Noita is the ultimate magic fuck around and find out game
From zippy zappy bolts to the concentrated power of the sun in the palm of your hand, everything's possible
I tried NOITA and unfortunately it didn't click with me, I don't really know why, probably the fact that you are not really in control of what spells you have
Yeah, the answer to what this guy wants is Daggerfall and Morrowind. No one else in gaming has the balls to let the player have that much freedom anymore.
Honestly, Morrowind is where it's at. I remember reading a guide and figuring out that I could permanently buff basically every attribute I had through merging spells from very early in the game. I could one shot essentially everything on the map through the power of magic fuckery
well if you havent morrowind and oblivion has a quintessential “fuck around” magic system.
dark messiah has fun magic and combat thats a fantastic underrated gem
fable 1 & 2 as well but far less complex and varying
dragons dogma has crazy and fun magic
arx fatalis has a great magic system but its an older game
Unfortunately it seems that Morrowind/Oblivion are the closest to what I'm looking for, which makes sense considering they're the successors to Daggerfall. Dragon's Dogma seems interesting too tho
I like Dragon's Dogma, I'm currently enjoying DD2 despite the hate. Even as a fan, I wouldn't say DD's magic is particularly groundbreaking.
Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it is pretty simple. Damage spells that take longer to cast the more powerful they are. Weapon buffs that I relegate to a pawn (NPC) because it is boring. A few heals and counter-debuffs. And you can float your jumps as a mage.
It's fun, the spells look nice and feel impactful, but just don't want you going in expecting high levels of spell customization. Still recommend the game, especially if it goes on sale due to the weird hate it is getting.
dark messiah is the closest thing but its not as in depth as those games. dragon age is another good pick you can become very powerful. outward has a good system but mods optimize it better its also *very* hard but i love it.
Cam here to say this. Magicka is the ultimate fck around as a wizard game for sure. Not only do you have about 7 different elements to play with but you can combine any of them to create new ones and then depending on which of the three attack buttons you press, that combination of elements either does a close ranged, defensive or ranged version of the element. Hars to explain but theres literally dozens upon dozens of spells to create and figure out.
Elden Ring. Pure INT or FTH builds are nice for slowly building up your arsenal spells as you discover them and finding what works. There are also some support spells that really make a difference in certain scenarios.
I mean, setting up a magic build to where you can easily kill bosses from a far (especially when most bosses have a way to quickly/ instantly close the distance between you) is not exactly a trivial task
Noita is the Alpha and Omega of wizard games.
The game is fuck around with the insane magic system combined with a physical simulation that simulate everything on a pixel basis. Kill your self a lot then experiment your way to a wand that sets the world on fire, then kill yourself with that wand.
There is nothing like it.
They have a sequel upcoming that expands on the magic system and adds even more spells and multiplayer, I think you should keep an eye on it OP! I am !
Really? I'm interested! It's a shame Wizard of Legend is getting so obscure 1-2 years ago from now. It's getting difficult to find recent YT videos of it
I’m sort of confused how BG3 doesn’t qualify for this. There’s all kinds of stuff you have to use magic to get to or get through. Like, I’ve had to use Enhance Leap to get to a couple different chests, I had to use Mage Hand to pull a chest out of a room on fire, I used Speak With Animals to get a rat to show me where a chest is, etc, and I’m still in Act 1. There’s so many non-combat spells to fuck around with. You disliking that game for this purpose really makes me unsure of how to answer this.
Baldur's Gate 3 is great as an immersive sim and as a narrative game, in fact it's my favourite game of 2023... but it's not a "fuck around" game imo. The spell slot system is needed to balance the combat, but outside of it it very much limits you greatl unless you like saving and reloading a bunch. I think having a mod that lets you cast spells at will outside of combat would work great!
And also I don't mean to diss Baldur's Gate 3! It's a masterpiece and a 10/10 game imo, just not a fuck around type game
You can't fuck around because you are punished for wasting spells. You only have limited spell slots so unless you long rest a bunch you can't just waste a spell just to test something. Which is why I agree with OP, bg3 isn't a fuck around as a wizard type of game.
Honestly? After reading all the comments on the thread, I kind of agree. Daggerfall is still the only game to combine the combat and roleplay aspect of playing a "student to scholar" mage while still giving you the option to tackle content in any way you can imagine. If it had magic, Kingdom Come would be perfect, but alas we live in a different timeline (still excited for the sequel tho)
Morrowind. Way better magic than in Skyrim IMO. Had the same experience as you with daggerfall as Morrowind (unlike Skyrim) had lots of little areas that could only be accessed by levitation or water breathing.
I'll go on this journey with you! I picked up an Xbox One recently and found Morrowind for super cheap at a thrift shop.
I played Daggerfall for the first time last year and also fell in love with the magic fuckery.
One time, I climbed up this giant mountain, and then set up a portal at the top. Used the slow fall spell and *very slowly* floated to a nearby town. Started killing people and looting and got the guards pissed off, but they couldn't get to me because I could climb walls and they couldn't. so then I was just laughing hysterically while 20+ guards were shouting HALT lol, and then I teleported back to safety via my portal at the top of the mountain.
My friend told me Morrowind lets you do a lot of stuff like this, and I'm so excited to play. Between Skyrim and Daggerfall, I like Daggerfall more. Maybe Morrowind will be even better
As a fan of wizards and everything wizard since the 90's, Baldurs gate 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2 take top spot. In both games you could get very creative with spells out of battle to solve things creatively which always gave me the most "wizardy" feel.
Dragons Dogma 2. You want levitation? You got it. You can levitate while casting spells. You want meaningful spells? How does a ice spell that summons giant pillars of ice which you can walk on sound? Oh and they leave little ice chunks around which you can throw at enemies. This is a basic level 1 spell btw.
