No. Not yet.

Don't get me wrong - the aesthetics are great, and the style is generally consistent, however the direction of changes between last playtest and Early Access release version is... let's say concerning at very least.

Admittedly it might be an issue of overly high expectations, however I had hoped for game that would increase in variety and complexity, rather than active removal of what made one of schools unique.

Let me elaborate: During last playtest (at least early playtest, didn't have chance to play near actual release) Lightning Magic had additional effect of 0.5% on getting 'gifted student'. This encouraged using specialized character (Lightning mages) to summon students. Currently this modifier has been removed as far as I can tell, rather than adding such modifiers to varying 'schools' of magic, each that would encourage using specialists to specialized tasks.

Currently the only difference now, while sure it TECHNICALLY does encourage specialists, is work speed. On lower magic levels the differences are quite notable, however as levels increase the difference between each +1 becomes lower due to linear progression of work speed. This in turn allows multiple 'teachers' and 'students' to work at the same efficiency as one specialized worker.

To put it into perspective. It is as if Leonardo Da Vinci's work had no quality difference from a toddler with crayons, with only difference being how fast they made their art pieces.

Unfortunately this is not the only immersion breaking element of this game, as it is now (15th Dec 2023, soon after Early Access release). And yes, I am well aware that the following list is a subject to change.

Before we start, let me paint You a picture of a grand tower filled with magic and great many students walking through the halls and staircases of temple of knowledge, where experienced and well versed in their fields teachers share their vast knowledge and experience to the young minds, and explore into unknown, protecting and teaching the new generation in the ancient dungeons of this mmagical school, where danger lurks. In the underground both dangers and wealth of knowledge and experience can be found.

Got it?

Great.

Now let us move to the practice:

Remember the tower? It's gonna be massive combination of various jank (highlighted by the roof tool having literal jankiness slider), mostly to fulfill few 'keywords', that will make any mention of semblance of sanity of original architect (technically the player) a joke. Unfortunately 'towered' seems to be extremely overused, as is elevated, which means that the tower will basically often be reduced to single staircase with rooms on the sides, with great care taken not to finish the building by accident.

As per experience and well versed teachers. There are 2 main mechanics regarding skill of teachers and students. First is wand - it will define primary magic school skill. No variation here, unless we talk about 'gifted' students/teachers. They will get additional level. On top of that they will get few additional 'points' in non-main magic school. Once student reaches their cap it will STAY that way. No matter the 'experience' they got in real life, rather than throwing a single spell on a magic stone.
Second is 'medal' mechanics, which basically is a set of challenges that students (key word here) can perform to get some permanent bonuses. Did You get promoted to teacher before You got one of them? For example You made 999 out of 1000 casts of spell? (exaggregated) Tough luck. Or more precisely - unable to learn anything ever again.

This in turn leads to 'wise old and experienced wizards' get far outperformed by a guy who got a wand a day before, just because the wand was good enough and the 'wise teacher' just happened to have a glorified stick rather than wand.

This is more pronounced in the non-customisable and randomized 'Founder' ghost. You know... the mage that was competent enough to create the school in the first place, who just happened to stay in the school grounds for perpetual and eternal torture of working. Why torture? Because every kid with a wand will be better than Founder. Thrice in fact in their main specialisation, but I digress.

All of this in turn means that there is no real reason for teachers to go with students into 'underschool' (the dungeons part). Best way to get students to improve?
"This is a door, You have your wand, go kill that eldritch horror that may hide in it. Good luck you're on your own". Why? Teachers get no bonuses from their stature, students on the other hand may and often do have 'tasks' to complete. More students at the same time = more chances to get some of them at least partially done.

So, what do You do with one of Your most advanced and well versed teacher that somehow was too busy to get thrown out of your school for scrolls? (Scrolls being research resource) "Oi, mate, go die in the dungeon. We need a ghost to gather that flower just to make it faster for others to heal up in our hospital".... "oooh, you survived. Shame. Get up from this medical bed and get the heck back there, whan I say we need You dead I meant it".

