Magic: Legendsis an upcoming, action RPG from Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment. As gamers enjoythe open beta forMagic: Legendson PC, many wonder if this unique take on the legendary card game will include a multiplayer experience.
Adapted fromMagic: The Gathering, the popular trading card game from Wizards of the Coast,Magic: Legendsputs players in the familiar role of a Planeswalker. These gifted individuals can siphon energy (“Mana”) from the land to fuel spellcasting and travel between planes of existence - but fans are curious whether they will encounter other player-controlled Planeswalkers on their adventure.
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The answer, though, is both yes and no, depending on context.Magic: Legendsis not a Massively Multiplayer Online RPG, so it isn’t populated by large numbers of other Player Characters. However, it - eventually - allows for cooperative play with up to two other Planeswalkers, which means it does provide a multiplayer experience, of sorts.
The caveat is that co-op isn’t immediately available after completing the tutorial, as gamers might expect. Instead, players must reach Benalia, where they will receive the quest “Rise of the Cabal,” which unlocks the potential forMagic Legendsfans to play with friends. Reaching this point requires unlocking the map by completing all quests in Tazeem, and some additional quests in Shiv, and can take up to three hours to accomplish.
So far, there’s no word from the developers as to why it takes this long to unlock the feature. Perhaps they wanted players to get a little experience being Planeswalkers before bringing in backup, or maybe they wanted to extend the game’s length. In any case, it’s good for co-op fans that the feature shows up at all, asMagic Legendshas no plans to add couch co-op, so online cooperative play is their only option.
Of course, fans can always journey alone, but by unlocking co-op, players can share the experience with their friends. Additionally, adventuring with a party of three Planeswalkers creates the opportunity for gamers to experiment with howthe five playable classes inMagic Legendscan complement one another.
It can also be said that playing with friends is the proper way to play a game based on theMagic: The Gatheringuniverse. In the trading card game, Planeswalkers battle each other by casting spells to erode the defenses - or health - of their opponent in the pursuit of ultimate power and glory. In fact, there are multiplayer game modes wherein players team up with other Planeswalkers to combat other teams of Planeswalkers, so it’s not as if cooperative play is foreign to the franchise.
Magic: Legendsis available now as an open beta on PC, and releases fully in 2021 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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