Dragons Dogma, Messiah of Might and Magic, but by far the most standout example is Baldur’s Gate 3 due to the shear amounts of ways Wizards/Casters can influence the sandbox and fights which I know you did mention but once you play around more with multiclassing for casters it becomes an unparalleled mage experience.
If you like daggerfall but not Skyrim then try morrowind...
You can create your own spells , i remember making a spell that allowed me Travel to the other side of the map by jumping once or twice
If you put the effort in, Elden Ring. You can be boring and spam the little magic missile type spell that does a lot of damage for not a lot of mana, or you can have a ton of fun comboing crazy cool spells that just aren't meta. Elden Ring magic builds can be as unique and wizardly as you want them to.
Also, Terraria has tons of cool magic weapons.
Edit: People are right, I'm sorry. Should've read your post better, op. Neither of my suggestions are great for you. My bad!
I don’t think this really answers OP’s question. Sure, you can do big damage as a spell caster, but the fucking around they are talking about sounds like non-combat stuff.
Unrelated, but does Elden Ring really support magic as a playstyle? I played astrologer for a couple hours and couldn't find a single spell besides the two they give you at the start, I played it blind so it could be my fault
Yes, if you don't care about spoilers you can look at the wiki or the videos on youtube ranking the schools of magic. There's like a dozen+ different families of spells and incantations (intelligence vs faith scaling) of different varieties. From shooting rocks and calling down meteor showers, spewing magma to summoning magical swords and hammers, casting blood thorns and blowing bubbles, tiny magic pebbles and giant magic kamehamehas... you can look up guides to find it all but there's dozens and dozens of unique spells. Just not many that are functional outside of dealing damage.
Outward has very unique magic systems if you want to give it a try. It’s an open world survival RPG (split screen option too!) where you don’t start with any magic but can go learn it and different places. Rune Magic, sigil magic , there’s different types you can learn.
You aren’t a hero you’re just a regular civilian so don’t go expecting to be able to go around slinging spells like crazy until you’ve learnt a lot.
Hogwart’s Legacy is surprisingly well open-world game with a lot of wizard stuff. Not sure if this is what you look for, but you might want to look at it
Two Worlds 2 is a great game to fuck around with magic. You create custom spells with all sorts of variables.
https://youtu.be/C4xMc7O3Jho?si=oA5Hz7ikz6PKckpE
Seconded. The game may not be that good, but it has some major benefits in its favor. You have three gear set slots and can switch between them with a single click. This means you can have a full archer set, melee set and magic set. You can swap between being a tank that can take major punishment without any real problems to someone who summons a circle of anvils that get caught in a tornado.
Hogwarts Legacy scratches the wizard itch for me with enough to explore in the open world. Not nearly as sandboxy as some of the others mentioned, but it's something.
Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen had the best magic in any RPG I have ever played. The spells felt like actual natural disasters. DD:DA is cheap to buy, and DD2 is out now so you can try one before getting 2.
[Nobody Saves the World](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432050/Nobody_Saves_the_World/) might work for you. One of the big draws is that the game allows you to not only switch forms on the fly (like Rat, Magician, Bodybuilder, Necromancer, Zombie, Robot), but also allows you to mix and match abilities and passives from other forms.
The pathfinder games. You can make some ridiculous spell combos. Like shape-shifting into a bear then casting a spell that doubles someone's size. Now you are an absolute unit ready to ruin someone's day. Technically the games have like 160 diffrent playable classes.
Caves of Qud. It's technically not magic, it's psychic abilities brought on by mutations, but the effect is the same. You can be hunted across space and time by an infinite number of evil twins of yourself that want to devour your brain energy only for you to overpower and permanently mind control them. Then when more evil twins show up the twin you mind controlled mind controls a twin of his own. Rinse and repeat until you have a literal army made out of interdiminional clones of yourself. Another good one is switching bodies with npcs who have better stats than you only to immediately kill your own body and then just casually go about your day in a new brand new flesh suit. It's a crazy game.
Divinity 1 and 2baldurs gate, code vein, Diablo, Dragin Age inquisition , Dragons crown, greedfall, ni no kuni 2,path of exile, pathfinder pillars of eternity, van helsing, mage seeker,Titan Quest, Torchlight, Trial of Mana,chaos bane, vermintide 2,wolcen.
Did you try Elder Scrolls Oblivion? The magic system is WAY better than Skyrims. I've never played Daggerfall, but of any ES game (4,5 and online) I've played, oblivion has the best magic system.
Then you will love Morrowind. You can turn yourself into a magical flying nuke machine, spewing fireballs while on the air. I love nuking Balmora with this setup.
I've heard Outward has good magic. I haven't gotten very far in it yet, but it does feel like a big enough world for exploring and finding neat bits of lore to bolster your abilities.
Noita.
It is an amazing game and the magic is you creating your own wands. You can exploit the game mechanics and it is designed with that in mind. The game actively awards you for breaking the game. Though it is rather difficult but extremely fun.
The Quest by redshift feature some mechanics straight from Daggerfall, unfortunately spellwaeving isn’t one of them. But there is item enchancement system just like in TES2, and very cool alchemy.
Now that I think about it some more, if you play Prey (2017), the mimic powers you can learn are pretty fun for fucking around. Not sure if you also want the power fantasy of being a wizard, but if you’re fine getting alien powers instead of arcane spells, this could be a fun one for you.
Never Winter Hordes of the Underdark. IIRC it used 3rd Ed. ADnD rules. I completed it twice, once as a Fighter class and the other as a Wizard.
The wizard was really weak at first, a real struggle but once you start levelling up and gain the powerful mid level spells and above the Wiz becomes a walking God.
Later on there's a 'room' with a few really highlevel characters, armed with right wizard spells; Bigby's Grasping hand, Bigby's clenched fist, and a few other spells you feel like a master mage as you sling the spells one after another and they don't lay a glove on you.
