The Mageseeker lets you beat up League of Legends’ oppressive elite

It is a story as old as time: a society has collapsed on itself, while an elite class tries to consolidate its power by oppressing another group. In the face of such injustice a revolution arises. The Magician: A League of Legends Story explores a rebellion through the eyes of Sylas, a rogue mage hated and despised for his tragic past and powerful abilities. By a stroke of luck, he escapes from his prison under the capital. Sylas must now build an army, overthrow the regime and confront his own demons.

Mageseekers are agents of the government, empowered by the hypocritical nobility to hunt and prosecute mages – unless their magic can be exploited for the benefit of the state. As the game progresses, the question becomes not whether the new revolution against Demacia’s Mageseekers will succeed – it seems inevitable with a just cause and a cast so determined – but what kind of world will be built in the aftermath.

In League of LegendsSylas is a powerhouse who fights by swinging his giant chains and stealing magic from enemies, using their ultimate abilities for his own ends. The magician builds on that style of play. You control him from a top-down perspective in this action RPG where you use his giant chains to hit enemies, but also to hookshot over rooftops and take down enemy towers in melee combat. I found The magician to play much better with a controller than with a keyboard and mouse, especially when Sylas’ positioning and direction make the difference between life and death.

The Magic seeker‘s difficulty is very malleable; I can adjust Sylas’ damage, health, and the strength of incoming attacks to my liking. This makes the game either a tense and tactical blitz where I have to carefully consider every move and elemental spells I deploy, or a mindless button mash that allows me to beat my butt to move on to the next storyline. And there’s no shortage of donkeys to beat, as Sylas is Public Enemy Number One.

As I run through each level, I am incessantly attacked by savage beasts, state Mageseeker agents, and terrified soldiers. I dive into melee and score hits so I can build up my mana bar, dash across the battlefield to steal powerful spells from a backline caster, then use my own formidable arsenal of spells to clear the battlefield of giant golems and elite troops.

Sylas starts out relatively weak, fresh out of prison and suspicious of everyone around him. He has trouble finding a place to sleep, let alone convincing anyone to his cause.

However, it doesn’t take long for this rebellious himbo to be rescued by a much more reliable group of mages, who offer him refuge and shelter. These new allies help Sylas upgrade his equipment, equip a load of spells for him to use in missions, and also grant him new missions. In return, I can upgrade their forges and skills with resources I loot from Demacia.

Image: Digital Sun/Riot Forge

The magician does a great job reframing Sylas, aside from his slightly dissonant League of Legends biography. Competition introduces Sylas as the leader of the Rebellion, and as such his vengeful nature and inability to focus on the bigger picture also become elements of the Mage Rebellion. It teeters on the furious centrism used by games like Bioshock Infinite — yes, it is bad to oppress people, but it is just as bad for the oppressed to fight back, etc.

Instead, the revolution is portrayed as reasonable, justified, and led by mages who had set up an infrastructure before Sylas ever escaped prison. Sylas becomes a force of nature, a metaphorical tornado they can unleash on Demacia’s strongest bastions – as well as a figurehead to attract new recruits. A supporting cast works wonders in giving Sylas room to breathe and experience a more natural arc. The magician is also very aware of who the bad guys are; the Demacian nobility borders on comic vile in some scenes, and they certainly don’t live up to their nation’s gleaming white streets and righteous values.

It’s very easy to get into one Magic seeker hole and lose a few hours on its fluid gameplay loop. Levels are relatively short and snappy, punctuated by powerful combat and challenging boss encounters. These missions are bridged by intriguing cutscenes and a much more complex plot than I expected. The magician achieves the delicate dance to be ahead of a celebration Competition lore fans while still remaining approachable to new players. The only time I stopped rushing forward to find more battles and plots was to stop and read some documents, or marvel at the hidden secrets of Demacia’s prisons, labs, and academies.

There are a few typos in the game’s UI, such as the “inmune” status effect or receiving a boon with an extra S. But despite a few minor issues, I otherwise found this Riot Forge title to be a smooth ride through Competition‘s increasingly complex canon. The magician makes the smart move to set up some really hateful villains, then let me destroy their hopes and dreams – what more could I want from a game about overthrowing the elite?

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story comes out on April 18 Nintendo switch, Playstation 4, PlayStation5, Xbox One, Xbox Series XAnd Windows PC. The game was reviewed on a Windows PC using a pre-release download code from Riot Games. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.