It is quite fascinating to see how much the Sorcery! series has changed from game to game. Part One is a fairly linear affair that offers you a choice between a variety of branching corridors, Part Two takes things a bit further by giving you a large open city to roam around in, and Part 3 completely rips off the training wheels by dumping you in a massive zone that you can explore in any direction, both in the present and the past.

The almost limitless freedom doesn't simply apply to the exploration aspects of Sorcery! Part 3, it also extends to the amount of choices you're able to make when interacting with other characters and solving problems. For example, in Sorcery! Part 1 if you get attacked by a bear you can use the LAW spell to pacify it and then quickly make your getaway. In Part 3, however, you can use the LAW spell to not just pacify the bear, but to use it as your own personal mount with which you can cross wast distances unimpeded, because let's face it, whose going to stop a guy riding a bear!

Some things have stayed consistently excellent throughout the series, however, with my favourite example being the realistic character behaviour depending on the situation. If you barge in to someone's house with your sword raised high they will be aggressive and brash towards you, perhaps even outright attack you in order to protect their family. On the other hand, if you simply knock on the door, introduce yourself, and politely ask for help most people will actually give you a hand because much like the real world, being nice and polite will get you far.

Its such a simple little feature, but it makes the world of Sorcery! feel so vibrant and alive that its next to impossible to not get invested in it as everything you do and say seems to result in a sensible outcome, even if it involves invisible eagles beating up giant bats.

Unfortunately, some of the issues from the previous games have also been upgraded, and by that I mostly refer to the combat system which is extremely easy to exploit. Why go through the effort of thinking up a clever solution to your problems when you can whip out your blade and beat the thing in to submission while only losing a couple of health against the most hardy of bosses.

This issue stems from the fact that enemy patterns are surprisingly obvious, so its very easy to defend against their big attacks, and overpower their weak attacks for massive, massive damage. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, but the whole combat system is a huge disappointment compared to what it could've been, especially when you consider how well written it is. Hopefully Part 4 ends up improving things on this front as the combat genuinely has potential to be deep and complex, but is currently far too trivial for something that should be a last resort.


Sorcery! Part 3 is a combination of everything I adore about narrative driven games: some great writing that makes the world come alive, an interesting cast of characters that all behave in their own unique way, a wast region to explore in whichever fashion you chose, and most importantly, a story that gets your brain-gears turning as you attempt to find the best solution to each problem.
While certainly not a perfect game, Sorcery! Part 3 is an immensely enjoyable experience that I feel I can fully recommend to anyone that's interested in a story full of branching paths and tough choices to make.

If you're interested in a more detailed review I welcome you to either check out the written version I've done:
http://www.gamesear.com/reviews/steve-jackson-s-sorcery-part-3-pc-version-review
Or the video review that backs everything up with some pretty pictures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjdOO8-g_Os

I loved Sorcery 1-2, and thought it both an excellent adaptation of the source material and an interesting expansion thereof, taking things that were given the short shrift in the original and fledging them out into interesting sub-plots (or main plot elements). They also allowed you to properly role-play, whether as a generic hero type, or as a xenophobic ♥♥♥♥♥♥. So with all the other reviews going "it's more of the same, only better", you'd think I love the game, wouldn't you?

Well... I do. But it's in no way "more of the same". The first two Sorcery adventures were, if not exactly linear, at least fairly structured. You generally had a choice of several paths, but they would periodically converge in the same location, and you couldn't really backtrack, except in highly specific circumstances. Sorcery! 3 dispenses with all that, turning the game into an open sandbox, where you can travel back and forth at your leisure - though the game does count the time you spent adventuring and sidequesting. Basically, it's like Sorcery! had a beautiful love child with Fabled Lands, and then incorporated the time travel mechanic from Day of the Tentacle. It's the best.

Part 3 is actually a radical departure from the other two games in terms of gameplay. Instead of being a linear experience with multiple branching paths, this one is an open expanse world that you can endlessly wander and explore. You have to collect clues, find and kill the sevent serpents, and figure out how to cross this land. There are even beacons that allow you to travel time so that you can accomplish various goals. So therefore, the entire land is actually two worlds because each has a present and past version. Sounds fun right?

Well, the problem is that it wasn't implemented very well. This game contains and absolutely absurd amount of backtracking. Seriously, you have no idea. You have to explore basically the whole entire present version of the map to find all the serpents, but you also have to traverse the past version as well in order to cross the wastes. This means you have to constantly go back to the towers and fiddle around with the beams that change the terrain...its mind numbingly tediuous. To make matters worse, a lot of this super huge area is just boring filler. Literally, many locations are just filler that says something like "you're walking blah blah blah ok you move on". The entire swamp zone (1/3 of the map!) is just an endless cycle of getting stuck in the mud.

A lot of the RNG and arbritrary nonsense from the earlier games is also present in this game. Random choices instantly killing you. Ridiculously cryptic unhelpful jerk NPC's. Items that don't actually do anything but trick you into thinking they are imporant. Extremely obtuse puzzles. You might be thinking "but they did have this stuff in the other games to, so what's the big deal?" You don't understand. They took all those elements and ramped them up to 11 out of 10. There are even scripted encounters that just take away your items, even your sword so that you can't fight anymore!

Hands down the most annoying thing though, is how a lot of the serpent battles are actually non-battles. Some of them are defeated with special items that are just an insta-kill. I was expecting a climactic and awesome boss battle, but instead the situation is resolved within the span of a few dialouge options. I know that the book series had problems with this too, but this was a really golden opportunity for them to fix that aspect and they didn't take it.