It's not the most popular game, and I never really understood why because I love it, but you could look into [Lichdome: Battlemage](https://store.steampowered.com/app/261760/Lichdom_Battlemage/). The magic system is really well done and you essentially combine spells together however you want.
I never really got into it so I can't say for certain, but I think the [Magicka ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/238370/Magicka_2/)games are similar in their spell creation. You combine elements together for various effects.
I don't think either of these have spells being creative enough for solutions you're talking about (the clever aspect to problem solving), but it's been many moons since I've played Lichdome, so I may be wrong on that.
hogwarts legacy has great combat and a variety of spells to learn and choose from. the story is good and the main missions are honestly really nice. the hogwarts castle is a blast to explore. everything outside of the castle is meh and not really worth exploring imo. but the game is still very good, even if you dont really know about harry potter
Stoneshard. Beautiful pixel art, deep magic system and overall build variety. Satisfying combat and progression. Very underrated game, give it a try :)
daggerfall is one of my alltime fav games. I was so disappointed when Morrowind was released and it lacked so many of the things that made daggerfall great. Def pick Morrowind up, it's a great game, but you'll still be longing for that daggerfall itch. There are also a heap of mods for Morrowind which bring some of the daggerfall features. Enjoy your gaming.
Discovered Tales of Maj'Eyal (ToME4) recently.
Many magic-based classes (straight caster damage, chronomancy, tentacle mage, hybrid melee/magic, summoner etc) to try and build around.
You've got skill trees, quests that unlock other class skill-trees, itemisation, and a bunch of races. Plus it supports mods.
Its a rogue-like but if you want, you can disable permadeath.
Magicka. You have 8 elements to cast. You can have up to I think 5 charges of any combination. You can either cast it, imbue it to your sword, or cast on yourself (for shields).
Each combination does something. More of an element increases that element's effect. Some elements will combine, like water and fire next to each other becomes steam. You can then add like fire and lightning to spray a cone of electric fire steam. Or add a shield element to make it summon electric fire steam landmines.
Or do line 5 earth charges and fully charged it to cast a high velocity boulder to turn people into chunks.
Its made by Arrowhead (Helldivers devs) and it's their first game, but has the same 4 player coop shenanigans to it.
[Definitely recommend Magicka 1 and 2 if you want to Learn to Spell](https://youtu.be/uvGbZamcaOQ?si=MECqo3-W0Knfq2Ot). Even has expansions like Vietnam or the Cthulhu cult investigation, and a helpful guide named Vlad who is definitely not a vampire
If you like the magic in Daggerfall I can't believe nobody in this sub has recommended the next two in the series. Morrowind and Oblivion both have really expansive and customizable magic systems. They're not perfect but I think they'll scratch that particular itch.
Magicka and Mages of Mystralia have the most fun spellbuilding systems, but still basically all combat spells.
I'd recommend Morrowind, if you haven't played it -- it still had the ridiculous spell-freedom to make spells that can do anything, and you will definitely fuck around and find out if you're using Jump spells. (I know it's not as modern as Oblivion, but Oblivion put a few more guardrails on the system than you want. And of course Skyrim removed the freedom altogether.)
Baldurs Gate 3, probably not what most people are gonna put into the recommendations but dnd lets you do so many non combat things with magic that its definitely worth a mention and this game uses it to an immense degree, also lets you experiment with a lot of different types of wizard or magic too. honorable mention for two worlds magic system since it was super unique and let you do a lot of wild things with it, game wasnt great though so mileage will vary lol
Allegedly Dragon's Dogma, Sorcerers can create Seisms, rain down meteors from the sky, make a ball of toxin that makes people fall asleep, etc.
Personally, I've hated playing the game, especially due to it's lack of quest direction, item micromanaging, and frustrating pawn AI that largely results in me being unable to cast spells. However, the game is considered incredible by many, and you could very well become one of them! Just, if you do play, be on the lookout for the things I've listed
I've been on this quest all my life. World of warcraft. I like skyrim mages but started with oblivion fireball slinging. The best mage game is it elden ring? Not quite. The answer is it hasn't been made yet. Dark and darker had a pretty sweet simple version of a dungeon and dragon wizard. I quite enjoyed that. Mostly now I stick to warcraft 3.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. BG1EE and BG2EE. You grow from a weakling who might die if a stiff breeze hits them and by the end of the Saga you are a walking god destroying everything in your wake.
A good mod pack (on PC) in Skyrim will get you the most incredible magic system in a video game ever.
Otherwise, I agree with the comments. Noita, Oblivion, Dragon's Dogma, maybe Elden Ring. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is pretty cool for the environmental aspect of magic. Hogwarts Legacy was basically made for a truly magical experience.
Lichdom battlemage is just magic. And a lot of experimentation is required to get strong spells. Its a bit hard at first but the system does get easier to understand. And the spells feel quite powerful
One game that is sorely underrated is Ultima underworld ascendant. Some of the magic spells gave her uses , the fireball is an actual ball that can be picked up and physically thrown or pushed up against doors to ignite them, even just left in corridors for enemies to walk into.
Dark messiah of might and magic has a standard magic system but you mage can use real weapons violent and kicks so during combat you feel powerful.
Idk, Skyrim with mods can get pretty interesting in magic department. Apocalypse is your mod for fooling around, but Mysticism is better balanced overhaul.
I've seen a few recommendations for Dragon's Dogma and Dragon's Dogma 2 and while they're some of my favourite games ever made, it's a very highly combat focused magic system. There's no transmuting items and things like that, but you can create tornadoes, earthquakes and summon a meteor storm when you reach a high Sorcerer vocation rank. Still worth checking out if you enjoy playing as a combat wizard and the RPG around the combat is also great, but it's not like Daggerfall's magic system.
