[DonDonDonPata]

This came out March, 2023 on PS5 (also on PS4, PC, and Switch) but I didn't pick it up until about a month ago. In that time, I've sunk almost 40 hours into it. Highly recommended to anyone who likes this genre for the battles. Unfortunately, there is no waifu simulator or hours of voiced cutscenes to enjoy... it's just one relentless battle after another; you'll have slaughtered literally hundreds of enemies before each Night is over.



The Last Spell combines a few different things into one game: take the challenging permadeath and unit positioning of Fire Emblem, build the game around overpowered builds like Disgaea, sprinkle in some city building and tower-defense, and then throw 100s of enemy units at your base all at once. You are always outnumbered, you are always fighting tooth and nail to keep zombies out of your city, you are always a few bad decisions away from death.

Look at this insanity:

It's a roguelike, so there's a lot of randomization in the items plus a meta-progression system that gradually gives you new stuff whether you win or lose a run. A single run is 3-5 hours depending on the map (different number of total Nights). Even 3 hours is much longer than the average SRPG battle but much shorter than the average 4x strategy game session. This game fits into a nice niche where I wanna build up a town and see my decisions pay off over multiple Day/Night cycles, while at the same time giving me tons of huge battles with almost no cutscenes or waifu petting simulation. If the 3+ hours per run sounds intimidating, you can save and exit at any time.

40 hours in and I've unlocked 3 out of 5 maps. I've replayed each map several times either attempting to win (which unlocks the next map) or trying different strategies, all while farming achievements and "tainted essence" which unlocks more weapon varieties, better weapons, better loot drops, etc.

Plus the soundtrack is incredible.... heavy metal, harpsichord, chiptunes, and stringed instruments really set the mood for your apocalyptic task. It wouldn't sound out of place in a Castlevania or Guilty Gear title. You'll spend a lot of time staring at the screen, clicking stats, puzzling out what you want to do next, and this is one of the rare games where the ost blends into the experience perfectly.

 

[mcz117chief]

It looks great but no waifus is a deal breaker for me

 

[DonDonDonPata]

It looks great but no waifus is a deal breaker for me

lol the best I can do is some character portrait customization, that's about all this game offers.

Some of the character portraits end up super ugly, which is hilarious

 

[mcz117chief]

It looks great, I'll definitely put it in my wishlist for later.

 

[Sejan]

It looks interesting. I'm curious how the plays, and there are console versions, so I'll keep an eye out for a sale in the coming weeks. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[synchronicity]

I already had it on my Steam wishlist, but nice to hear some more impressions. Music is clicking for me too. I'll keep it at the front of my mind when looking for price drops on games I've got my eye on.

 

[Hinedorf]

Was fun for a bit but I find the music to get a bit redundant, I get it's 'the theme', just not for me but can understand how some will love it.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Beat another map and unlocked a new one... haven't even dared to try it yet.

There's a perfect balance between rock-paper-scissors strategy and the need to make wildly-overpowered character builds + defenses to keep your head above water. I've already failed a few runs because my team was okay but wasn't strong enough together to handle a particular wave of enemies or a particular boss. At the end of a run, I had a hero killing bosses in 1 or 2 hits, but that was just 1 out of 6 heroes. It's very hard to come back after heroes die but it's possible.

I love how puzzle-y it is. It's not a puzzle game, but spatial orientation and figuring out the best way to kill groups and Elites takes some planning.

The devs are supporting the game with patches and additions, and they plan to add some DLCs in 2024 which I'm very excited to try out. The core game is incredibly fine tuned, so adding more content on top of the very deep base game will make battles even crazier.

 

[Sejan]

Went ahead and picked it up on PS5, and I've liked it pretty well so far. Finished the tutorial area, and failed the first real level at the boss. I don't know if he had another phase or not, but I had him down to one hit when the zombies finally mobbed my caster dude in the middle. Overall, I think it is some good fun, and I like the character builds so far. My tank character was pretty awesome by the end. He was virtually indestructible and had the vampire, self heal talent, too. If the boss would have gone anywhere other than a beeline toward my weakest character, I probably could have won.

 

[Sejan]

Beat the map on my second try. With a few unlocks it became a strange mix of easy and "so stressful—I'm about to die at any second."

