Gamereactor has reviewed the action RPG Fictorum:

Fictorum

A good spell-casting mechanic isn't enough to save Fictorum.

If we were to tell you an RPG existed that combined destructible environments with varied spell-casting you'd probably say that this sounded like something cool to try out, especially if you're inclined in the way of fantasy games, and at first glance of Scraping Bottom Games' Fictorum we also thought the same. This remained true for the first half an hour of play as well, but then the sheen of the initial idea and the fun mechanics wore off a little bit, and we started to see the cracks in Fictorum emerging.

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As the hours crept into our playthrough though, we found ourselves asking why we were bothering, and that's Fictorum's biggest shortcoming. After moving from peak to peak, battle to battle, map to map, it all starts to feel extremely repetitive, especially when you cycle through the same events on-screen as well. Granted, we pick up increasingly better gear, upgrade ourselves, and trade a bit, but all of this is just different methods to take on the same repetitive formula.

In short, the excellent spell-casting mechanic at the heart of Fictorum isn't enough to produce a well-rounded and enjoyable experience. Sure, it's great fun in the first hour or so to blow up buildings or multi-shot some enemies with your spells, but once you've done that time and time again over a number of different levels, the novelty wears off very quickly, so much so in fact that we found ourselves just rushing through levels to the portals to get done quicker. Without any meat to really sink your teeth into, then, Fictorum feels a little barebones, although we're interested to see if any other games will take a look at its spell-casting and learn something from it.

Score: 6/10

The action RPG Fictorum has been released today:

Fictorum

A reign of terror never feels so satisfying as when you leave a literal pile of rubble in your wake. Giving wizards a much-needed makeover, Fictorum is an action role-playing game that features fully-destructible structures, a randomized node-based world map, and a satisfying magic system with on-the-fly spell shaping and customization.

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In Fictorum, your mage wields real, legendary power right from the start—unlike those found in most magic-centric games. Our magic system uses a dynamic and intuitive spellcasting and shaping system that grants the player an unrivaled level of customization and reconfiguration. Up to three runes can be applied to a spell, each affecting a different spell characteristic. The runes are easily swapped to suit the player’s current need, interest, or whim. You might amplify ice blasts to freeze enemies in place, expand the radius of a fireball explosion to crumble a bridge and hinder pursuers, or chain a lightning attack together to strike several targets in a cluster. Shaping makes spellcasting much more tactical and satisfying.

Rather than starting out as a hapless farm boy who stumbles into his powers and avoids enemies or entire areas until leveling up, players take on the role of an established wizarding badass, hell-bent on his mission for revenge. Yet challenge is abundant—the wizard must bring down a sprawling empire by himself, besting scores of bandits, cadres of Inquisitors, and hordes of corrupted abominations on his quest for vengeance. The protagonist has access to unlimited magical powers, making the game less about spamming that one spell that works passably well until it becomes upgradable. The experience is more about tailoring your magical arsenal, giving the player a wide range of freedom and the ability to effectively, efficiently, and enthusiastically destroy every obstacle. The randomly-generated world map features locations where every structure (from large buildings to bookshelves to tables to even a lone fork) can be demolished.

The Action RPG Fictorum will be released next month:

Fictorum Update #46: Event and Visual Effect Improvements

We’re about a month away from releasing Fictorum, with our plan to release on August 10th! We have added more events and polish to our game in version 0.9.6, which will be our last major beta release with v1.0 coming soon.

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Thank you for the info, rjshae!

Gabriel spotted the beta trailer for the crowdfunded RPG Fictorum:

Fictorum: Beta Trailer

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Fictorum is an action RPG featuring customizable, dynamic spell-casting. You are a powerful wizard of a forbidden magical order, the Fictorum, with the unique ability to shape and master all schools of magic. Stretching the limits of your power, you have survived your own execution at the hands of the Inquisition, a sprawling theocratic empire bent on eradicating all Fictorum. As the last of your kind, you will shatter the Inquisition as vengeance for your exterminated order, as well as anyone else who dares to stand in your path.

The game will be released in August 2017.

The Mage Action RPG Fictorum is 75% funded with 11 days to go:

Hey fellow spell-casters,

We're so excited to be over 75% funded with just about half of our campaign remaining! We cannot wait to get our latest build into the hands of our new game community and get the team back to development.

Thunderclap

We have a request of you—We are ramping up a Thunderclap for next week in order to help spread the word about Fictorum and we could use some help. If you've never heard of Thunderclap, it allows a single message to be mass-shared, flash mob-style, so it rises above the noise in your social networks. To support us, all you have to do is: 

• Click this link 
• Choose a social network. 
• You can make any changes to the message you'd like, then hit Add My Support.

You are Great

Finally, thank you. The awesome person reading this message at some point decided "Yep, I want in on this," and that gets me and my team tingly in all sorts of interesting places. We love our game and feel it is very special—you share in that feeling with us. Words fall sorrily short of expressing exactly how touched we are by what you have done for us.

Have a wonderful weekend and continue being incredible.

Magically yours,
Chip

Thanks Farflame!

For the next 30 days Fictorum is trying to get funded on Kickstarter, having set a goal of $25,000. In Fictorum you play a mage, so if you don't like playing a mage, this might not be your thing, but as a mage you can customize your spells to your liking.

Fictorum is an action RPG featuring customizable, dynamic spell-casting. You are a powerful wizard of a forbidden magical order, the Fictorum, with the unique ability to shape and master all schools of magic. Stretching the limits of your power, you have survived your own execution at the hands of the Inquisition, a sprawling theocratic empire bent on eradicating all Fictorum. As the last of your kind, you will shatter the Inquisition as vengeance for your exterminated order, as well as anyone else who dares to stand in your path.

Demolish your surroundings with legendary magic: Become the wizard that you’ve always wanted to play—Wield awe-inspiring magic with explosive impacts that will send your enemies flying and shatter structures into rubble with a single, well-placed spell.

Dynamically improve your spells with our spell-shaping system: Shape a spell towards any of the available runes to amplify specific properties of any spell. Mastering this system will allow you to turn a fireball into a high-explosive cluster bomb, or a basic ice blast into a leaping ball of frozen doom! And these customizations aren’t set—you can constantly reconfigure your runesets and spells.

Traverse a world shattered by magic on your mission of vengeance: Progress through our randomly-generated world map, as you search for the Grand Inquisitor, to avenge your massacred order. Conflict is rampant throughout the world, and many locations have difficult choices to make—will you choose to fight your way through a fortified town, potentially finding new equipment, or will you take the path of least resistance, saving your strength for the battles to come? Do you investigate a local execution or use the opportunity to loot valuables in the nearby town? The choice is yours.

Find powerful items and new spells to increase your immense power: Each location has opportunities for encountering new spells and equipment that increase your magical potency and keep you safe. You can also trade magical essence that you find for new equipment, or use it to enchant the armor, spells, or runes that you already possess, further enhancing your capabilities.

Discover the impact that you left on the world: Once your journey is over, your story is retold by the Chronicler Santheocles. Judging from your actions and choices, your exploits are cataloged, and titles are awarded according to your worth and skills. Were you well-known for your prowess in fire magic and duly titled “The Inferno?” Perhaps you took a few too many arrows in your quest, and are appropriately given the moniker “The Pincushion.” Depending on the outcome, obtaining a new title may unlock a new starting title for your next playthrough, granting you access to a new loadout of items and abilities!