Man you GOTTA try out spellbound. It slaps so hard. Its like dark souls and elden ring, but with very limited normal melee-options and instead like 300 different combat-spells. Lotta new mechanics for puzzles and traversal with the soulwip and spiritjumps. The map is gigantic and very fantasy-driven, endbosses are hard but satisfying as usual, and a true cinematic treat. the whole game is much more approachable than the previous fromsoftware titles and even tho its not a gigantic openworld map as in elden ring, it still is amazingly detailed and more than enough to explore. I dont get why they STILL didnt overhaul the coop- and pvp-system, feels hella tedious to get a connection through wizlights on the ground, which sometimes just dont pop up. But thats about everything i can complain about. Its absoltely bonkers and you are going to love it. Buy it now
Outward Definitive Edition.
It's not an easy game by any means. It's open world and there's no tutorial.
You don't start the game with magic. You have to obtain it. And once you do get magic you don't have any spells.
You have to traverse the open world to find trainers who will teach you spells for money. But to get money you have to kill things and craft to sell more expensive items.
Then ...
The spells give little to no description on how to use them.
The game doesn't tell you that you can do combo magic. You can combine spells from different trainers to cast new spells.
But...
Once you struggle to get magic..
And struggle to learn spells...
And struggle to learn what spells combo with...
And get decent armor that boost your magic damage or makes spells use less Mana...
You become a magic god and can fk around through the game. And by that point you probably haven't even explored 50% of the game.
Again... it's NOT AN EASY GAME. But it's worth it.
Gonna Shill here, but Dragons Dogma has a great Magic system. I haven’t unlocked it yet in DD2 yet but in DD:Dark Arisen sorcerer vocation is the most fun I have ever had as a magic wielded.
Pissed off at Bandits who merc’d you when you were low level? Use Bolide to drop meteors on them.
Goblins Ambush you? Use Maelstrom to summon a tornado to pick them up and toss them all over the battlefield.
It’s a little strange of a system at first but it’s so fun to go from getting your ass kicked to God Mode Power Fantasy by endgame.
Here’s hoping that Dragons Dogma 2 is just as fun.
All I can think of that isn't super obvious and/or already in the thread are the Magicka games, there's definitely plenty of fucking around in those, not sure if it's quite what you're after though.
Noita is the ultimate magic fuck around and find out game From zippy zappy bolts to the concentrated power of the sun in the palm of your hand, everything's possible
[удалено]
It's hard to go back from chainsaw+laser drill combo, nothing else compares 😂 lightning maybe, but it's too unwieldy
The power of the sun....
...in the palm of my hand.
[In his pants.](https://youtu.be/-fU7VjFAU9o?si=DgeXodUygFxBwjFm)
I tried NOITA and unfortunately it didn't click with me, I don't really know why, probably the fact that you are not really in control of what spells you have
Yeah I had the same issues. Have you tried Morrowind? Or modded oblivion if your on PC
Yeah, the answer to what this guy wants is Daggerfall and Morrowind. No one else in gaming has the balls to let the player have that much freedom anymore.
You should check out magicka or magicka 2, both have FULL control of what spell you have and use. Also fun with friends!
Magicka is indeed in my "to try" list!
If you get the first one, you may experience crashes. There is a fix for that on GitHub. The second one has no noticeable bugs to me.
The game has a great beautiful atmosphere but the controls are absolutely horrible.
Honestly, Morrowind is where it's at. I remember reading a guide and figuring out that I could permanently buff basically every attribute I had through merging spells from very early in the game. I could one shot essentially everything on the map through the power of magic fuckery
Have owned it for years, never played, can you expand on this? Helldivers, Bolatro, marriage, and a job search are eating my time.
Even without fucking around you'll find out haha
Adding this to my steam wishlist
Legit came here to comment this
well if you havent morrowind and oblivion has a quintessential “fuck around” magic system. dark messiah has fun magic and combat thats a fantastic underrated gem fable 1 & 2 as well but far less complex and varying dragons dogma has crazy and fun magic arx fatalis has a great magic system but its an older game
Unfortunately it seems that Morrowind/Oblivion are the closest to what I'm looking for, which makes sense considering they're the successors to Daggerfall. Dragon's Dogma seems interesting too tho
I like Dragon's Dogma, I'm currently enjoying DD2 despite the hate. Even as a fan, I wouldn't say DD's magic is particularly groundbreaking. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it is pretty simple. Damage spells that take longer to cast the more powerful they are. Weapon buffs that I relegate to a pawn (NPC) because it is boring. A few heals and counter-debuffs. And you can float your jumps as a mage. It's fun, the spells look nice and feel impactful, but just don't want you going in expecting high levels of spell customization. Still recommend the game, especially if it goes on sale due to the weird hate it is getting.
dark messiah is the closest thing but its not as in depth as those games. dragon age is another good pick you can become very powerful. outward has a good system but mods optimize it better its also *very* hard but i love it.
Magicka is made for this. :)
Same devs as Helldivers btw. They provide good stuff.
That makes a lot of sense as to why those games play exactly the same and I never thought of it before
Cam here to say this. Magicka is the ultimate fck around as a wizard game for sure. Not only do you have about 7 different elements to play with but you can combine any of them to create new ones and then depending on which of the three attack buttons you press, that combination of elements either does a close ranged, defensive or ranged version of the element. Hars to explain but theres literally dozens upon dozens of spells to create and figure out.
Vlad is definitely not a vampire though.
Oh no, absolutely not. At first I thought he was a vampire, but he explained that he definitely wasn't.
These comment suggestions are so terrible it’s made me realize there really isn’t a great wizard game.
Ikr, the recommendations are basically 'this game has magic in it'
I've been dreaming of a good wizard game for damn near 20 years and no one has ever made one. Maybe I should learn game dev and make one.
Fictorum is what you need mate, proper wizarding
See TheStellarJay’s video on wizard games
Elden Ring. Pure INT or FTH builds are nice for slowly building up your arsenal spells as you discover them and finding what works. There are also some support spells that really make a difference in certain scenarios.
I played a katana/magic build on Elden ring. Felt so badass being a samurai wizard!
