What Creates the Conditions for Revolution" Usually an event occurs or a policy is enacted that goes beyond what can be tolerated and into a fractured realm where compromise is no longer possible. At this point, society can no longer meaningfully reform itself by voting or legislating, and a new world can only arise from the ashes of the old.

In Reneterra, that is. Definitely only in Luneterra, and nowhere else.

The Mageseeker: Developed by Digital Sun (creators of Moonlighter) and published by Riot Forge, the world-building-centric publishing arm of Riot Games, League of Legends. Story is the origin story of Sylas the Unshackled, a League of Legends melee burst/skirmisher champion added in early 2019. Depending on who you ask in the playerbase, Sylas is either a particularly edgy anti-hero, a downright villain, a revolutionary or a murderer, and there seems to be no middle ground; "Mageseeker" appears to be somewhere in between.

We meet Silas for the first time after a brief account of his origins in the kingdom of Demasia. As a child, he was drafted into the anti-magic secret police "Mageseekers" because of his ability to visually identify the magical auras of others. When his latent magical powers exploded on one mission and he accidentally killed a villager, he was locked up in a heavily guarded dungeon for 15 years, with only a dubious book and his vengeful mind and body to sustain him.

Cut to the present day, and a full-scale revolt against the Magi Seekers is underway in Demacia. Having just escaped, Silas is led to a remote rebel camp in a nearby forest, from which he is forced to make a choice. Either Cyrus will get the revenge he so strongly desires, or he will help the rebels gain revolutionary power.

The action supporting this political drama is quite solid. Cyrus starts by beating and whipping people with a gauntlet of chains, and with the same gauntlet he can close the distance between himself and his enemies, steal their magic, and even throw himself onto the battlefield for safety. The basic attacks are, well, basic, but you can unlock some devastating elemental combos by employing elite mages and choosing up to two per mission to fight. You can also choose a host of elemental spells that can be placed in up to four unlockable spell slots. These spells are especially useful in a pinch, such as when trying to distance yourself from an enemy with a long reach or an attack with a large area of effect.

The elite mage you recruit can itself recruit a cadre of up to 15 rogue mages. This has the important effect of significantly enhancing the size of the rebel camp and powering up Cyrus' moveset. This is especially important because enemies, especially bosses, can be extra brutal if you are not careful. There were several times when I was fighting a boss and Silas was knocked out when I took my eyes off him for a second. The good news is that the checkpoints are fairly well set up. I was never more than a room or hallway away from where I passed out. The result is a challenging action experience.

I was never much into League of Legends or its spin-offs, but I didn't need a PhD in Runeterra lore to understand The Mageseeker's story. The demassian state that imprisons and murders mages is evil, and the organization that does at least most of the imprisoning and killing must be dismantled. Silas is vengeful and initially quite one-dimensional in that regard, but that one-dimensionality is offset by the rest of the cast. People have different reasons for joining the revolution, and there are many possible motivations in this game.

Leilani, the leader of the rebellion, dreams of a post-revolutionary world where mages need not fear. Gideon is a former Magi Seeker, exiled after her mage husband was captured and imprisoned, looking for a way to right the wrongs of his former employer. Jops, a yodeling warrior, fights to prevent the Magi Seekers from continuing their abominable experiments on humans and non-humans. Cyrus' former friend, Lux Crownguard, also gains a pacifist resistance perspective as he defends the mages' lair in Telbithia.

These characters do not appear merely to praise Cyrus for a job well done in his brutality; they disagree with him on motives and tactics at various points throughout the nearly 12-hour story mode. Initially, he tries to stick to his paper-thin beliefs based on his bloodlust, but there are also moments of reflection where he even seems to be troubled by his own single-mindedness. Eventually, he is forced to confront the fact that revenge alone will not fight the revolution.

Still, however, he will not get it by seeking some sort of middle-of-the-road "woe to both houses" that confirms Cyrus' position as a villain. Revolution is necessary, the Magi Seekers are evil, and the Demasian monarchy is corrupt. These are not negotiable subject positions, and they are obvious in the actions of those in power. Silas himself is hardly an evil man, but he does not direct his anger at random citizens. He does not terrorize random villages or slaughter them indiscriminately. To abuse a common phrase, he only torments the comfortable and comforts the afflicted.

The Mageseeker can feel a bit didactic at times, but his willingness to stick to a clear ideological statement is refreshing when so many of his generation's games shrivel up like violets at the mention of politics. This is backed up by engaging gameplay, a great soundtrack, and vibrant pixel graphics. If you like your media to combine high-octane action with over-the-top political intrigue, The Mageseeker is well worth your time."