Welcoming players with hard-hitting main-menu metal music to make Eddie Munson proud, The Last Spell sets the grim mood and the head-banging rhythm even before you step into the battlefield. A tactical RPG with roguelite elements, this is a hard-as-nails tale about growing stronger, dying, and getting back into the fight knowing how to do better, along with some valuable perks that you earned during the battle. And it’s incredibly complex and addictive in all the right ways.

Dawn of the Undead

The tale says that the world is on the brink of destruction due to The Cataclysm, an enchantment summoned by mages in a final bid to end the rampaging war. It turned out for the worse, as fireballs lit the skies and wiped out nearly everything, spreading this poisoned purple mist that turns everyone into bloodthirsty undead creatures. Only a few Havens remain, but the hordes of the relentless tormented attack at night, trying to stop the mages from casting The Last Spell that will banish all magic from the land and hopefully restore peace. Who knows, maybe this time they won’t mess it up.

Your role in this medieval zombie apocalypse tale is to protect the last bastion of humanity and earn the mages enough time to conjure the spell. It won’t be easy, with the enemy numbers in the hundreds and your humble bastion of defense with just a few determined but inexperienced heroes.

Saying that The Last Spell is hard is an understatement, and it’s not a design flaw either; this is a game intended to put the most resourceful, skilled, and determined of the turn-based roguelite fans to the test, offering you a playground with a myriad of mechanics that may overwhelm you during the first hours. It’s deliberately cruel, unrelenting, but also fair in the sense that it gives you all the tools you need to succeed – it’s up to you to do as the mages and mess it up, or make the most of it and survive night after night.

There are two main phases in the game. During the nighttime, your Haven will face the rampant threat of the undead from one or more directions; when you repel the hordes, it’s time for the production phase during the daytime, as you level up your heroes, buy some new gear, create more buildings in your sanctuary, place additional defensive structures including gates and ballistae, and ultimately prepare everything for the upcoming terror night. It’s crucial to restore your heroes’ health and mana to the utmost capacity if possible, using structures that are specifically built for that. Your goal is to make sure that the undead don’t reach the center of the Haven, where the mages are working on the new spell.

You need workers to perform several actions such as mana and health restoration, scavenge the remains of the night creatures for gold and items, and more. Finding the right balance between all that must be done within various constraints, is a tough endeavor, and one that you may end up regretting during your next run until you learn how to perfect your ways and find the most suited structures and hero builds for your play style.

During the daytime turn-based stage, positioning is everything. Using your action points to the best extent and making sure that every hit counts is crucial, taking into consideration things such as weapon range, AoE, and spell effects. Different enemies come with specific weaknesses, meaning that you must learn how to approach each one in the best way. Sometimes you may feel that a ranged attack is for the best, but then again you have this strong melee hero who barely loses any health when hit, so why not go into the heart of the horde and bash them left and right? Friendly fire is a reality, so make sure that you don’t use that arrow shower when one of the team is right in the middle of the target.

Such is the beauty of The Last Spell – the level of hero customization is incredibly deep and allows for a vast number of tactical possibilities that may turn the game on its head. Learning them is a challenge for sure, but when you finally have a team of superior and balanced heroes, that warm feeling of accomplishment sinks in. Taking out hundreds of enemies can be a task that goes from the initial minutes to various hours even, and it’s difficult to avoid a slight sense of frustration when a battle goes the wrong way, but surviving night after night… that is something that only skilled players will be able to pull off.

To help you out, you have these two supernatural entities whose purposes are enigmatic, but you’re not in the position to refuse any assistance. Trading the tainted essence with the dark creature for perks such as additional health, mana, or the chance of getting new items during your runs is a deal that you are not advised to miss. The light being offers other perks, from new structures to better weapons, for as long as you complete specific requirements – survive a certain number of nights, spend a given amount of action points casting skills with wands, and the like.

They Are Hundreds

The Last Spell is a great showcase for doom and gloom pixel-style artwork, with the easily discernible hero traits and creature variants playing a big role in the overall readability and fun factor. There are no issues or misperceptions with what you have in front of your eyes, including the terrific design of each building and their purpose. It’s a real treat for the eyes, and the isometric perspective works wonders with the turn-based gameplay.

Even the menus are neatly arranged, despite the potential to feel convoluted at first due to the intense amount of information at hand. In time, you’ll realize that the way everything is placed fits elegantly and makes perfect sense.

The soundtrack deserves a special mention since it’s something out of your ordinary game music. Throughout the journey, you’ll listen to some of the most appropriate end-of-the-world demonic invasion tunes, a full match to Stranger Things’ upside-down epic, with a slap-hard mix of metal and synth that is going to stay in your mind long after you turn off the game.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the mechanics and fun factor of The Last Spell. The nearly two years in Early Access really served to hone and polish the game, making it a turn-based RPG fan’s dream. The ruthless challenge is deliberate, the long hours in some runs are part of the deal, and you’ll get your money’s worth for sure. Embrace the undead coming from the mist and enjoy one of the best tactical roguelite games of recent years, even if you must die over and over again.

Score: 9/10

Pros:

• Amazingly deep and complex in all the right ways
• Great longevity and value for money
• Fantastic pixel graphics
• A true challenge for genre fans

Cons:

• Not one for the less patient

The Last Spell review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.