Overal my experience with this game could mostly be described as tedious. It is nothing like part 1 where you have branching paths that automatically exclude other paths and significantly change the story. Going through part 3 multiple times would undoubtedly give the same experience.

The full (German) review can be found on my blog.

The Seven Serpents continues the story of Sorcery! in unexpected ways. While the first game was relatively linear and the second branched out just a little, the third game blows all of that out of the water. It's more like an open world rpg that allows you to go wherever you want, searching every nook and cranny for all kinds of secrets. Of course there's still a goal to follow, but giant mountains and a broken bridge block the way to the other side of the wasteland known as the Baklands. Not to mention seven mighty serpents intent on stopping the hero before he can reach the fortress of Mampang.

So how does one go about reaching the other side? By using magical beacons that open rifts between the present and the past. Collapsed bridges repair themselves, destroyed villages come back to live, a marsh appears in place of a forest ... which means that Sorcery! Part 3 offers two giant maps to explore! Took me about seven hours (and 20 ingame days) to do all that, which is about as long as the first parts combined. You can do it faster if you want (especially if you find a shortcut that allows you to reach the east without repairing the bridge), but I tried to see as much as possible. And even then there might be content I haven't found. Another review even told me as much.

Fortunately, you don't have to run from one corner to the next, as the beacons serve as teleporters. Rations might otherwise have been a problem.

The rest of the game is still the same, so if you enjoyed Parts 1 and 2, I don't see why you wouldn't like this one either.

Usually I find "Epic Heroic Fantasy" boring. Especially interactive fiction. Not so, here. This game was rad. You gotta track down seven cunning evil serpents before they can warn an evil wizard that you're crossing his cursed kingdom to kill him. Art style is simple but gorgeous. And this is the most deeply nonlinear and complexly-plotted piece of interactive fiction I've ever seen. Awesome.

The simplest way to describe Sorcery! Part 3 is to say that it is more of the same. If you liked the first two parts of Sorcery! I can't see you not enjoying the third part as well. If you didn't like the first two parts or don't care for story driven games, Sorcery Part 3 is not going to be for you.

Sorcery Part 3 shares a lot in common with parts one and two. The basic gameplay and combat are exactly the same. The story feels familiar to the first two parts but also different at the same time. Of the two parts, three is closer to part two since it has the more open-world feel to it like the second part of Sorcery.

The one area that differs in part three is that the game includes a time travel mechanic. You will encounter towers around the world that you can direct a beam from that will switch the time period from the present to the past. You move between the two time periods to figure out what happened to the land as well as figure out the weaknesses of the seven serpents, the big enemies of the third part.

I really enjoyed the first two parts of Sorcery and enjoyed the third part as well. If you enjoyed the first two parts, you should enjoy the third part as well.

Note: I received a review copy from the developer but received no other compensation for this review.

Read My Full Review

I enjoyed playing Sorcery 1 & 2, but this one is more open-world and it works really well. You get to control numerous "beacons" which reveal new areas, which is a great mechanic, and defeating each of the serpents using their weaknesses felt great. Overall really fun and worth playing.

I've already reviewed the mobile versions of this a month ago, but even now, I absolutely can't get enough of these games. There are still secret little areas or small locations I've never been to and maybe never will as there is just soo much content, particularly in Sorcery! 3.

While I do recomend playing the first 2 games first(They are shorter and therefore bundled together here on steam), it IS entirely optional. You can simply create a new character and jump right in instead of porting your old characters over from the previous games.

I would highly recomend this game to anyone.

I genuinely enjoy the Sorcery! series and am impatiently awaiting part 4. However, this one as it stands is a little buggy. I would turn the beacon to the appropriate spot and I would still receive flavor text that indicated I hadn't - for example, I turned the beacon onto the shoreline of the lake, but got text acting as if I had not. If this kind of thing could get tightened up it'd be great - but either way, I still enjoy this game and can't wait for the conclusion.

What a delightful game!

Introduction

This was my first foray into the world of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! and I will be back for more. Let me start with the aspect I love most: the map. It took me back to lazy Saturdays spent in bookstores looking for that one charming, engrossing fantasy novel that I could take home, curl with the cats and escape into a wild world of wonder. When the book had a map on it's first pages, I was in heaven! I felt that same feeling opening this game. Mike Schley, the cartographer, did a fantastic job. See more of his work here: http://mikeschley.com

Gameplay

The gameplay is simple yet very interesting. You make choices and the story unfolds from there. You can rewind (clever!) and replay and different things come about. I rewound and ended not seeing a whole section that I saw the first time. "What could have happened?" is always the questions here. The spell casting seemed more complicated because I kept wanting to check the spellbook first but then realized that not ALL the spells are available and you can just sort of, um, guess. But I do wish that spells that are not available to you because you do not have the items yet would not show up to be picked. That was frustrating.

Pros

• GORGEOUS map that evolves with the story!
  
• The game is so cool, you can rewind a replay over and over
  
• The game runs smoothly at 60 FPS

Cons

• Did not like the spell casting mechanic so much, needs refinement
  

Final Thoughts

Honestly, this is the game to play on a lazy afternoon with a cup of tea and some kitties. It is cannot be compared to a book - that is a singular experience of turning pages and immersion, but Sorcery! 3 gives you choices and really bring alive the age-old question: "What happens next?"

This review was submitted by The Jessa Channel, a YouTube channel that focuses on gaming Let's Plays served up with a soupçon of silly and a whole lot of story. Though inkle Studios provided a copy for review, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

If you would like to check out the game in action, here's a gameplay video to enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzgBCs7mBBM