We’re going on an adventure! But not with Frodo and Gandalf. Instead, we join a group of heroic wizards in a quest to save villagers from demons who have risen once again to bring destruction and mishap to the woefully underprepared village folks who have once again called upon a sect of wizards, who are now too old to combat the new demons, but instead call upon a young apprentice who has only heart if nothing short of lacking spells and tomes. Developed by UpFox Labs and published by Numskull Games, who had an idea to create a 2D, whimsical, comedic rogue-like title centered around an unfortunate and underprepared wizarding apprentice who is tasked with saving the world from chaos. Is this young wand flicker good enough to bring this charming little rogue-like to the forefront of attention? Let’s dive in and rummage about, shall we!
A Whimsical 2D Spectacle that Charms the Birds out the Trees
Simply, one of the best parts of Folly of the Wizards that didn’t fail to grab my attention was that it sets the premise of the story out straight off the bat upon entering the game, that I was a silly apprentice whose job it was to save the world from impending doom, and that there was comedic value to its very limited story. As I entered the unforgiving world and made my first steps into the first dungeon of the aptly named Tundra, I was faced with flying beasties, rolling pots and frosty encounters. I suddenly realized that I was in for a ride here with a game that draws commonalities from games like The Binding of Isaac for its combat system and wacky ideas yet follows the 2D side scrolling theme from Hollow Knight. Along with a limited story (as always for a rogue like), I met bubbly, cute characters ranging from a blobby king named Nero to a floating, straw-hat wizard Mingo, who has an air of Raiden about them from Mortal Kombat. The characters within this relentless 2D sidescroller make the world feel less lonely as you have hideaways in which to find them, and not only this, they aid the desperate wizard to be with unique abilities and pick-ups, which had me hitting the snow on roller-skates and summoning souls with an enchanted pet toy.
Tempting Combat with a Spellbinding Pull but Ultimately Falls at the Last Hurdle
Now, earlier, when I spoke about the combat resembling The Binding of Isaac, I was being fully serious. I played on the Xbox Series X and you use the right stick to aim and fire your spells at your enemies, much like you do when you shoot your tears with Isaac in his respective world. Mix this intriguing style of combat with a world that reminisces Hollow Knight, and you’d think you’d have a winning combo, right? Well, unfortunately not. I had a pretty hard time utilizing the combat and controls, and this isn’t because I’m terrible at rogue likes or games that have a difficulty spike, but because of the controller scheme, if you could change the layout with controller mapping then this would easily peak the combat in this game, but it really hinders it. As fun as it is to blast fire spells at cute yet punishing enemies, it really irks me that I have to jump with LB and interact with A, literally not even the whole controller scheme, but that would be enough to warrant a big upgrade to combat in my opinion!
Tight Fights and Nowhere to Go
However, away from the overarching negative, the combat can be fun, tense and rewarding after sending your foes to the underworld once more as you fight in small spaces with platforms to bounce from and gain advantages. Not just that, the value of the replay is also very good in this title, as I had multiple runs through the game, using various different abilities, weapons and pick-ups to make every run different, and just to add to the rogue-like value of this sorcerer’s adventure, every run is completely randomized and different from the last, with fully changing dungeons and a range of different bosses and foes to combat. Speaking of bosses, the boss rooms are challenging, tight and claustrophobic. At times, it felt really rewarding to dismantle the oversized heads of their respective setting, whether that be in the Desert of the Tundra. However, some rooms and dungeons felt way too small for the capacity of the fight, a small size change to some of the boss fights would really balance things out and make it a real fight to survive a situation rather than just a loss, loss one.
A Colourful World in Which a Sorcerer is Born
One thing is for certain, aside from the debatable stage building and combat flow, the world that was portrayed around me felt vibrant and colourful with every new dungeon I discovered. The graphical style intrigued me because, again, as much as I have referred to it over the course of this review, it follows the same sort of style Hollow Knight does, colourful, bright and alive. The one thing that this little title does differently is work away from the somewhat foggy, white-lit world and make its own space for a vibrant one. Each stage feels like it’s attracting you into the background with so much going on in the forefront, yet there always seems to be an intriguing as to what is going on behind the protagonist’s back!
How Does Your Track Stack with Ben!
Another game means another soundtrack rating! Folly of the Wizards sticks to its core roots of mediaeval and fantasy with a soundtrack which compliments that, with how it mixes a mediaeval tone into a tone that’s similar to a Disney character finding their way through a world of mystery and wonder, you know that curious sort of music that plays? Yeah, the one you’re now humming? THAT ONE! Aside from the main score, in each of the character rooms, they each have their own unique track, as well as the battle zones such as the dungeons and boss rooms, specifically the boss rooms. They have a tense but adrenaline-raising tone which gets you ready for battle. Soundtrack rating – 10/10, the score really fits here and delivers on its promise of fantasy.
A Wizards Folly Must come to an End
Now to put the aspiring wizard into their storybook, and tuck them away for another adventurer. Folly of the Wizards has a great idea, and in perspective delivers a unique experience with spell casting, platforming and wacky items all to boot. With a genre which is so bloated right now and has more developers searching for an opening in the market, UpFox Labs tried to grab the attention of fans by crafting a 2D platformer to ride into Hollow Knights success but ultimately, couldn’t keep up the chase. As fluid and as nice the game looks, it seems to lack that little bit more to make it a standout within its weight class, which is unfortunate as I do see some potential here, but it didn’t quite grab me as much as I hoped it would!
Overall Score – 7/10, Available Now on Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Nintendo Switch
