Let’s face it - every self-respecting fantasyRPGought to have a cool magic system. Of course, sometimes “cool” crosses the line into “utterly overpowered.”
Not that OP spells are dull! The allure of blowing up an entire map can grow old, but it does take a while. However, sheer explosiveness alone doesn’t constitute a true OP magic system.
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Destructiveness is prominent - after all, most games lacka pacifist route- but in this list we’ll also consider both the versatility and the restrictions of a magic system.
Whether you’re looking tocustomize a spell’s potentialor devise overpowered combos with static spells, these games are perfect for wizard power fantasies.
Impose Order Through Spellpower
Fextralife Wiki
Although it’s slow to get started, by the end ofTyrannyyour magic warps the battlefield. This unusual game positions you as the minion of Kyros, a world-conquering tyrant. Sent to quell an incipient civil war between two of his factions, you’ll need all the skill and lore at your disposal to resolve the crisis.
Tyranny’sspellcrafting system is built aroundcollecting sigils and combining them to form spells.Naturally, at the beginning of the game you don’t have many sigils. As in many games, early mage life can be a struggle.
Once you’ve expanded your collection and pumped up your Lore stat, though,Tyranny’smagic opens up to a broad horizon. With fine-detail control of your spell’s shape and duration - plus a variety of effects at your disposal - in the end-game you truly get to adopt the role of megalomaniacal archmage.
8Elden Ring
Comet Azur Go Burr
Elden Ring
Fextralife
Let’s face it, Soulsborne players can be …pickywhen discussing the right (or wrong!) way to play a FromSoft game. Just check out any of Reddit’s vociferous debates over DEX versus STR builds! There is, however, another way.
Several, actually, but the build relevant to our purposes isspamming spells from far away.When combined with sacrificial minions - ideally friends, but summons will do -Elden Ring’sspells offer varied and viable tactics for beating the game’s brutal bosses.
Sure, Comet Azur’s impressive damage makes this spammable spellone of the best inElden Ring.But with options for shields, debuffs, homing attacks (praise Marika!), and more,Elden Ringoffers plenty of oomph to aspiring battlemages. Why risk getting hit when you can delete enemies from the arena’s edge?
Destroy Even Yourself
Thisroguelike,I’ll admit, is a bit of a stretch as an RPG. However, the customization system is similar enough to traditional RPG game design that I’m willing to cutNoitasome slack. In large part, because themagic system is just so damn cool.
As you progress through each run,Noita’smagic boils down to a simple question: do you feel lucky, punk? Customizing your wand increases the power and effects of your spells. However, almost all the best power boostsalsoincrease the risk of accidentally dying to your own spells.
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Not due to a boring mechanic like a randomized percentage! No, inNoitathe most dangerous foe is yourself. With ricochets and terrain destruction, a single mouse click can wipe out the level’s intended path forward.
Better yet,Noita’sfluid dynamics make it delightfully easy to smother yourself in sand, or suddenly drop yourself into lava. This adds a puzzly element to the gameplay, as you attempt to complete levelswithoutundermining yourself. (Literally!)
6Dragon’s Dogma
Throwing A Haymaker
Dragon’s Dogma
As far as action RPGs go, few permit casters to deal quite as much damage as inDragon’s Dogma.Sure, the rest of your combat options are slower and weaker than other vocations. But with the sorcerer’s damage, who cares?
That’s not to say that your spells resolve quickly. InDragon’s Dogma,spells are a bit like when a boxer throws a haymaker. Slow and obvious? Sure. Still, does that mean your spells will be easy for the baddies to avoid? Not necessarily.
First off,Dragon’s Dogma’sspells can be massive. Their range is good, too, allowing you to sit in the back and charge up while your pawns hold off the opposition. Which is completely fitting! After all, every self-respecting wizard ought to have a few minions to body block for them.
Full Demolition
Scraping Bottom Games
Release Date
9 Aug, 2017
Fictorumis one of the best games around for wizards with a taste for explosions. It caters to this clientele withvery destructible environmentsto demolish with your spells.
And how many games let you shatter a castle with your magic? In your quest for world domination,Fictorumallows you to literally reshape towns and battlefields. Usually “polymorphing” them into a smoking crater.
