New roguelike An Amazing Wizard is a spell-fusing mix of Hollow Knight and Isaac

If you’re craving more games to fill the gap until Hollow Knight Silksong that deliver intense, side-scrolling action platforming with Metroidvania style exploration and a ton of skill expression, An Amazing Wizard is here to answer the call. After a successful demo, developer Tiny Goblins has launched its new roguelike into early access on Steam, and it stars an intricate spell-fusing system opening up possibilities reminiscent of the myriad combinations of The Binding of Isaac.

Pitched by Tiny Goblins as a ‘roguevania’ (a fusion of the best parts of roguelikes and Metroidvanias), An Amazing Wizard immediately hooked me in with its spell system and action that feels halfway between Dead Cells and Hollow Knight. Starting with its seven core elements and 120 unique spells, you can combine abilities in any order to create distinctive effects. As an example, you might merge the more powerful Fireball spell into the fast-firing Icicle to utilize the high-damage impacts of the former at the rapid pace of the latter.

These hand-crafted spells very much call to mind the way upgrades stack in The Binding of Isaac Rebirth, but with slightly more control over their integration in your hands. You can even push multiple effects together – perhaps throwing ‘Friendly Fire’ into the mix above to cause damaging orbs to spin around each of your many enhanced fireballs. Further amplifying your buildcrafting potential are more than 200 enchantments and similar counts of artifacts and perks.

As a prophesized child stripped of their memories, you’re forced into a world distorted by chaos. An Amazing Wizard features five distinct regions, with unique mobs, elites, and boss fights found in each biome. However, the ‘roguevania’ element kicks in each time you die, dropping you back in a different zone with no checkpoints. As you progress further, you’ll begin to unlock permanent upgrades and ways to make your progression faster and more dynamic, as well as uncovering more of the secrets about your identity.

Manage to overcome the final test, and even more awaits. Increased difficulty modes let you push yourself even further and create ever-more involved builds as your list of lasting boons stacks up. For an even greater challenge, you can take on the trials of the Goddess of Death. With your adventure through the world of An Amazing Wizard never the same on any two runs, you’ll be kept busy for a long time – Tiny Goblins estimates “about 50-80 hours” to see the main elements, but the spellcrafting might hook you in for much longer.

An Amazing Wizard is out now on Steam in early access. You can grab it at a 15% discount until Thursday May 29, meaning you’ll pay $10.19 / £8.49. Get it here if you’re ready to prove your worth as the ultimate spellcaster. Tiny Goblins says it anticipates early access to last “for at least one year,” and notes that the price might increase as the full launch closes in.

For even more ways to satisfy those Silksong cravings, take a look through our recommendations for the best action games and the best platform games on PC right now.

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