workarounds. But a player should not have to go through all that trouble just to change the controls. There have also been complaints about the controller layout in the game, where the buttons do not correspond to their usual locations in other roguelike titles.

Another complaint I have about the in-run pause menu is that there is no way of accessing the settings. I understand that there are only a few options in the settings themselves, but being able to adjust the brightness in the game settings, especially for dark sections, feels like a feature that should be there, whether necessary or not, for the player's convenience.

Folly of the Wizards loses the sense of comfort it might create through its art style or music.

Another combat element is the relics, which are the most confusing part of the game. As their powers or uses are very vague, in an attempt to keep the player engaged by instigating critical thinking, the game loses the sense of comfort it might create through its art style or music. Some descriptions, although understandable, still confuse the player, while others lack tangible meaning.

In the combat system, the strengths can be seen in the diversity of everything, including the numerous relics, spells, and weapons. The inclusion of the NPCs in the combat system creates a more friendly experience for the player, as opposed to having to fight enemies to unlock the weapons. And since it is a roguelike, there is no farming and no actual levelling system.

However, there are bosses, and the arenas are another aspect that initially bothered me. The bosses themselves are unique and have fun characteristics; their gimmicks also seem to elevate the gameplay. There is one specific boss that I didn't like: the dinosaur seemed unfair, regardless of whether I dodged or not.

Overall, for a more recent release, they have a lot of work ahead of them to develop the combat system. They have their minds in the right place, and with some effort, Folly of the Wizards can be put in a better position to achieve player satisfaction.

Folly of the Wizards' art style is extremely nice and well thought out, as evidenced by the care put into the details, which are fully showcased in the game's menu. The art style has a resemblance to the graphics of a mix of old phone games and Flash games, which doesn't feel out of place. The quality is far from bad.

The only critique I have regarding the art style is the dark borders of the map, which could be made more seamless, unless this is the intended direction the devs wanted to take the game window's look. The characters, NPCs, bosses, and enemies all have unique looks and are very pleasing. The character also features unique animations during movement, which add a nice visual element. 

Folly of the Wizards' soundtrack is extremely well-crafted, drawing inspiration from games like Hollow Knight and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for its boss fights. Overall, the soundtrack throughout the game is very nice.

Although I personally would prefer that they work on the combat sounds, such as the projectiles being shot and the enemies being hit. The soundtracks blend in seamlessly. Each area, divided by its environment, has its own soundtrack, increasing the immersion created. The fun, upbeat track also complements the game's art style.

Overall, this game is a fun experience, but its janky controls have somewhat put me off from achieving all the endings. I wonder whether I will ever return to it unless they address the changes that have been critiqued in this guide.

A game of passion is not always perfect, but with passion, something can be made perfect. The unique story, intricate affinity system, extremely beautiful art style, and diverse combat system are not overshadowed by the developers' shortcomings.

Shortcomings that can be solved with a simple update. Which is why I hold on to hope for this game, and I hope to play it again one day, having fun in the process of discovering all the secrets and endings.