First Magic Legends gameplay surprises with action RPG approach

Are you ready to be surprised? Well, you should, because the first Magic Legends gameplay is far from what we were expecting. The official reveal happened less than a month ago and we are now treated to the first gameplay trailer. Coming from Cryptic Studios, makers of Star Trek Online and Neverwinter, this footage reveals an entirely different approach leaning toward the action RPG side. Think Lost Ark, or Diablo if you prefer, and you should get a good picture of what Magic Legends is going to be.

So, this places Magic: Legends as a top-down online action RPG that is coming in 2020 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Apparently, the footage was recorded from an Xbox One version, or at least it was recorded on PC using an Xbox controller. Just a guess.

Magic Legends Release Date | When is the Magic the Gathering MMO releasing?

The Magic Legends gameplay reveal comes courtesy of a Game Informer exclusive. It is going to face the aforementioned Lost Ark – if that game decides to show up during 2020 -, but also other fierce competition such as Path of Exile 2 and Torchlight Frontiers. Oddly enough, the latter is also published by Perfect World Entertainment, something that is going to result in some interesting internal competition, to say the least.

As for the footage that you can see below, it's from the pre-alpha, so there are a few frame drops to live with. Nothing major, though, and the game looks pretty decent from a graphical point of view, with visual effects everywhere.

The Magic Legends MMO – yes, it is an MMO, judging by the official press blurb that introduces it as “an all-new MMO Action RPG” – allows you to play solo or with two other players by your side. Your goal is to become the ultimate Planeswalker, and the trailer seems to show the feature where spells are drawn at random. If this is a good thing for the game, we're yet to see.

Watch the gameplay below and hope for a Magic Legends beta before the end of 2020.