The trailer for Magic: Legends made its debut back in December at The Game Awards. The Diablo-esque action-adventure won’t see official finished release until some time in 2021, but players itching to trade their cards in for virtual heroes can sign up for a chance to play in the beta when it hits this spring.
In Magic: Legends, players step into the shoes of magic-wielding Planeswalkers who can cast a variety of spells based on their chosen class. Those classes coincide with the five elemental colors of Magic – white, blue, black, red, and green. Only two classes have been revealed so far. The blue Mind Mage focuses on psychic powers while the red Geomancer draws upon the Earth for her power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgNuunwEUvQ
Players will be able to choose what spells they’d like to wield in the game, and those spells will become available at random, which is a pretty clever way of mimicking the randomness of drawing cards from a deck. The game can be played solo or cooperatively, with up to three players in one party.
Magic: Legends has over 25 years of lore to mine from. That isn’t just limited to story content pulled from the card game, either. The lore has been expanded countless times in both novels and comic books. If the game manages to be successful enough to warrant further expansions, the developers aren’t going to run out of content to adapt at any time in the foreseeable future.
The beta is set to launch in spring and Magic fans can head to the official website now to sign up. Signing up won’t guarantee that you’ll get access, as you’ll still need to be selected when the times comes. You’ll have to make an Arc account in order to register for the beta, but if you’ve played any of Perfect World Entertainment’s previous online titles – Star Trek Online, Champions Online, Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter, etc – you’ll already have an account.
With the massive amount of content at its disposal and a built-in fanbase that stretches back over two decades, Magic: Legends really has a chance to become a dominant force in the MMO market. And while there will definitely be crossover between Magic and World of Warcraft fans, the former’s Diablo-inspired gameplay should set it apart enough that the two can co-exist peacefully. Any gamer that’s both a fan of MMOs and fantasy lore can kiss any semblance of a personal life goodbye.