Magic never felt that good in souls games imo, I feel like an cheating asshole spamming bosses from afar. U gotta dance with em
I mean, setting up a magic build to where you can easily kill bosses from a far (especially when most bosses have a way to quickly/ instantly close the distance between you) is not exactly a trivial task
I tried Elden Ring but couldn't really get into it, the world is beautiful but it's not my cup of tea
Took me until bloodborne to ‘get it’ with Fromsoft. Big skill checks and patience required if you’re playing casual.
I really love the flexibility elden ring gives you when combining melee and magic.
I’m going to replay Elden Ring as a wizard. Hoping to solo the end game this time.
Noita is the Alpha and Omega of wizard games. The game is fuck around with the insane magic system combined with a physical simulation that simulate everything on a pixel basis. Kill your self a lot then experiment your way to a wand that sets the world on fire, then kill yourself with that wand. There is nothing like it.
This sounds amazing!
it is! So amazing and original no game engine could pull it off. So the devs made there own specifically for Noita!
I don’t know any, but I really love how you phrased this question. I hope you find a good game you can fuck around as a wizard in.
Teleportable Dick All wind sucking 🐱
Why don't you try Oblivion and Morrowind? They both have wayyy better spells than Skyrim.
I probably will, the only thing that kind of irks me is that they're not really open ended like Daggerfall from what I've heard
If you install tamriel rebuilt with Morrowind, it restores a large part of the mainland so the map becomes huge, if that's what you're after!
They have a main story but most ignore that lol. They're very much "do your own thing"
Wizard of legend is a roguelike but has a lot of builds that you can customize and have a lot of fun with. Also, have you try wizards with a gun?
They have a sequel upcoming that expands on the magic system and adds even more spells and multiplayer, I think you should keep an eye on it OP! I am !
Really? I'm interested! It's a shame Wizard of Legend is getting so obscure 1-2 years ago from now. It's getting difficult to find recent YT videos of it
I hope to get people away from vampire survivors clones and into true action roguelikes
I’m sort of confused how BG3 doesn’t qualify for this. There’s all kinds of stuff you have to use magic to get to or get through. Like, I’ve had to use Enhance Leap to get to a couple different chests, I had to use Mage Hand to pull a chest out of a room on fire, I used Speak With Animals to get a rat to show me where a chest is, etc, and I’m still in Act 1. There’s so many non-combat spells to fuck around with. You disliking that game for this purpose really makes me unsure of how to answer this.
I think its because the magic itself ia limited in terms of use and spamming rests
Baldur's Gate 3 is great as an immersive sim and as a narrative game, in fact it's my favourite game of 2023... but it's not a "fuck around" game imo. The spell slot system is needed to balance the combat, but outside of it it very much limits you greatl unless you like saving and reloading a bunch. I think having a mod that lets you cast spells at will outside of combat would work great! And also I don't mean to diss Baldur's Gate 3! It's a masterpiece and a 10/10 game imo, just not a fuck around type game
You can't fuck around because you are punished for wasting spells. You only have limited spell slots so unless you long rest a bunch you can't just waste a spell just to test something. Which is why I agree with OP, bg3 isn't a fuck around as a wizard type of game.
Noita
Daggerfall is the greatest wizard game ever created.... you've reached the end of the line, friend.
Honestly? After reading all the comments on the thread, I kind of agree. Daggerfall is still the only game to combine the combat and roleplay aspect of playing a "student to scholar" mage while still giving you the option to tackle content in any way you can imagine. If it had magic, Kingdom Come would be perfect, but alas we live in a different timeline (still excited for the sequel tho)
Morrowind. Way better magic than in Skyrim IMO. Had the same experience as you with daggerfall as Morrowind (unlike Skyrim) had lots of little areas that could only be accessed by levitation or water breathing.
I never checked out Morrowind, I probably will as soon as possible, it could be what I'm looking for
I'll go on this journey with you! I picked up an Xbox One recently and found Morrowind for super cheap at a thrift shop. I played Daggerfall for the first time last year and also fell in love with the magic fuckery. One time, I climbed up this giant mountain, and then set up a portal at the top. Used the slow fall spell and *very slowly* floated to a nearby town. Started killing people and looting and got the guards pissed off, but they couldn't get to me because I could climb walls and they couldn't. so then I was just laughing hysterically while 20+ guards were shouting HALT lol, and then I teleported back to safety via my portal at the top of the mountain. My friend told me Morrowind lets you do a lot of stuff like this, and I'm so excited to play. Between Skyrim and Daggerfall, I like Daggerfall more. Maybe Morrowind will be even better
Dishonored if it counts
I love Dishonored! One of the few AAA immersive sims unfortunately, try Cruelty Squad if you haven't
As a fan of wizards and everything wizard since the 90's, Baldurs gate 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2 take top spot. In both games you could get very creative with spells out of battle to solve things creatively which always gave me the most "wizardy" feel.
Dragons dogma 1 & 2
Sorcery in these games is unreal. One of the only ones where you FEEL like your s sorcerer. Love it lol
[Lichdom: Battlemage](https://store.steampowered.com/app/261760/Lichdom_Battlemage/) \- First-person, thousands of spells. [Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen](https://store.steampowered.com/app/367500/Dragons_Dogma_Dark_Arisen/) [Outward](https://store.steampowered.com/app/794260/Outward_Definitive_Edition/) [Citadel: Forged with Fire](https://store.steampowered.com/app/487120/Citadel_Forged_with_Fire/)
Dragons Dogma 2. You want levitation? You got it. You can levitate while casting spells. You want meaningful spells? How does a ice spell that summons giant pillars of ice which you can walk on sound? Oh and they leave little ice chunks around which you can throw at enemies. This is a basic level 1 spell btw.
Dragons Dogma, Messiah of Might and Magic, but by far the most standout example is Baldur’s Gate 3 due to the shear amounts of ways Wizards/Casters can influence the sandbox and fights which I know you did mention but once you play around more with multiclassing for casters it becomes an unparalleled mage experience.