Wealth of knowledge on the other hand is quite appropriately put. As basically your 'researcher' (usually a guy or gal with lightning wand) needs some scrolls to shoot lightning bolts at specific magic device. Basically scrolls are either obtained from underground, or by what is basically a diploma mill. Get a new student -> give him some basic training -> get rid of him. Sometimes get one of those poor souls that live long enough to survive and give him promotion into academy staff. In package - More work, though given You will be overworked anyway there's less chance that You will be thrown into combat... Oh, and You get older. And lack of future prospects is included for free.

And You could in fact say 'but it's the wands that are the key to skill levels, and that's how it was balanced around'. In response to that I will say yes, this is how it was balanced around. Badly as it is now. Just get more idi... ekhm... 'teachers' to work for no further pay and perspective and get them to work concurrently. Not that it's gonna be needed most of the time anyway as everything is either relatively fast (research is surprisingly low effort if You adhere to eye watering designs forced by (especially 'randomized') keywords. Biggest issue will be construction materials that will be only necessary and problematic early game.

What could be done as alternative is to rather than have hardcaps use softcaps instead, and provide some experience as character works, with 'normal peak' at level that developers find 'good representative' for progression. And here's the trick - increase ALL costs by factor of 4 (for example) if not more. Make 'normal peak' level multiplied by similar value. Make experience needed for every further level exponentially higher than previous. Congratulations - now You simulate trying to push a wand to its peak, rather than wand having 'unfinished user' using mechanics dreadfully common in e.g. 'incremental games'.

In similar notion - unfortunately research is also equally flat - generic scrolls are all that is needed. Perhaps having a series of 'research resources' or at very least different 'magic spells casted' might be a good idea. For now it's lightning only, while different branches are quite 'themed' to say the least. It felt as if lightning needed just 3rd generic 'work type', rather than to put in line specialists thinking how to work on specific task/invention. Think of it as e.g. Corporate recruiter thinking of a way how to raise new types of animals, find new cure for cancer and on the side - play with idea of new decoration or architectural feature. This is current state of research.

TL:DR - Concept is good, there's untapped potential. A lot of it. Unfortunately - untapped.


