14 DAY TRIAL // 
I know who my enemy is, I know the skills I have and how I have equipped my party, but I seem to be unable to find a good formula, also involving my potions and the turn order, that can create a situation where I can defeat the enemy force and which would allow me to progress.
Ultimately, my initial failures were linked to my over-offensive nature and once I understood that a Challenge would help keep my sorcerer alive, while giving my Vampire time to heal the party and steal life from the enemy, I was ultimately successful.
The Knight battle I had some difficulty with comes pretty soon after the start of Paper Sorcerer and it shows the core unique elements of the experience created by Ultra Runaway Games.
The game uses a series of classic first-person action role-playing mechanics and allows the gamer to create a party and try to escape imprisonment as a capable sorcerer.
The backstory to the title is quickly and efficiently introduced via a charming intro movie that tells a pretty standard tale of good versus evil, which proceeds according to plan, that is until the player discovers that he needs to play the role of the evil power who seeks to escape from a powerful book artifact.
The core of Paper Sorcerer is represented by the exploration and the combat mechanics, which are somewhat similar to those seen in Legend of Grimrock, but with a bigger focus on the puzzle-like elements of the tactical combat.
The first levels are pretty simple, but after that, the game opens up and offers a number of interesting and innovative layouts, all of them resembling classic pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons designs.
There are items to be found, doors to be opened, locations to be scouted and there are places where enemies block the player’s way and combat is initiated, with the sorcerer aided by summoned minions.
The battles are not truly tactical because there’s no movement, but gamers need to pay a lot of attention to the order in which characters act, the make-up of their own party and that of the enemy, and the skills that they can use.
I liked the puzzle-like design, although as Paper Sorcerer progresses, the length of the combat might become a little annoying for rushing modern players.
There’s no grinding in the title and that means THAT characters progress pretty quickly and gain access to some very cool abilities that open up new tactics and new potential synergies.
I like the way the Skeleton and the Minotaur complement each other and how many battles finally hinge oN the player’s ability to protect his sorcerer against the enemy assault, both with steel and magic.
Paper Sorcerer also has items and equipment to deal with, but I found them less important than having a solid group and well-prepared tactics.
There’s no other game that I have played which understands the importance of light and how entire levels can be created by simply separating areas that are darkened from those that are illuminated.
It’s very easy to navigate Paper Sorcerer and make head and tail of where and how to go, but there are moments when I entered a game level and simply stopped in order to admire the space that the development team at Ultra Runaway Games created.
The music is well suited to the genre and the art style, and I enjoyed the way it underlined how tough combat could be and how hard it was to snatch victory.
Overall, Paper Sorcerer will probably appeal most to those who have positive memories of old-school tactical role-playing games, but its unique art style and music might also make it interesting for modern players.
