Magic Sucks
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”- Arthur C Clarke
I've played hundreds of games that include some form of magic. The sad reality is that with the exception of two, every single one of these has missed the mark. Magic is meant to inspire wonder and give you a sense of power beyond human capability, but to me, magic often feels as if I’m firing a strange “magic“ gun.
The magic gun is a system often portrayed in games, and it's done because it's easy. Simply have the player use a wand or staff and have them fire a magic projectile to deal damage. Wham bam, the character is a wizard. Just ignore the fact that if you replaced the visuals with a rifle and bullet, you’d have something indistinguishable from a firearm. These games often have multiple staffs or different crystals to fire various other spells, but all those are pre-approved, family-friendly nonsense. There is no originality from one wizard to the next; you use the best staff to fire the best spell and to do anything else would be foolish. Of all the magic systems that exist, the magic gun bugs me the most, and you might as well not even bother being a wizard in the first place.
Another often form of magic is the classic spell scroll or spell book; while this system is better, it still misses the mark on how I believe magic should be portrayed. Your Souls game, your Final Fantasies, and many MMOs use this system to convey spellcraft. While this is a better system as it enables you to wield the arcane in more exotic ways than add colored magic missile, I left wondering if I am genuinely a wizard who wields untold power or am simply a tool that uses that which others have before me.
The pinnacle of magic should be freeform undefined as if I'm taking the arcane and using it to bend reality to my will. Foci and chants are merely the tools to focus my will on the universe better. Magic, to me, should be fluid, wild, uncontrolled, and nigh limitless in its encounter. Who is to say what one person may cast as a fireball? I can’t do the same with Ice or lightning. A proper magic system, in my eyes, would have one unlock aspect of reality and shape into which to form it. Otherwise, how is it magic and not some fancy grenade?
To me, the ideal magic system would consist of XXX parts 1st would be your element type or flavor of the spell, whether that be fire, water, light, dark, etc. This should be the basis for which a spell is cast. 2nd would be: how am I casting the spell? Does the spell have a defined target? Am I casting it on myself, or am I casting it on the world? 3rd, the casting method of the spell is defined, be it projectile, aura laser, or whatever your heart desires.
Sadly, the only two instances of this in the gaming realm that I know of first is Noita, a roguelike dungeon delver where you wield a wand that can cast nearly anything in any way. The second, oddly enough, is a Minecraft mod called Ars Magika. The first almost hits the mark but is still limited in its application, but it fits well within the roguelike genre. The second does its job nigh perfectly. I wish it was its own game rather than just a Minecraft mod.