It's a strange mix because I s-ranked the boss, didn't let a single enemy into my camp, and avoided taking any damage to my heroes, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure I would have hopelessly lost in another 2-3 turns max.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this purchase, and I'll definitely be playing again.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Beat the map on my second try. With a few unlocks it became a strange mix of easy and "so stressful—I'm about to die at any second."

It's a strange mix because I s-ranked the boss, didn't let a single enemy into my camp, and avoided taking any damage to my heroes, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure I would have hopelessly lost in another 2-3 turns max.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this purchase, and I'll definitely be playing again.

I have the same experience, a weird blend of high stress where I have to puzzle out every detail or else I'll lose horribly yet I am still getting mostly S and A ranks. The game really rewards you if you squeeze every last resource and play smart/efficiently.

My 12 year old son is playing this game a ton too, almost as many hours as me. It's interesting watching how he handles the difficulty because he has attempted the first map 6 or 7 times but hasn't won. He makes a lot of sub-optimal moves and wastes too much mana too early, yet can survive the early Nights with S and A ranks. But those mistakes cost him the run later when he has barely any mana left to use on the hardest fights, and/or he fails to pick a good set of stats and perks, and/or he fails to upgrade his gear enough.

Despite losing a lot, he still loves the game and talks to me about it. I like it too. It has a really satisfying ascent as you build your town and heroes. even when I fail a run, it was fun building up my hero and town again. you gain some Essence and can begin puzzling out how to use certain weapon classes differently next time or how to build better defenses.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

a quick thought: this is probably the most "classic" Roguelike out of the modern roguelites. It wouldn't feel out of place if the graphics were displayed in ASCII like Doom RL (Jupiter Hell) or Dwarf Fortress. Last Spell kinda plops between those two games and has many elements from both.

Feels like a forgotten gem from the late 90s/early 00s of PC gaming

 

[Sejan]

a quick thought: this is probably the most "classic" Roguelike out of the modern roguelites. It wouldn't feel out of place if the graphics were displayed in ASCII like Doom RL (Jupiter Hell) or Dwarf Fortress. Last Spell kinda plops between those two games and has many elements from both.

Feels like a forgotten gem from the late 90s/early 00s of PC gaming

I can see that. It has a lot of modern design philosophies, and I really like that it uses two separate upgrade paths. I'll probably start the next map. I unlocked so much with my first completion that I'm really eager to test out.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I can see that. It has a lot of modern design philosophies, and I really like that it uses two separate upgrade paths. I'll probably start the next map. I unlocked so much with my first completion that I'm really eager to test out.

Lake burg? I like that map best so far, out of the four I've unlocked. It has more Days/Nights than the first map so you'll have characters hitting the highest tier perks, getting better gear, and you'll develop a bigger haven by the final Night

 

[Sejan]

Lake burg? I like that map best so far, out of the four I've unlocked. It has more Days/Nights than the first map so you'll have characters hitting the highest tier perks, getting better gear, and you'll develop a bigger haven by the final Night

Yeah. That's the one. I played about half the waves before I had to quit because the kids' nap times ended. I'm enjoying a poison knife build right now, and the off hand weapons have really opened up some options. It's a good game so far, but as usual I'm going to have to play through slowly because of the kids.

 

[fatty]

Does anyone have this on the Switch? Wondering how it would look and play on the smaller Switch screen or Steamdeck.

Thanks for highlighting this game, would have probably not heard of it otherwise. Soundtrack is pretty good, too.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Does anyone have this on the Switch? Wondering how it would look and play on the smaller Switch screen or Steamdeck.

Thanks for highlighting this game, would have probably not heard of it otherwise. Soundtrack is pretty good, too.

yeah I have it on Switch. It chugs slightly on very rare occasions but it hasn't interfered with playing.

 

[Miyazaki Loves Kojima]

I'll always respect @DonDonDonPata for his eclectic taste

 

[fatty]

Thanks @DonDonDonPata for recommending this little gem. I've been playing this lately, and after being a bit overwhelmed with all of the options at the beginning, after finishing the tutorial I am really liking it.

Made it to the 5th day on my first play through, 7th on my second and couldn't make it past the harpy bosses. Bit by bit I am learning more. Posting some videos that I found helpful, and some that I still need to watch:

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Thanks @DonDonDonPata for recommending this little gem. I've been playing this lately, and after being a bit overwhelmed with all of the options at the beginning, after finishing the tutorial I am really liking it.

