➤ Master of Magic: Rise of the Soultrapped, the review of the DLC that combines technology and magic 🕹

The analysis of Master of Magic: Rise of the Soultrapped, the DLC that combines technology and magic in the remake of the historic 4X.

The development studio MuHa Games follows a known path in the management of the remake of Master of Magic, composed of free updates, which correct errors, revise mechanics and systems and add some content, and more substantial additions, compiled in paid DLC, which introduce new elements and expand the experience in different directions. So after Through the Myrror, a free update that added four wizards and a new race, the Goblins, it's time to pick up a paid package.

In the Revisión de Master of Magic: Rise of the Soultrapped We will find out if it is worth combining magic and technology.

I have a trapped soul

Master of Magic: Rise of the Soultrapped, the review of the DLC that combines technology and magic — Rise of the Soultrapped adds interesting content

For those who don't know, Master of Magic is one strategic 4X in which magicians compete for mastery of magic. Building cities, creating armies and earning power points, you must be the first to cast the definitive spell that will give you control of the magical energy of the two kingdoms, Arcanus, the surface world, and Myrror, a parallel underground world. populated by autonomous and unique species. The alternative is to eliminate all other wizards by military means, that is, by destroying and conquering their cities. Rise of the Soultrapped does nothing to revolutionize or reform this formula. Most of the content in the new DLC revolves around the so-called Techmagic, a new school of magic that traditional magicians do not like, who see it as an abomination.

All this translates into ten new spells, three new wizards and a new race, the Soultrapped, or Vessels in Spanish, apparently born from experiments carried out by the dwarves, who combined constructs with organic matter, using runic powers to animate them.

However, upon becoming sentient, the Trapped Souls began to declare themselves children of the gods, freeing themselves from their origins and generating their own civilization. In game terms, all this translates into cities capable of producing very combat-resistant and decidedly disturbing mechanical units, such as the soul cannons, essentially ethereal tanks, the powerful and destructive "soulless" ground units of enormous power, the strange Yeets . , long-range units in the shape of hands and the subtriremes, vessels not moored to the Shipyard. Soul-trapped cities grow more slowly than others and units cost more, but perform better than those of other species, especially basic ones. In addition, they exploit mineral resources more, so it is always better to find new ones where these raw materials are found, to take advantage of the relative advantages.

magic and technology

In terms of gameplay, using the Soultrapped is interesting, because it offers a peculiar challenge and makes it more urgent to quickly explore the map for minerals, so much so that you can end up destroying rather than conquering some neutral cities of other races. , in the event that they arise in especially profitable areas for our robots. He new spells from Techmagic are all designed to favor the new style of play. This way we can summon reconnaissance drones, search for hidden minerals and energy points and obtain the services of a champion who represents the perfect link between organic creatures and mechanical creatures. The end goal always remains the same, but the evaluations what to do during the game change, which can be considered a point in favor of the DLC given that we are talking about a strategic one, where making evaluations is the very axis of the experience.

Speaking of three wizards added, two are quite traditional: Morique is a demonic dark elf who uses the powers of Death and Chaos and Grendel is an ogre who believes only in the law of the fittest. Both have a trait that allows them to use the species that populate Myrror even on the surface. More complex and interesting is Novesette, essentially an elf fused with a machine, progenitor of technomagic. Let's say she's the natural choice to best use Soultrapped, given that she has the unique "technocrat" trait, which gives her several advantages in using technomagic, including a reconnaissance drone by default.

Conclusions

Another novelty that the DLC brings is the so-called "Soultrapped Menace", an event that begins in middle game and that sees autonomous technological dungeons flourish, capable of producing very aggressive troops that threaten cities. This is an integration that livens up the games a bit and adds an extra problem for the player to consider when micromanaging cities. It's also a way to breathe life into some border towns that, in many cases in traditional games, end up sitting there doing nothing but providing resources. Now, if a tech dungeon is activated in their vicinity, you still need to be able to defend them, with the associated problems, especially if there are other war fronts open.

Overall, we found Rise of the Soultrapped to be a good DLC. Playing Soultrapped revives interest, especially if you know the other races inside out, while using Techmagic offers insights in strategic terms that make the games different enough to justify their existence. Surely something more could have been done in terms of Customization of cities, which remain identical to the others, only with some new buildings. Overall, a little more content wouldn't have hurt. Furthermore, of the three new assistants only one is really interesting, because it allows you to take full advantage of all the other new features of the expansion. Let's say there's enough to justify the return of Master of Magic's flame by hardcore players, but the hope is that in the future the paid additions will go a little deeper.