Games like The Last Spell’s tactical RPG elements have increased in popularity over the years. With titles likeXCOM 2,Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and The Banner Saga, its turn-based mechanics have enticed fans into captivating its world and helped open the floodgates of possibilities in the genre.
Following in the footsteps of these giants, The Last Spell plates up a usual blend of tower defense gameplay sprinkled with the ever-popular zombie hordes to cook up a thrillingRPGadventure. But like any game these days, mixing all of these elements to then deliver something great isn’t an easy feat. Thankfully, the brilliant minds at Ishtar Games have more than magic up their sleeves.
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The Last Spell’s Challenges And Concept
In an interview withGame Rant, The Last Spellgame designer and producer Benjamin Coquelle and Manon Bertin, producer of the new Dwarves of Runenberg DLC, sat down to talk about how the studio came up with the concept of the acclaimed tactical turn-based RPG while also looking back at its successful Early Access launch and the challenges faced throughout this time.
Discussing the uniqueness of its mechanical structure, Coquelle said that the idea to develop The Last Spell came from the mind of Ishtar Games' creative director and CEO, Matthieu Richez, who wanted a title packed with gameplay and for the narrative side to take more of a back seat. “We had just released Dead In Vinland, our previous game, and it was a very narrative-driven game with a lot of text.” Coquelle continues, “He wanted to make a game with mostly gameplay and less focus on narrative. He was playing a lot of Battle Brothers at the time and was like, “Why not make a tactical RPG?””
“A big challenge was to find the right gameplay for the day and night cycle”
Taking inspiration from games such as Dynasty Warriors due to the boatload of enemies players need to take on at once, Slay the Spire andInto The Breach were also thrown into the mix due to their rogue-like elements. As with all games, they come with a few headaches for devs, and in the case of The Last Spell, making sure zombie behavior was just right, had its challenges. “We are making a zombie game, so enemies have to be not so clever but are still threats and there is a fine balance to find between that” expressed Coquelle. “For example, the base enemy will always stop at a barricade, but that’s okay because it’s just a stupid zombie and there are a hundred. If one stops at a barricade, the others will go through the center.”
Coquelle also touched on finding the right balance to implement the game’s day and night cycles and how buildings played a big role in this gameplay mechanic. “A big challenge was to find the right gameplay for the day and night cycle. At first, it was seamless. We had the same gameplay during the night and during the day. To use the buildings, you would have to take your heroes and bring them to the buildings to use them. We tested it, and it was kind of bad, so we decided to implement a worker system where you spend a resource to use your buildings. The game is a unique combination, so we have to think of unique ideas.”
Growing from a team of ten to 40 developers, Ishtar Games has gone from strength to strength and is dedicated to improving the game over time due to the amazing feedback and love from its player base. The Last Spell is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.
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