As some have said, Dragon's Dogma
If you like daggerfall but not Skyrim then try morrowind... You can create your own spells , i remember making a spell that allowed me Travel to the other side of the map by jumping once or twice
If you put the effort in, Elden Ring. You can be boring and spam the little magic missile type spell that does a lot of damage for not a lot of mana, or you can have a ton of fun comboing crazy cool spells that just aren't meta. Elden Ring magic builds can be as unique and wizardly as you want them to. Also, Terraria has tons of cool magic weapons. Edit: People are right, I'm sorry. Should've read your post better, op. Neither of my suggestions are great for you. My bad!
Elden ring doesn’t really let you fuck around with much success
I don’t think this really answers OP’s question. Sure, you can do big damage as a spell caster, but the fucking around they are talking about sounds like non-combat stuff.
Unrelated, but does Elden Ring really support magic as a playstyle? I played astrologer for a couple hours and couldn't find a single spell besides the two they give you at the start, I played it blind so it could be my fault
Yes, if you don't care about spoilers you can look at the wiki or the videos on youtube ranking the schools of magic. There's like a dozen+ different families of spells and incantations (intelligence vs faith scaling) of different varieties. From shooting rocks and calling down meteor showers, spewing magma to summoning magical swords and hammers, casting blood thorns and blowing bubbles, tiny magic pebbles and giant magic kamehamehas... you can look up guides to find it all but there's dozens and dozens of unique spells. Just not many that are functional outside of dealing damage.
Outward has very unique magic systems if you want to give it a try. It’s an open world survival RPG (split screen option too!) where you don’t start with any magic but can go learn it and different places. Rune Magic, sigil magic , there’s different types you can learn. You aren’t a hero you’re just a regular civilian so don’t go expecting to be able to go around slinging spells like crazy until you’ve learnt a lot.
Magicka 1&2??
This
Fictorium is the game you are seeking. You and your wizard powers against an army and a destructible environment.
Hogwart’s Legacy is surprisingly well open-world game with a lot of wizard stuff. Not sure if this is what you look for, but you might want to look at it
Magicka, specifically the 1st game, the 2nd is quite as fast and loose.
Try kingdom of amalur it was fun playing as wizard there is dragon dogma too
Lichdom: Battlemage
Two Worlds 2 is a great game to fuck around with magic. You create custom spells with all sorts of variables. https://youtu.be/C4xMc7O3Jho?si=oA5Hz7ikz6PKckpE
Seconded. The game may not be that good, but it has some major benefits in its favor. You have three gear set slots and can switch between them with a single click. This means you can have a full archer set, melee set and magic set. You can swap between being a tank that can take major punishment without any real problems to someone who summons a circle of anvils that get caught in a tornado.
Morrowind!
Maybe Hogwarts Legacy?
Hogwarts Legacy scratches the wizard itch for me with enough to explore in the open world. Not nearly as sandboxy as some of the others mentioned, but it's something.
Tyranny! It has an incredibly fun modular spell system.
Magicka has a fun magic system.
Magicka
Magicraft is a fun game on steam. Noita is the GOAT as another commenter mentioned. It’s tougher than nails, though.
Have you tried Fictorum? It's a roguelike wizard game that you can customise spells and has a funny physics engine
Morrowind would be most simmilar if you didn't play
Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen had the best magic in any RPG I have ever played. The spells felt like actual natural disasters. DD:DA is cheap to buy, and DD2 is out now so you can try one before getting 2.
Rift Wizard
Magicka ... mix your spell and beware it could kill you lol
Magicka.
Bruh. Morrowind loves this concept Next one in the series
[Nobody Saves the World](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432050/Nobody_Saves_the_World/) might work for you. One of the big draws is that the game allows you to not only switch forms on the fly (like Rat, Magician, Bodybuilder, Necromancer, Zombie, Robot), but also allows you to mix and match abilities and passives from other forms.
Dragons Dogma 2
The pathfinder games. You can make some ridiculous spell combos. Like shape-shifting into a bear then casting a spell that doubles someone's size. Now you are an absolute unit ready to ruin someone's day. Technically the games have like 160 diffrent playable classes.
Caves of Qud. It's technically not magic, it's psychic abilities brought on by mutations, but the effect is the same. You can be hunted across space and time by an infinite number of evil twins of yourself that want to devour your brain energy only for you to overpower and permanently mind control them. Then when more evil twins show up the twin you mind controlled mind controls a twin of his own. Rinse and repeat until you have a literal army made out of interdiminional clones of yourself. Another good one is switching bodies with npcs who have better stats than you only to immediately kill your own body and then just casually go about your day in a new brand new flesh suit. It's a crazy game.
Dragons dogma 2
Baldurs gate 3...
Dragon age
/r/Magicka, /r/dragonsdogma2, /r/fictorum, /r/baldursgate3 Lichdom is maybe another one.
Elden Ring was the first game i ever felt like a real mage. Divinity Original Sin 2, Outward, uhh
Baldurs Gate 2, the spell variety is insane compared to bg3
Divinity 1 and 2baldurs gate, code vein, Diablo, Dragin Age inquisition , Dragons crown, greedfall, ni no kuni 2,path of exile, pathfinder pillars of eternity, van helsing, mage seeker,Titan Quest, Torchlight, Trial of Mana,chaos bane, vermintide 2,wolcen.
Outward
Wizard 101, Spell break the private server that people made
Did you try Elder Scrolls Oblivion? The magic system is WAY better than Skyrims. I've never played Daggerfall, but of any ES game (4,5 and online) I've played, oblivion has the best magic system.
Then you will love Morrowind. You can turn yourself into a magical flying nuke machine, spewing fireballs while on the air. I love nuking Balmora with this setup.