While this action RPG is a bit of a one-trick pony, it performs that trickexceedinglywell.Fictorummight not equal other games in the variety of its magic, but good God does it feel satisfying. In a sense, I feelFictorumcaptures the emotional satisfaction of wielding OP magic better than almost any other RPG. Even if you do only use it for kaboom.
4Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous
CRPG With D20 Spells
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Heavily built around thePathfindertabletop roleplaying game, a huge variety of classic D20 spells are available inWrath of the Righteous.While some of the more open-ended spells aren’t included - likewishormiracle-Wrath of the Righteousstill features many of the nuances and complexities of the TTRPG.
Depending on your class, your arsenal includes mass summons, inflicting negative energy levels, transformation, words of power, and more. Unlike its glamorous younger brother,Baldur’s Gate 3,inWrath of the Righteousyour growth isn’t truncated at level 12. Nope, this game lets you battle demons all the way up to level 20.
ThatmeansWrath of the Righteouscan draw upon all ofPathfinder’sspells, right up to 9th-level options. Even if I’m a little sad we don’t getmeteor swarm,this still puts plenty of mighty magic in your spellbook. IfBaldur’s Gate 3only scratched your itch for a D20 spellcasting in a videogame, this one is worth your time.
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3Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift
Building Potential
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift
TheFinal Fantasy Tacticsseries features, in my opinion, the bestJRPGsystem forbuilding and customizing your characters.Thiskiller tactical gamethrives on switching characters' jobs frequently to acquire new action, reaction, and passive abilities.
AlthoughTacticsprimarily uses spells familiar to fans of theFinal Fantasyfranchise, their implementation is more impactful. For example, the increased AoE of a summoner’s spells on the tactical grid is much more significant than “hit everyone” in the four-dudes-in-a-line games.
Every race has unique caster options, and almost all of them are viable (I’m a bit iffy on illusionists—hitting the entire battlefield is great, but the damage/MP ratio isn’t quite worth it).
Combining tactical character options is why the series' DS entry,Grimoire of the Rift,really stands out. With an expanded class list, adding spells and clan privileges and altering the game’s rules during a battle, the game’s powerful combinations expand even further than prior installments. For example, blending a viera’s red mage and summoner jobs to doublecast two summons in a single turn.
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2Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura
Or, Who Needs Science Anyway?
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
If you’re intoclassic CRPGs,few are as strange and memorable asArcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. With a story structured around a fantasy world’s growingtensions between science and magic,it’s only natural thatArcanum’sspellcasting should be at least alittlebusted.
Sure,Arcanumriffs on classic D20 wizard tools likedisintegrate. Plenty to love about turning your foes into a pile of ash. Where the game’s magic really shines, though, is in its nonviolent spells. Turning NPCs into sheep is funny, but spells like Conjure Spirit and Tempus Fugit dramatically impact a particular playthrough of the game.
Arcanum’sspells also help make pacifist runs much more viable. Turning enemies into friends is a great way to gather information and bypass obstacles. However, even with Dominate Will, powerful wizards are still exiled to the back of a train. No sense taking the risk that magic’s interference will blow up a train!
1Morrowind
Infinite Wizard Loops
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Morrowindcloses out our list because the game’s magic system isboth flexibleandobscenely busted.Within just a few hours of gameplay, it’s perfectly possible to start looping Alchemy and Enchanting buffs to Fortify stats skills into the stratosphere.
In turn, this gives you the actual numbers necessary to cast theridiculous custom spellsyou created back at the Mage’s Guild. So far, this is all pretty stapleElder Scrollsstuff (even ifMorrowind’sloops are easier to achieve).
What makesMorrowind’smagic special, though, is the sheer variety of effects you may implement with this power-ramping cycle. Want a near-permanent Golden Saint as your bodyguard? Sure thing. Want to make Dagoth Ur no longer hostile? Congrats, enough power behind Calm Creature and you can vibe with the final boss.
Of course, there’s always the boring option of killing half a city by maximizing a fireball’s AoE and damage. Just don’t catch yourself in the blast zone!
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