Witchspire is out now in Early Access, and its magical open world is still a work in progress, but one with much potential that is only heightened with friends.
Witches have formed part of the collective unconscious for millennia. Taking an array from the wicked to the benevolent, there are certain images that you can attribute to them. Their bond to nature is unbreakable. Spells usually take an elaborate shape that requires obscure ingredients to obtain. Finally, you will always find them with a familiar, a talking animal that will never leave their side. Witchspire opts for the kinder route when portraying this version of the witch, delivering a cozy open-world work-in-progress that plays best with friends.
Out now in Early Access, Witchspire still does some things right from the get-go. Its character creator offers six starting classes. From the bookworm Nightscribes to the nature-loving Wildroots, these magical archetypes essentially boil down to which color your character’s robes are. Any class can access any spell. Other than a Type A or B, four voices to choose from, and skin color, at least the hairstyle has various options to express yourself. Braids and pixie cuts to straight-up bald, this is where most of the current stylistic choices lie.
Where The Magic Lies
The story of Witchspire is nothing to write home about. As the chosen one, you are a magical student in a fantasy land searching for your fellow academy friends. Finding clues of their whereabouts scattered across the land, these mostly serve as tutorials with an ambiguous endgame of trying to return home from this strange land. Like most other cozy survival open worlds, of course, the real goal is to create a welcoming camp to spend time with friends.
But to get there, the tutorial you must pass. Platforming is an unexpected focus of the game. Running to gain momentum to jump and air dash to reach farther distances, it is serviceable at best. After all, once you gain the famed ability to fly on your broomstick, most of these requirements are moot. While flying is gained a bit later, it must be unlocked in every region by collecting magical orbs. This makes it a bit of a grind to value the skill once obtained. Speaking about grinding, there is plenty of it needed to craft and improve in combat.
Exploring the lands of Witchspire, there are plenty of enemies to fight against and resources to collect. An important aspect that separates it from the rest is the inclusion of Familiars. Working as a creature-collecting minigame, you will always have a companion of your choosing by your side. These also have a special skill to deploy in combat that, paired with your normal and special attacks, adds variation to the combos. Although not strictly a hardcore action game, leveling up and earning new abilities in the sprawling skill tree help make it a breeze to move across the world unscathed.
Best With Friends
Of course, most of these gameplay elements described do not amount to much when playing alone. In fact, the world does feel lonely. Reaching quest markers from point A to point B, the feeling of it being under construction is palpable. This wholly changes when playing with friends, naturally. Flying together, building a dreamlike sanctuary together, and fighting the corruption in the land is all that more fun shared. With up to six players but four recommended on a dedicated server, as it stands, that is the recommended option to play.
At the time of writing, a special event called Celestial Bloom just ended. This event increased the spawn rate of shiny, ultra-rare familiars that cannot be found easily. Witchspire is still in Early Access in every sense of the word, but small incentives like this one to play are incredibly effective to keep players engaged in the long run. Is it worth playing as it is, or should you hold off on giving it a try until later? The answer lies in how many of your friends are ready to jump into this magical world.