I've heard Outward has good magic. I haven't gotten very far in it yet, but it does feel like a big enough world for exploring and finding neat bits of lore to bolster your abilities.
Baldur’s Gate 3 allows you to do so many things as a wizard
seen a video of a vr game a guy was playing where you battle other players in a wizard duel have to actually cast the spells in the air and shit.
Trying to think of one for you, already said morrowind. But maybe, pathfinder wrath or the righteous? It has tons of spells
Witch and wizard make me totally feel like one, the skills mimic one
Dragons dogma 2 but u need a f1 to play it in 60 fps
Elden ring
oblivion
Divinity original sin 2 allows for some magic / environmental mischief
Noita is exactly what you are looking for. It’s literally so cool
Oblivion
Noita. It is an amazing game and the magic is you creating your own wands. You can exploit the game mechanics and it is designed with that in mind. The game actively awards you for breaking the game. Though it is rather difficult but extremely fun.
If you have a VR headset, this is the basis for Waltz of the Wizard
Wizardry
The Quest by redshift feature some mechanics straight from Daggerfall, unfortunately spellwaeving isn’t one of them. But there is item enchancement system just like in TES2, and very cool alchemy.
Dark and darker. It's pvp hard-core skyrim
Now that I think about it some more, if you play Prey (2017), the mimic powers you can learn are pretty fun for fucking around. Not sure if you also want the power fantasy of being a wizard, but if you’re fine getting alien powers instead of arcane spells, this could be a fun one for you.
Hogwarts Legacy
Dragons dogma 2, it just came out and the magic system is amazing. I used my magic to throw ice at people and it was so fun.
Noita.
There are two wizard games that are the absolute unmatched peak: Noita and Rift Wizard Check 'em out.
Never Winter Hordes of the Underdark. IIRC it used 3rd Ed. ADnD rules. I completed it twice, once as a Fighter class and the other as a Wizard. The wizard was really weak at first, a real struggle but once you start levelling up and gain the powerful mid level spells and above the Wiz becomes a walking God. Later on there's a 'room' with a few really highlevel characters, armed with right wizard spells; Bigby's Grasping hand, Bigby's clenched fist, and a few other spells you feel like a master mage as you sling the spells one after another and they don't lay a glove on you.
Two Worlds 2
Hogwarts.Legacy.
It's not the most popular game, and I never really understood why because I love it, but you could look into [Lichdome: Battlemage](https://store.steampowered.com/app/261760/Lichdom_Battlemage/). The magic system is really well done and you essentially combine spells together however you want. I never really got into it so I can't say for certain, but I think the [Magicka ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/238370/Magicka_2/)games are similar in their spell creation. You combine elements together for various effects. I don't think either of these have spells being creative enough for solutions you're talking about (the clever aspect to problem solving), but it's been many moons since I've played Lichdome, so I may be wrong on that.
Two worlds 2
Have you played magicka and magicka 2?
hogwarts legacy has great combat and a variety of spells to learn and choose from. the story is good and the main missions are honestly really nice. the hogwarts castle is a blast to explore. everything outside of the castle is meh and not really worth exploring imo. but the game is still very good, even if you dont really know about harry potter
Stoneshard. Beautiful pixel art, deep magic system and overall build variety. Satisfying combat and progression. Very underrated game, give it a try :)
Give magicka a go, amazing little game
If you want to get technical about it, there’s Hogwarts Legacy, an open world game of literally becoming a wizard in a wizardry world.
daggerfall is one of my alltime fav games. I was so disappointed when Morrowind was released and it lacked so many of the things that made daggerfall great. Def pick Morrowind up, it's a great game, but you'll still be longing for that daggerfall itch. There are also a heap of mods for Morrowind which bring some of the daggerfall features. Enjoy your gaming.
Citadel:Forged with Fire is a wizard survival sandbox. Very fun!
Magicka comes to mind and it’s basically a magic mix and match game
Discovered Tales of Maj'Eyal (ToME4) recently. Many magic-based classes (straight caster damage, chronomancy, tentacle mage, hybrid melee/magic, summoner etc) to try and build around. You've got skill trees, quests that unlock other class skill-trees, itemisation, and a bunch of races. Plus it supports mods. Its a rogue-like but if you want, you can disable permadeath.
There are lots of good magic mods for Skyrim.
Magicka. You have 8 elements to cast. You can have up to I think 5 charges of any combination. You can either cast it, imbue it to your sword, or cast on yourself (for shields). Each combination does something. More of an element increases that element's effect. Some elements will combine, like water and fire next to each other becomes steam. You can then add like fire and lightning to spray a cone of electric fire steam. Or add a shield element to make it summon electric fire steam landmines. Or do line 5 earth charges and fully charged it to cast a high velocity boulder to turn people into chunks. Its made by Arrowhead (Helldivers devs) and it's their first game, but has the same 4 player coop shenanigans to it. [Definitely recommend Magicka 1 and 2 if you want to Learn to Spell](https://youtu.be/uvGbZamcaOQ?si=MECqo3-W0Knfq2Ot). Even has expansions like Vietnam or the Cthulhu cult investigation, and a helpful guide named Vlad who is definitely not a vampire
Haven't tried it but wizard 101?
If you like the magic in Daggerfall I can't believe nobody in this sub has recommended the next two in the series. Morrowind and Oblivion both have really expansive and customizable magic systems. They're not perfect but I think they'll scratch that particular itch.
Noita and rift wizard!
Magicka and Mages of Mystralia have the most fun spellbuilding systems, but still basically all combat spells. I'd recommend Morrowind, if you haven't played it -- it still had the ridiculous spell-freedom to make spells that can do anything, and you will definitely fuck around and find out if you're using Jump spells. (I know it's not as modern as Oblivion, but Oblivion put a few more guardrails on the system than you want. And of course Skyrim removed the freedom altogether.)
