Embers of Magic

People love to imagine worlds different than our own, which is why we have so many books and movies on the subject. Whether it’s a perfect utopia or a hellish nightmare, it’s always exciting to unravel the mysteries of a planet or a realm that does not belong to humans. Granted, the experience is that much more exciting when the exploration is unconstrained, but a nice description can work as well.

Embers of Magic is a short visual novel in which you get the opportunity to experience the thrill of exploring a new world, although the term “new” is not exactly right in this case. Since this is a kinetic visual novel, you do not have the power to change too much about the story, but the journey should be fun enough for that to be a minor drawback, especially if you enjoy stories.

The story is centered around a witch by the name of Liana, who lives on a flying world far above the Earth. However, the inhabitants of this world are actually just people who left the surface in order to escape a great danger, which is why no one dares to go back. However, Liana is not convinced of this story, and she decides to see for herself how things really are back on Earth.

Since you cannot interfere with the storytelling, your only option is to relax and see how the plot unfolds along the way. A few characters make an appearance every once in awhile, and it’s actually quite interesting to see how the surface evolved in the absence of humans. On the other hand, the whole experience is rather short, since it can only take you half an hour or so to watch the whole thing.

Even so, there is more than enough artwork to keep you eyes happy, and the backgrounds change on a regular basis to keep you from getting bored. The characters are nicely designed as well, although everything appears rather sketchy and unfinished, for some reason. Granted, this is a free indie production, so it’s only natural that there are drawbacks.

While Embers of Magic may not be a revolution in the genre, the story it tells can be quite captivating, especially if you enjoy fantasy concepts. Not only that, but the artwork is enjoyable too, as are the characters that are part of the story.

Note: You can help the developers by voting for the game on Steam Greenlight.