Maglam Lord

It’s those little humorous little touches that help make keep Maglam Lord going, even if it’s not especially ambitious or finely tuned in its basic action RPG setup. The story of a Demon Lord turned endangered species playfully riffs off JRPG tropes, finding plenty of laughs in the silliness of its own concept. Sharp writing makes sure every joke hits home, even when they seem on paper like they should fall flat, and there’s an unexpectedly earnest heart beating underneath it all. The game itself may not be anything memorable, but the journey that Maglam Lord takes you on makes it all worthwhile.

Maglam Lord has enough that some will thoroughly enjoy their time with it, particularly those looking for an enjoyable story and cast. However, it’s brought down by uninspired missions and poorly realised combat. It’s certainly not a bad title, and thankfully the issues that are there are such that they don’t create an active barrier to progress, but the entertaining parts are steadily diluted enough that the experience as a whole misses out on being something to be fully celebrated.

The story is charming, fun, and full of hidden depth at times with characters who can’t help but grow on you and an enjoyable relationship building system. It’s a shame that the action RPG elements are so simple and threadbare comparatively, but I’d still recommend the title to both Summon Night 5 fans and visual novel lovers in particular given how easy even the action RPG parts are to pick up. Unfortunately, fans of challenging action RPGs might have to look elsewhere. It is obvious that Felistella clearly knows how to spin a good tale if nothing else, and I’ll continue to look back on Maglam Lord fondly as I prepare for an eventual second playthrough!