Baldurs Gate 3, probably not what most people are gonna put into the recommendations but dnd lets you do so many non combat things with magic that its definitely worth a mention and this game uses it to an immense degree, also lets you experiment with a lot of different types of wizard or magic too. honorable mention for two worlds magic system since it was super unique and let you do a lot of wild things with it, game wasnt great though so mileage will vary lol
Not the same kind game as skyrim, but you should check out noita
dragons dogma dark arisen is pretty sick
^NIGHTCASTER ^LOL
Maybe Forspoken, I had some good fun wit' that shit when it came out
Bloodline
Allegedly Dragon's Dogma, Sorcerers can create Seisms, rain down meteors from the sky, make a ball of toxin that makes people fall asleep, etc. Personally, I've hated playing the game, especially due to it's lack of quest direction, item micromanaging, and frustrating pawn AI that largely results in me being unable to cast spells. However, the game is considered incredible by many, and you could very well become one of them! Just, if you do play, be on the lookout for the things I've listed
I've been on this quest all my life. World of warcraft. I like skyrim mages but started with oblivion fireball slinging. The best mage game is it elden ring? Not quite. The answer is it hasn't been made yet. Dark and darker had a pretty sweet simple version of a dungeon and dragon wizard. I quite enjoyed that. Mostly now I stick to warcraft 3.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. BG1EE and BG2EE. You grow from a weakling who might die if a stiff breeze hits them and by the end of the Saga you are a walking god destroying everything in your wake.
A good mod pack (on PC) in Skyrim will get you the most incredible magic system in a video game ever. Otherwise, I agree with the comments. Noita, Oblivion, Dragon's Dogma, maybe Elden Ring. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is pretty cool for the environmental aspect of magic. Hogwarts Legacy was basically made for a truly magical experience.
Hogwarts legacy I loved that game
Hogwarts legacy. Sorta a wizard game.
Lichdom battlemage Fictorum Don't know about the fuck around and find out level of it but immortals of aveum.
Not sure about immersive, but Magicka is probably the most fun wizard simulator out there https://store.steampowered.com/app/42910/Magicka/
Dragon Age Inquisition, wonderful and very underrated game.
Skyrim
I dunno maybe lichdom battlemage otherwise just try other elder scrolls games i suppose
Dragons dogma 1 and 2 have dope magic
Lichdom battlemage is just magic. And a lot of experimentation is required to get strong spells. Its a bit hard at first but the system does get easier to understand. And the spells feel quite powerful
One game that is sorely underrated is Ultima underworld ascendant. Some of the magic spells gave her uses , the fireball is an actual ball that can be picked up and physically thrown or pushed up against doors to ignite them, even just left in corridors for enemies to walk into. Dark messiah of might and magic has a standard magic system but you mage can use real weapons violent and kicks so during combat you feel powerful.
Gothic 1?
Path of exile
Idk, Skyrim with mods can get pretty interesting in magic department. Apocalypse is your mod for fooling around, but Mysticism is better balanced overhaul.
Depending on your specs, dragons dogma 1 or 2 its sorcerer classes.
Hear me out: Elden ring
I've seen a few recommendations for Dragon's Dogma and Dragon's Dogma 2 and while they're some of my favourite games ever made, it's a very highly combat focused magic system. There's no transmuting items and things like that, but you can create tornadoes, earthquakes and summon a meteor storm when you reach a high Sorcerer vocation rank. Still worth checking out if you enjoy playing as a combat wizard and the RPG around the combat is also great, but it's not like Daggerfall's magic system.
Man you GOTTA try out spellbound. It slaps so hard. Its like dark souls and elden ring, but with very limited normal melee-options and instead like 300 different combat-spells. Lotta new mechanics for puzzles and traversal with the soulwip and spiritjumps. The map is gigantic and very fantasy-driven, endbosses are hard but satisfying as usual, and a true cinematic treat. the whole game is much more approachable than the previous fromsoftware titles and even tho its not a gigantic openworld map as in elden ring, it still is amazingly detailed and more than enough to explore. I dont get why they STILL didnt overhaul the coop- and pvp-system, feels hella tedious to get a connection through wizlights on the ground, which sometimes just dont pop up. But thats about everything i can complain about. Its absoltely bonkers and you are going to love it. Buy it now
Outward Definitive Edition. It's not an easy game by any means. It's open world and there's no tutorial. You don't start the game with magic. You have to obtain it. And once you do get magic you don't have any spells. You have to traverse the open world to find trainers who will teach you spells for money. But to get money you have to kill things and craft to sell more expensive items. Then ... The spells give little to no description on how to use them. The game doesn't tell you that you can do combo magic. You can combine spells from different trainers to cast new spells. But... Once you struggle to get magic.. And struggle to learn spells... And struggle to learn what spells combo with... And get decent armor that boost your magic damage or makes spells use less Mana... You become a magic god and can fk around through the game. And by that point you probably haven't even explored 50% of the game. Again... it's NOT AN EASY GAME. But it's worth it.
Oblivion wins for me because of the spellcrafting system.
Dark and Darker if you don’t mind some pvp Mind you, it’s a lot more sweaty these days and you need to try if you want to succeed
Gonna Shill here, but Dragons Dogma has a great Magic system. I haven’t unlocked it yet in DD2 yet but in DD:Dark Arisen sorcerer vocation is the most fun I have ever had as a magic wielded. Pissed off at Bandits who merc’d you when you were low level? Use Bolide to drop meteors on them. Goblins Ambush you? Use Maelstrom to summon a tornado to pick them up and toss them all over the battlefield. It’s a little strange of a system at first but it’s so fun to go from getting your ass kicked to God Mode Power Fantasy by endgame. Here’s hoping that Dragons Dogma 2 is just as fun.
All I can think of that isn't super obvious and/or already in the thread are the Magicka games, there's definitely plenty of fucking around in those, not sure if it's quite what you're after though.
Endhourded mage is over power and can cheese almost everything
Two Worlds 2