Edit log with changes and additional notes in comments due to char. limit

No. Not yet. Don't get me wrong - the aesthetics are great, and the style is generally consistent, however the direction of changes between last playtest and Early Access release version is... let's say concerning at very least. Admittedly it might be an issue of overly high expectations, however I had hoped for game that would increase in variety and complexity, rather than active removal of what made one of schools unique. Let me elaborate: During last playtest (at least early playtest, didn't have chance to play near actual release) Lightning Magic had additional effect of 0.5% on getting 'gifted student'. This encouraged using specialized character (Lightning mages) to summon students. Currently this modifier has been removed as far as I can tell, rather than adding such modifiers to varying 'schools' of magic, each that would encourage using specialists to specialized tasks. Currently the only difference now, while sure it TECHNICALLY does encourage specialists, is work speed. On lower magic levels the differences are quite notable, however as levels increase the difference between each +1 becomes lower due to linear progression of work speed. This in turn allows multiple 'teachers' and 'students' to work at the same efficiency as one specialized worker. To put it into perspective. It is as if Leonardo Da Vinci's work had no quality difference from a toddler with crayons, with only difference being how fast they made their art pieces. Unfortunately this is not the only immersion breaking element of this game, as it is now (15th Dec 2023, soon after Early Access release). And yes, I am well aware that the following list is a subject to change. Before we start, let me paint You a picture of a grand tower filled with magic and great many students walking through the halls and staircases of temple of knowledge, where experienced and well versed in their fields teachers share their vast knowledge and experience to the young minds, and explore into unknown, protecting and teaching the new generation in the ancient dungeons of this mmagical school, where danger lurks. In the underground both dangers and wealth of knowledge and experience can be found. Got it? Great. Now let us move to the practice: Remember the tower? It's gonna be massive combination of various jank (highlighted by the roof tool having literal jankiness slider), mostly to fulfill few 'keywords', that will make any mention of semblance of sanity of original architect (technically the player) a joke. Unfortunately 'towered' seems to be extremely overused, as is elevated, which means that the tower will basically often be reduced to single staircase with rooms on the sides, with great care taken not to finish the building by accident. As per experience and well versed teachers. There are 2 main mechanics regarding skill of teachers and students. First is wand - it will define primary magic school skill. No variation here, unless we talk about 'gifted' students/teachers. They will get additional level. On top of that they will get few additional 'points' in non-main magic school. Once student reaches their cap it will STAY that way. No matter the 'experience' they got in real life, rather than throwing a single spell on a magic stone. Second is 'medal' mechanics, which basically is a set of challenges that students (key word here) can perform to get some permanent bonuses. Did You get promoted to teacher before You got one of them? For example You made 999 out of 1000 casts of spell? (exaggregated) Tough luck. Or more precisely - unable to learn anything ever again. This in turn leads to 'wise old and experienced wizards' get far outperformed by a guy who got a wand a day before, just because the wand was good enough and the 'wise teacher' just happened to have a glorified stick rather than wand. This is more pronounced in the non-customisable and randomized 'Founder' ghost. You know... the mage that was competent enough to create the school in the first place, who just happened to stay in the school grounds for perpetual and eternal torture of working. Why torture? Because every kid with a wand will be better than Founder. Thrice in fact in their main specialisation, but I digress. All of this in turn means that there is no real reason for teachers to go with students into 'underschool' (the dungeons part). Best way to get students to improve? "This is a door, You have your wand, go kill that eldritch horror that may hide in it. Good luck you're on your own". Why? Teachers get no bonuses from their stature, students on the other hand may and often do have 'tasks' to complete. More students at the same time = more chances to get some of them at least partially done. So, what do You do with one of Your most advanced and well versed teacher that somehow was too busy to get thrown out of your school for scrolls? (Scrolls being research resource) "Oi, mate, go die in the dungeon. We need a ghost to gather that flower just to make it faster for others to heal up in our hospital".... "oooh, you survived. Shame. Get up from this medical bed and get the heck back there, whan I say we need You dead I meant it". Wealth of knowledge on the other hand is quite appropriately put. As basically your 'researcher' (usually a guy or gal with lightning wand) needs some scrolls to shoot lightning bolts at specific magic device. Basically scrolls are either obtained from underground, or by what is basically a diploma mill. Get a new student -> give him some basic training -> get rid of him. Sometimes get one of those poor souls that live long enough to survive and give him promotion into academy staff. In package - More work, though given You will be overworked anyway there's less chance that You will be thrown into combat... Oh, and You get older. And lack of future prospects is included for free. And You could in fact say 'but it's the wands that are the key to skill levels, and that's how it was balanced around'. In response to that I will say yes, this is how it was balanced around. Badly as it is now. Just get more idi... ekhm... 'teachers' to work for no further pay and perspective and get them to work concurrently. Not that it's gonna be needed most of the time anyway as everything is either relatively fast (research is surprisingly low effort if You adhere to eye watering designs forced by (especially 'randomized') keywords. Biggest issue will be construction materials that will be only necessary and problematic early game. What could be done as alternative is to rather than have hardcaps use softcaps instead, and provide some experience as character works, with 'normal peak' at level that developers find 'good representative' for progression. And here's the trick - increase ALL costs by factor of 4 (for example) if not more. Make 'normal peak' level multiplied by similar value. Make experience needed for every further level exponentially higher than previous. Congratulations - now You simulate trying to push a wand to its peak, rather than wand having 'unfinished user' using mechanics dreadfully common in e.g. 'incremental games'. In similar notion - unfortunately research is also equally flat - generic scrolls are all that is needed. Perhaps having a series of 'research resources' or at very least different 'magic spells casted' might be a good idea. For now it's lightning only, while different branches are quite 'themed' to say the least. It felt as if lightning needed just 3rd generic 'work type', rather than to put in line specialists thinking how to work on specific task/invention. Think of it as e.g. Corporate recruiter thinking of a way how to raise new types of animals, find new cure for cancer and on the side - play with idea of new decoration or architectural feature. This is current state of research. TL:DR - Concept is good, there's untapped potential. A lot of it. Unfortunately - untapped. Edit log with changes and additional notes in comments due to char. limit