Zwei balances might and magic

Might and magic go hand-in-hand in games. Whether it is heroes who are incredibly adept with both physical force and supernatural abilities or parties willed with people who specialize in specific areas, it is common to see people using all sorts of specialties to survive. The Zwei series is no exception. It too has characters using both kind of abilities to complete challenges. What makes Zwei: The Arges Adventure and Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection stand out is the way it manages the two elements. There is a balance here that shows how important each one is.

The structure in both Zwei games is the same. In each installment, players have a character in their control that has a specific trait. In Zwei: The Arges Adventure, Pokkle is a warrior and Pipiro is a mage. Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection gives us a fighter named Ragna and a magical vampire named Alwen. These duos are our entire focus. We do not have a full party to choose from as we head off to accomplish our goals. We are forced to focus on these two people who exemplify the balance of power.

Each character has their specialty. Pokkle and Ragna are these fighters that are great at getting in close and dealing a lot of damage. You want to build up these combos and make the most of every attack. You want to attack properly, dodge when you can and use these physical attacks to apply pressure. There is a sense of speed here. I felt like I could especially appreciate the flurry of action in Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection. It is almost like there is a sense of using brute force to barrel your way through situations.

Then, when it comes to Alwen and Pipiro, I felt like things could get a little more methodical. These are the mages who have the luxury of distance. You can make more use of space as you fight. Where with someone like Ragna I felt as though I was rushing in to attack as quickly as possible and steamroll foes, Alwen made me take a bit more care to control the area. There was a bit more precision there. I would say I felt more strategic when using magic. I was more thoughtful.

That illustrates quite a bit about their in-game application as well. We tend to think of magic as being a more brainy form of attacking, while swapping with a sword is more about movement. Doing really well when using a physical character like Ragna comes down to knowing how fast you can move in the game, press buttons to pull off combos and respond to attacks. Succeeding as Alwen is about thinking about the layout of enemies and their capabilities, plotting out a good time to unleash spells and perhaps being a little more strategic when you would be as Ragna.

Zwei’s gameplay works to stress how important both sides are. We are encouraged to make the most of our mighty and magical characters. The layouts of areas and dungeons have enemies that may best be dealt with either with physical attacks or certain spells. Sure, people could try and make their way usually controlling one character as much as possible, but real success comes from knowing when it will benefit you to switch to another character’s strength. Magic might not always be as effective, and sometimes physical assaults will not get you as far.

Both Zwei: The Arges Adventure and Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection give us an opportunity to really see magic and might in action. Since each game gives us one character that is physically gifted and another with more ephemeral gifts, it encourages people playing to make the most of each ability. There is a time and place to use each kind of attack. By letting us see how well certain skills work when used by characters who are experts in specific fields, we can better understand how critical such elements can be to succeed.