Near-Mage

Loved it from start to finish. Characters are well written, completely over the top but you might guessed that from the screenshots alone. Voice acting is really good and the hand drawn backgrounds are the visually best looking backgrounds ive seen in any adventure game. The Story needs a little bit of time but it got me engaged to the end. It has its funny moments and it has its little emotional moments. It's a nice coming of age story, not overly complex but lovely the whole way through. If you followed the development of this title a little bit, it was pretty clear that this isnt going to be your typical Point and Click adventure. There is no inventory and there are no real puzzles in the game. I had hoped there will be at least some puzzles but there arent any. You are basically walking from one point to the other, items you picked up will be used when you need them and there is no possibility to check your inventory. But as the title suggests, there are spells you can use. You can try different spells in different situations with some funny outcome, you can also completely ignore spells and try to achieve your goal without them. There is one spell in the beginning youll have to cast, but thats it. Some reviews stating that this plays like a visual novel and while i get the comparison i dont think it does the game justice. It is more like that, it is a little different take on the point and click genre and it does a pretty good job. But to be honest, if this game had puzzles and an inventory where I can combine things and riddle my way throuh the game, this could have been Game of the Year for me. As of now it is "just" a pretty good adventure game. Also this game looks like a love letter to Terry Pratchett in some moments. Maybe its just me wishing for a new Discworld Point and Click, but how your dorm looks, how they refer to a Dragon, silly mages, the design of Rakus and so on, is pretty Discworld-like.

This game was so much fun to play, I can only recommend it to everyone. It is a sequel to Gibbous, but it can be played without ever having played Gibbous. The game revolves around some crazy topics but mainly a Hogwarts-like adventure. I cannot say anything around the story since it is finishable in a dozen hours and as it is story heavy, better leave it for you to discover. The game was the product of a massive backing online otherwise it probably would never have gotten done. They deserve to have you as player. Think no more. Go for it.

Like in Gibbous, I really loved the storytelling and characters that drive the plot. Play Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure first before getting to Near-Mage to understand the story.

This game is very different from stuck in the attic`s first game and i really enjoyed the passion, determination and and inner strengths of the MC....and being a cat and animal lover was pleased to help K`Teh morph back into her original self.....this was a wonderful and smart move by the dev team and thanks for the insights into the Transylvanian folklore and culture.....the story and voice overs were 10/10.

Having played Gibbous, I was thrilled to learn that Stuck in Attic was working on a new project. This gameplay is completely different than Gibbous, but the world(s) and characters are just as captivating and memorable. The artwork, dreamy pacing, character choices, and various alternative storylines make Near-Mage a cozy yet still plot-driven adventure that scratched an itch I didn't know I had. Near-Mage isn't a challenging game as far as puzzles go (no combining items or mental gymnastics), but it DOES require that you make some difficult choices, which, in my mind, made it a truly fulfilling game. If you're more interested in exploring some philosophical/moral/ethical questions within yourself, you will likely enjoy Near-Mage! I am about to play this game for a 3rd time because I love the special world Stuck in Attic have created (Visarion is my favorite). Also, if you are like me and enjoy Illy's wardrobe, it's 100% worth it to get the wardrobe DLC! I love changing my fit anytime a quest sends me to Sighişoara or The Institute. Thank you, Stuck in Attic team! You deserve all the flowers for this wonderful game!

I enjoyed the art. The voice acting and all of the humor. This game was very dialogue heavy and just amazing. I would recommend this game highly this was amazing

Great story tbh! I'm so happy that this game merged with gibbous! I missed Kitteh. Ngl I missed the puzzle aspect of the first game but i can see the amounth of work they had to put in to make the game as HUGE as it is. I loved the story. And I loved every Romanian aspect of it. I loved the art, and I think they did such a good job in combining real world with the magical world of Rakus. I might replay the game to complete all the achievements sometimes. I took my sweet time finishing this game, I just wanted to hear every side character speak and awe at the art and I still am not bored of it.

I had a great time playing the game, it looks like there's plenty of opportunity to replay and find different pathways through.

There is a lot of dialogue in this game, but if you like games that focus on the story line, this is a great choice! Takes about 10 h to go through the story line, which allows you to bond with the characters. It is also a game worth replaying because the choices you make during the game will give you different endings. I enjoyed it a lot.

By Story, this is the sequel to the previous game Gibbous, but with a change in gameplay mechanism. Honestly speaking, the new mechanism has given this game a higher replayability in compared to old Gibbous, but that's just the only thing it's better than Gibbous. Though one can choose freely on how they progress the game to the very end, but due to there's only 1 ending (obviously a plan for another sequel), like what others may said, the story felt linear, and even spoon-fed at some point, making this sequel stray from the traditional point & click adventure game like what Gibbous is... so other than the replay part, the rest are actually inferior to Gibbous, for the old fans, a downgraded experience in compare. Don't get me wrong, the story is still great, and we're glad to see what becomes of Kitteh and some of the other old NPCs showed up in this sequel as well, and some even have extra story told on them. So for Gibbous's fan, this sequel is still worth a shot. Just don't go in expecting another Gibbous and you'll be fine. If you're a fan of Hogwarts Legacy or a "Pot Head", you might either find this game hard to swallow or like it. This is basically a mini-version of Hogwarts Legacy's gameplay + background but in 2D and have a few things renamed or redesigned and no real battle... eg. Message Owls = Mitzkin, Game progression through Magic Classes (this game adds a forced quiz at the end of each class), Flying (instead of brooms, you float in a hippy way), etc etc... to be frank, this game lacks originality due to how much they copy from Hogwarts Legacy. Honestly, so much that i can call this game a "fan" creation of Hogwarts Legacy. So if this doesn't bother you, go ahead and jumps aboard, if you feels like you might hate it, better just take a look at other's playthough on the net then decide if you want to play it or not. And don't be fooled by the misleading trailers on the store page, a lot of those nice looking animations are not in the game (I've 100% the game so i can tell you that).

This game is full of great characters, funny writing and an interesting world. So why am I not recommending it? Tudor. Because for some reason, instead of one of the good characters they force you to hang out with the most boring and annoying character in the whole game. And after it became clear that on top of it all he is presented as the love interest I realized that i could not take it anymore. A game full of choices but for some reason you have no choice but to endure him A LOT. A rare case of a great game being ruined for me by a single characrer.

tripple A modern adventure. most endiering char and world. funny too

Great game with a nice storyline, but Professor Strigoi's voice sounded just like Bill Skarsgard in Nosferatu xD

A fun casual point-and-click adventure game. I liked the art, world-building, and characters; the characters all being voice acted is a treat for such a small indie game. The main plot is workhorse (evil man wants to collect evil artifacts to do evil things) but not exactly groundbreaking. I wanted to spend more time with the lovable minor characters and world, and less time hunting down the evil villain. But ultimately, "I want to spend more time on sidequests" is praise, because the world of Rakus and its art is so charming.

I loved Near-Mage. It's beautifully drawn, with classic 2D animation and a vibrant, colorful world that’s a joy to explore. While the story is a bit linear and the RPG elements are on the lighter side, it more than makes up for it with an engaging cast of characters, a detailed world and some meaningful choices. There are two main paths to follow: light mage or dark mage. And the world does react to your action! I especially liked Ilinca, the main character. She has a strong personality, yet still feels customizable through your dialogue choices, appearance, and spell casting, which makes her very relatable. I’d consider Near-Mage a casual game, and a great one at that. If you enjoy magical universes like Harry Potter, there’s a good chance you’ll appreciate this one too.

10/10 hit it out of the park

Amazing stuff.