The Nature Of Magic -ch.1- By Slate Interactive -

October 26, 2023 Category: Indie Game Deep Dive | Narrative Design Reading Time: 6 minutes The Premise: Magic as a Language, Not a Weapon We’ve all played the games. You find a dusty tome, click “Learn Spell,” and suddenly you can shoot fire from your fingertips. Magic, in most interactive media, is treated as a reskinned gun. It is loud, explosive, and ultimately violent.

However, if you are tired of magic being reduced to a damage-per-second stat—if you long for a game that treats the arcane with the same reverence as Annihilation treated the Shimmer—buy this immediately.

With the release of The Nature of Magic – Ch.1 , the first episode in a planned five-part series, Slate isn’t asking you to cast spells. They are asking you to listen . You play as Kaelen , a disgraced former “Resonator” living in the coastal city of Veridian Wake. In this world, magic isn’t an energy you possess; it is a low-frequency hum emitted by the planet itself—the "Telluric Bleed." The Nature of Magic -Ch.1- By Slate Interactive

One point deducted for the microphone sensitivity. My dog howled every time I tried to solve the tidal lock puzzle. You can purchase The Nature of Magic - Ch.1 directly from the [Slate Interactive Official Store] or on Steam. A demo for Chapter Two is rumored to drop during the Winter Game Fest.

As Kaelen “hears” the world’s hum, a radial dial appears on screen segmented into 24 runes, each corresponding to a specific harmonic frequency. To solve a puzzle (e.g., calming a violent tide or mending a torn sail), you don’t press a button. You hum. Using your controller’s microphone (or headset), you must match the pitch of the environment. October 26, 2023 Category: Indie Game Deep Dive

Are you going to pick this up? Have you tried humming into your controller yet? Let me know in the comments below. Disclaimer: This review is based on a pre-release code provided by Slate Interactive. All opinions are my own.

Most people cannot hear it. Those who can usually go mad. It is loud, explosive, and ultimately violent

Slate Interactive, a small studio known for their atmospheric puzzle games, wants to completely dismantle that idea.