PWE’s Magic Legends has been out in the wilds of soft launch open beta for two days now, so it’s time for a check-in. And you know the Community gif with Donald Glover and the pizza and the fire? Yeah, the Reddit looks about like that right now.
Multiple members of our own staff have been tinkering around in the game, finding it fun but riddled with technical issues – especially lag and optimization problems – that have soured the launch. Those issues are backed up by the community on Reddit, which is currently worrying itself to death over the game’s monetization, accusing Cryptic of market manipulation, debating whether the game is in launch or real beta, arguing that the IP has been wasted, and trying to see who can uninstall it the fastest.
On the monetization front, complaints zero in on the “discounted” bundle, the overt gambleboxes, the excessive amounts of money required, and the triple-dipping. Players are even calling the title cash grab – or worse, a gacha game. One thread further complains that it’s pay-to-win without the win. Of course, a lot of players coming from PWE’s other games probably expected this type of monetization model, so the performance and optimization issues might actually be more worrisome, as players point to FPS drops and lag problems. Players are also asking for EU servers to help solve some of the latency complaints.
All that said, it’s not all bad, and it’s probably best if you spend more time shoring up your game and not reading the subreddit or official forums at all if you don’t want it to ruin your enjoyment. Or just remember that whether or not it’s a “real” beta, it sure is performing like one, so waiting for the full PC launch later this year might be best for your sanity – and your wallet. Either way, stay tuned for our post-launch impressions next week.
