Created in GZDoom, Memoirs of Magic is both a testament to the power of the Doom engine, and the skill of the many developers who have contorted it into all manner of unlikely things. As you might expect, Memoirs is at heart a first-person shooter where you pepper critters with bullets, magic missiles, and whack them with a variety of unusual melee weapons. But it's also a big ol' fantasy RPG, featuring seven strange character classes, reams of lore to absorb/skip through, and a diverse world, complete with NPCs, quests, boss fights and even Final Fantasy-style summon monsters to inflict on enemies.
It's not an easy game to just pick up and play, so be sure to speak to plenty of NPCs in the opening village, and to check the controls in the options menu before blundering off into the forest and suffering an ignoble death like I, I mean like someone else not as skillful as me just did. It might look friendly, but this colourful FPS-RPG can be pretty mean, throwing nasty enemies in your general direction nearly from the start.
I was reminded of chunky, mid-90s 3D RPGs when playing Memoirs of Magic, although this standalone Doom engine game plays much faster than a lot of titles from that era. You can even play it with friends—though you may need to restart the game a few times to really get the hang of it.
Thanks, RPS.
For more great free experiences, check out our roundup of the best free PC games. If you're in the mood for more RPGs, check out our list of the best RPGs of all time.
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