If one’s looking for a fresh take on survival sims or rogue-like gameplay, “Wizard With A Gun” offers a unique combination of these gameplay styles, with a charming presentation and a grim yet captivating storyline. While the Bastion-Like Top-Down, gun-based gameplay that revolves around constantly rewinding time before the end of the world can become monotonous quickly, the game’s progression systems and skill-based gameplay help alleviate the repetitiveness enough to make “Wizard With A Gun” an 8/10. How this game accomplishes this combination of gameplay styles requires a closer critique.
The graphics and presentation feel like a fresh combination of different styles. Wizards — both player and NPC alike —feel like fun western-inspired takes on the classic design of Final Fantasy’s black mages, and the rest of the environment works perfectly with this stylistic choice. Everything in the game feels like it belongs in the world that the game presents to the player, crafting an experience that works with the game’s interesting yet dark lore and begs the player to continue playing in order to find out what lies at the end of the story.
“Wizard With A Gun” comes at typical survival-sim design from a fresh angle by weaving unique mechanics into the core of its gameplay. The game revolves around constantly rewinding the world before it crumbles apart due to Chaos, as the player needs to hastily gather materials to craft new items and upgrade their weapons. Like a classic N64 collect-a-thon, one can unlock more places to explore during the world’s short lifetime when they obtain enough of the game’s primary collectibles by defeating strong foes with upgraded equipment. These mechanics provide the player with constant goals to achieve as one constantly works towards receiving new things.
The game’s scanning mechanic also adds to the sense of constant achievement the collectibles and upgrades provide. Every time the player records an item with their encyclopedia, they gain access to recipes for new perks and items, encouraging them to scan every enemy and object they come across. The long and easily interruptible process of analyzing foes and objects turns scanning into a tumultuous yet enjoyable feat, providing the player with extrinsic and intrinsic rewards as successfully recording fierce foes feels like an accomplishment every time.
However, the game can rapidly feel repetitive due to its core mechanic of constantly rewinding time. Even though the layout of the world changes after every reset, and one can extend the short time limit imposed onto them by killing certain enemies, a player can only make so much progress before the world resets. Progress tends to feel like a reward out of reach, especially when the game frequently features enemies with defenses too high for their weapons to pierce. These foes accentuate the feeling of repetitiveness by further locking gameplay progression into the established loop of “get upgrades, get gears, fight enemies, repeat”.
The upgrade system thankfully alleviates the monotonous gameplay loop by requiring players to skillfully defeat foes and allowing them to make constant progression in multiple branches. Even if one invests their materials into upgrading one type of ammunition throughout the game’s first locale, they can effortlessly begin unlocking and boosting new types of ammo by using stronger resources to craft new types of bullets that are on par with the player’s current weaponry. One does not need to unlock Fire Bullets I through V before unlocking Fire Bullets VI, for example. Additionally, foes with the gears needed for progression usually stand among a swarm of smaller enemies, meaning players need more than firepower to get past encounters. These elements help keep things engaging and exciting despite the potential monotony of the gameplay loop.
All in all, I give “Wizard With A Gun” an 8/10, and I’d say it’s worth it for its current price tag.
