Immortals of Aveum is the first title from the American-based development team, Ascendant Studios, published by Electronic Arts, and it’s a first-person magic shooter. MKAU was lucky enough to be invited to a preview event a couple of months ago, and since attending the event, I was beyond hyped to see what this game had to offer. Needless to say, it did not disappoint one bit.

You are a young sorcerer by the name of Jak, living in the fictional world of Aveum, with five kingdoms split into two superpowers; Lucium and Rasharn. The story starts in an area that feels like the underground world of Seren, where you hang out with a group of young adults and kids who need to steal off the streets to survive. When Seren is attacked by the Rasharn, Jak is found to be an Unforeseen by General Kirkan (Gina Torres).

After randomly manifesting magical powers, he is trained in order to join the elite group known as the Immortals. The game is heavily influenced by magic split into three forms; Force (Blue), Chaos (Red), and Life (Green), and if you are feeling super special, you have the ability to wield them all at once. There are plenty of puzzles along the adventure to keep your mind active, and engrossing voice acting that will keep your head in the game for hours on end.

There is a lot involved with the magic – you don’t just have one spell to cast per color, but instead, multiple spells that you can cycle through and also update, and you can upgrade your gear using coins you collect along your adventures. I mentioned before the ability to combine all three of the colors, which is called Immolate, and to describe it, it kind of felt like holding a gatling gun and just mowing down the enemies in front of you.

Darren Barnet, Gina Torres, and Lily Cowles are just some of the names that create the absolutely magical voice acting built into Immortal of Aveum, and there is nothing better than a rich immersive story with amazing voice acting to compliment it. The voice actors did a brilliant job, really hitting the emotions in each character, and it really helped to keep their stories flowing. The sound team at Ascendant Studios left no stone unturned with the attention to detail put into the audio effects, and from the sound of the spells to all the sounds other characters were making, everything hit the right notes at the right time.

Ever since the preview event, I wondered how they were going to incorporate all the magical abilities without making it too complex for people like me; people who just want to play the game and not put in a cheat code to make something work. Changing the style of magic is as simple as pressing “Y” on the controller and using the left trigger to shoot your selected magic.

They also have side abilities, such as grapple, or the ability to slow down certain objects moving, which again, is as simple as using the right trigger, or the right bumper to cast a shield. I love how simple the controls felt. There was no delay, and even when jumping around, dashing, and throwing magic around the place, it felt fluid and natural to what I was trying to do.

The realistic graphics brought another level to the game, with character models looking absolutely stunning, and the different environments you get to visit during the campaign all look beautiful, full of bright and vibrant colours. It really makes use of the power of current-generation consoles, and blasting a dragon with magic spells left me in absolute awe at how carefully crafted the world and its inhabitants are.

As their premiere title, it’s amazing to think that I didn’t encounter any bugs or issues during my time with Immortals of Aveum, particularly considering the state in which a lot of games are being released. Ascendant Studios has created a beautiful masterpiece, and I would love to see what the team has planned for future titles. If you love a rich story with absolutely stunning graphics and great voice acting, Immortals of Aveum deserves your attention.

Written by: Hayden Nelson