The Last Mage

Context: School project, team of 3
Engine: Unreal Engine 5

The Last Mage is a Third-Person Roguelite where the player takes on the role of a mage fighting through waves of enemies and powerful Bosses. The goal is simple : survive, grow stronger, and push further, all while building a playstyle shaped by Modifiers that can completely change the way you play.

My Contributions:

Designed the 3Cs (Character, Controls, Camera) to ensure smooth handling and responsive Gameplay.
Built the Enemy and Boss systems, movement, player detection and attacks. To create varied encounters that gradually ramp up in difficulty.
Developed a Save System and a Stat System to track and persist the player's progression across sessions.
Designed the Modifier system, which alters the player's Stats and changes how certain Spells behave, allowing for a wide variety of Builds.

Design Process

The idea from the start was to build a complete, fully playable game. Something that feels polished and intentional from the very first run. A big focus was put on Replayability : thanks to the Modifiers, each Run plays out differently from the last, making sure the player always has new combinations and situations to discover.

We built the core Game Loop around three pillars :

Dynamic Combat,
Exploration,
Character customization through Modifiers.

Copie de Keep Charging Gameplay Loop (1).png

The game follows a progressive Roguelite structure : the player doesn't start from scratch between each zone. When a Boss is defeated, the upgrades earned are kept as a reward. This means every Boss you take down makes you stronger and opens the door to harder zones. The enemies scaling up makes sure the challenge never really goes away.

To make sure we were all on the same page from the start, we wrote a Game Design Document (GDD) that served as our main reference throughout the project. Here are a few pages from it :

Tasks were then divided based on each team member's strengths, and we held regular check-ins to keep things moving and make sure everyone stayed aligned throughout the project.

The 3Cs

A Third-Person Camera was chosen to give the player a better view of their surroundings and the enemies around them. The Camera is also slightly offset to the side, allowing for more precise aiming with projectiles while keeping the battlefield easy to read.

To support a fluid and dynamic Gameplay, we designed a Control system focused on mobility and responsiveness. The player has several movement options at their disposal :

A Dash to quickly dodge enemy attacks and reposition during combat,
A Jump to add verticality to movement and reach certain areas,
A Teleportation ability that instantly moves the character to a Teleportation Pad placed in the level.

These mechanics were designed to give the player a high degree of freedom, letting them react quickly to any situation.

The character has three ways to attack :

The main attack method relies on Elemental Projectiles, with 4 Spells available, each with a Critical Hit chance that triggers a unique effect :

Fire : On a Critical Hit, the enemy is set on fire, taking damage over time.
Water : On a Critical Hit, the enemy is Slowed, reducing their movement speed.
Earth : On a Critical Hit, the enemy is Rooted for a short duration, preventing them from moving entirely.
Wind : On a Critical Hit, the enemy is knocked back, sending them flying away from the player.

On top of that, the character has a Melee Attack that can be used when an enemy gets too close. Beyond dealing damage, this strike also pushes the player back, letting them quickly create distance and reposition before getting overwhelmed.

Finally, the character has a Nova Attack : an AOE strike that hits all nearby enemies at once. It's especially useful when the player is surrounded, making it a go-to tool for turning the tide in tough situations.

This variety of attack options encourages the player to switch things up depending on the situation, adding a tactical layer to combat. It also ties directly into the Modifier system which can, for example, boost the Critical Hit rate of a specific Element, amplify the Nova's effects, or change the way certain Spells behave.

Enemies & Bosses

The Enemy system is built around several distinct AI types, designed to vary combat situations and constantly push the player to adapt their approach.

Regular Enemies :

The Lizard Warrior : An aggressive Melee enemy that charges straight at the player to attack up close.
The Skeleton Sorcerer : A ranged Enemy that harasses the player by casting Spells, constantly forcing them to reposition.
The Explosive Plant : A small plant that silently creeps toward the player before exploding once it gets close enough, requiring constant awareness.
The Golem : A slow but dangerous Enemy that tries to crush the player by jumping on them. What it lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in raw power.

Each of these Enemies also has an Elite version : bigger, tougher, and hitting harder. They represent a serious threat on the battlefield and force the player to rethink their priorities.

Bosses :

At the end of each level, the player faces a Boss that is a challenge in its own right. With complex Attack Patterns and multiple phases, they represent major difficulty spikes that reward players who have truly mastered the Gameplay :

The Ruins Warrior : A powerful Melee Boss encountered at the end of his level, putting the player's mobility and repositioning skills to the test.

The Ruins Phantom : A more elusive Boss encountered at the end of his own level, whose fighting style contrasts sharply with the Warrior's and forces the player to completely rethink their approach.

This system was designed so that every encounter feels like more than just an obstacle. It's a tactical challenge that pushes the player to make full use of their abilities and Modifiers.

Modifiers

Modifiers are at the heart of The Last Mage's identity and are the main driver of the game's Replayability. They come in two distinct categories :

Grimoires directly affect the player's Stats :

Health : Increases the character's maximum Health Points.
Damage : Boosts the player's attack power.
Mana : Increases the Mana pool available for casting Spells.
Attack Speed : Allows the player to attack faster.
Defense : Reduces the damage taken from enemies.

Medallions modify the behavior of Projectiles and the Nova, drastically changing the way the player attacks :

Basic Projectile : Travels in a straight line toward a target and deals damage on impact.
Piercing Projectile : Passes through enemies on its path, hitting multiple targets in a single shot.
Homing Projectile : Automatically tracks a targeted enemy. It deals less damage, but guarantees a hit even on moving targets.
Shockwave : On impact, creates a damage zone that hits all nearby enemies at once.
Frag Bomb : On explosion, spawns several smaller bombs around the impact point, which then explode in turn and deal additional damage in the area.

Combining a Grimoire and a Medallion can completely change the way a Run plays out, encouraging experimentation and making sure every session brings new possibilities to explore.

All of these Modifiers are organized through Data Assets, which keeps the data clean and structured, and makes it much easier to add new Modifiers or tweak existing values during balancing.

Systems

Stat System

All Stats, for both the player and the enemies, such as Health Points, Power, Defense, Mana, Attack Speed, and more, are managed through a centralized and flexible system, designed to interact directly with the Modifiers.

Every value can be dynamically modified based on the Grimoires and Medallions collected throughout the Run.

Enemy Scaling System

Each Enemy has its own Data Asset that holds all of its Stats.

Among these, a key Stat called "Enemy level" defines the enemy's power level.

This Level directly influences certain values like Health Points, Attack Power, and Defense, allowing enemies to have different power levels depending on the map they appear in.

Closing Words

The Last Mage was an ambitious and rewarding project, built over four months. It pushed me to deepen my understanding of complex, interconnected game systems. From the 3Cs to the Modifiers, through the Save System and Enemy design.

One of the hardest challenges we faced was Balancing. In a Roguelite, every new element added can potentially break something else. With so many Spells, Modifiers, and possible combinations, you constantly have to think ahead and anticipate how each addition might affect everything already in place. It's a discipline that requires ongoing attention throughout the entire development process.

The other big lesson this project reinforced for me is how critical Playtesting is. In a game with this many Spell and Modifier combinations, regularly testing every possible interaction is essential to make sure everything works as intended. That's especially true in a Roguelite, where the variety is the whole point.

I'm proud of what we built, and The Last Mage is a project I'll look back on as a key step in my growth as a Game Designer.

Thanks for taking the time to read !