Made it to the 5th day on my first play through, 7th on my second and couldn't make it past the harpy bosses. Bit by bit I am learning more. Posting some videos that I found helpful, and some that I still need to watch:

Good luck on the harpies! Once I beat them, the game kinda clicked and I was able to make it through the other maps faster. Your next map, Lakesburg, is really good and I replay it all the time. Aldenpotamus is a great source that I've also used for some help.

if you have an hour to burn and want an excellent run down of all the weapon classes and the reason to use (or not use) each one



Some more tips that I found out as I played:

- Experiment with different wall/tower/ballista builds. Don't assume you have to build a wall around the full perimeter. Leaving gaps in walls for enemies to flow through can be useful. Walls can be omitted entirely, spending your resources instead on adding range/mobility to your heroes and building ballista

- Try to fill up all weapon slots (or use the 1-weapon perk) with main hand and offhand weapons. All stat boosts are active on all equipment, so a random Offhand weapon with a useful perk or stat boost will be active even if you never use it to attack. Plus it's very useful to have a different moveset available for different situations, even if your stats and perks are focused on the main weapon. Some weapon pairs work very well with one another

- Consumable potions are worth it. They have limited use per battle but recharge for free every new day.

- Lastly and probably the biggest improvement to my run success: picking a good Perk and Stat path for your soldier is more important than getting the best gear during your run. Don't assume the starting gear for your team is 'correct'. The game doesn't necessarily assign starting weapons/armor to a character with a matching complimentary Perk tree, which is highly randomized. After the starting battle of a run, look at the perk tree of each character and use the "mark" function (which throws a little dagger on the board) to plot out perks you want to use on the build. You'll often find one of the better assignments for a weapons is a different character than the one the game gives it to

 

[fatty]

Good luck on the harpies! Once I beat them, the game kinda clicked and I was able to make it through the other maps faster. Your next map, Lakesburg, is really good and I replay it all the time. Aldenpotamus is a great source that I've also used for some help.

if you have an hour to burn and want an excellent run down of all the weapon classes and the reason to use (or not use) each one



Some more tips that I found out as I played:

- Experiment with different wall/tower/ballista builds. Don't assume you have to build a wall around the full perimeter. Leaving gaps in walls for enemies to flow through can be useful. Walls can be omitted entirely, spending your resources instead on adding range/mobility to your heroes and building ballista

- Try to fill up all weapon slots (or use the 1-weapon perk) with main hand and offhand weapons. All stat boosts are active on all equipment, so a random Offhand weapon with a useful perk or stat boost will be active even if you never use it to attack. Plus it's very useful to have a different moveset available for different situations, even if your stats and perks are focused on the main weapon. Some weapon pairs work very well with one another

- Consumable potions are worth it. They have limited use per battle but recharge for free every new day.

- Lastly and probably the biggest improvement to my run success: picking a good Perk and Stat path for your soldier is more important than getting the best gear during your run. Don't assume the starting gear for your team is 'correct'. The game doesn't necessarily assign starting weapons/armor to a character with a matching complimentary Perk tree, which is highly randomized. After the starting battle of a run, look at the perk tree of each character and use the "mark" function (which throws a little dagger on the board) to plot out perks you want to use on the build. You'll often find one of the better weapons is

Oh man, these are some great tips. I just recently learned about using the offhand weapon for different situations but the stats being active even when not being used is very useful to know. Looking forward to playing this some more this upcoming week.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Oh man, these are some great tips. I just recently learned about using the offhand weapon for different situations but the stats being active even when not being used is very useful to know. Looking forward to playing this some more this upcoming week.

I'd love to hear more of what you think as you play further. Drop your thoughts in the thread when you can! I'be only been playing for a few months but it's eaten up a ton of hours. It does so many things right and it omits/solves a lot of gripes I have with other contemporary strategy RPGs.

 

[skeem]

This is currently on sale (35% off, £12) on the Playstation Store. I added the game to my wishlist after seeing this thread a few months back and bought it today.

Will post some impressions hopefully by end of weekend.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

It's here!



Dwarves have been added as a playable race, with their own upgrade tree to exploit. There's a new map too.

New weapons: Gauntlet, War Shield, and Cannon

The DLC isn't available for consoles yet, in case you picked this up on Switch or PSN.