"Will you follow me tonight to break their spine, and seize what is rightfully ours?"
The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story is an action-RPG set in the League of Legends universe, developed by Digital Sun of Moonlighter fame and published by Riot Games and their Riot Forge division.
You play as League's resident magical rebel, Sylas, who has broken free of the oppressive Mageseekers and now sets out to bring down the kingdom of Demacia's tyrannical government.
Inspired by the character's gameplay from his game of origin, you engage in fast-paced melee combat with Sylas and can use his Power Copying abilities to dish out magical spells from all over your environment. Completing missions bolsters the size of your rebellion, bringing together fellow mages to stop the Mageseekers for good.
A prequel webcomic was also made by Riot Forge, called Katarina.
Tropes in this game include:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Sylas has nothing but pity for Wisteria, a magically empowered child who was indoctrinated by the Mageseekers until she was completely Beyond Redemption. Sylas even acknowledges that it's like looking at a reflection of himself. As Wisteria dies, Sylas promises to look after and protect Rayne in her place, which seems to grant her some measure of peace in her final moments.
- And the Adventure Continues: The game ends with the orders against mages being repealed by a post-Heel–Face Turn Jarvan IV, but Sylas decides he must continue the fight against Demacia to ensure his people's safety since he knows freedom won't be that easy. Kara states that she knows of potential allies to the north, and Sylas decides it's time to rebuild and muster a force against Demacia...note
- Big Bad: Lord Eldred Crownguard leads the Mageseekers, and is therefore the primary target of Sylas and the rebels. He retains this position even after he's killed by Sylas in the game's Wham Episode and Wisteria becomes the final villain, as he's responsible for shaping her into the monster she ended up becoming.
- Big Damn Heroes: During the final battle, Garen, Jarvan and Shyvana all show up to help Sylas and Lux fight off Wisteria's forces.
- Boomerang Bigot: A good amount of Mageseekers are mages themselves. Some do it because they feel they have no other choice or are using it as a way to power, but many genuinely believe magic is evil and that petricite poisoning is the only way to handle their darkness. This includes Final Boss Wisteria, who tries to enact a full-scale extermination of all mages out of self-hatred.
- Co-Dragons: Hesbeth and Wisteria to Lord Eldred. The former is the chief scientist of the Mageseekers, while the latter is their strongest enforcer.
- Cutscene Boss: Despite being built up as the Big Bad by this point, Eldred is ultimately killed in a cutscene.
- Darkest Hour: After the attack on the Demacian capital, Sylas finds himself discovering that Vengeance Feels Empty when it comes at the cost of Leilani, not to mention all the other lives lost. The rebellion starts falling apart, rejecting Sylas as a leader. The only thing that can get the rebellion out of this despair is Morgana contacting Sylas and finally giving him the ability to show Demacia the truth.
- Double-Meaning Title: The Mageseeker refers to both the villainous Mageseeker order (Demacia's resident anti-mage police and persecutors) and Sylas himself (who spends much of the game seeking and liberating mages under the former's oppression).
- Dual Boss: Jarvan IV and Shyvana are fought as a duo.
- Dragon Their Feet: Wisteria assumes leadership of the Mageseekers and starts brutally cracking down on mages after Sylas kills Lord Eldred.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: There are six main elements of magic divided into three pairs (Fire and Ice, Air and Nature, Storm and Mystic). Enemies wielding an element of magic take extra damage from their opposing element and reduced damage from their own. Invoked by the developers in that enemies wielding opposing elements are often grouped together so that Sylas can steal one enemy's ability to use on the other.
- Elopement: Discussed; Shyvana tries to convince Jarvan to run away with her to the mountains and abandon Demacia. While he rejects the offer, he's obviously tempted by it.
- Enemy Mine:
- When Sylas enters Lux's camp, it's attacked by a massive monster. Lux and Sylas have to show their surprisingly good teamwork to fight it off and defend the mages.
- At the end of the game, Sylas allies with Lux and later Garen and Jarvan IV because they all share the agenda of defending mages.
- Even Evil Has Standards: One lore document written by a Mageseeker is him questioning why he has to arrest a bunch of elderly mages who can only use harmless plant magic. Another lore document says he was imprisoned for it.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: Fire, Ice, and Storm are three of the six elements of magic in the game. Fire and Ice oppose each other, while Storm is opposed by Mystic.
- Foreshadowing:
- When Sylas first meets Morgana, she tells him off for his selfishness and single-minded vengeful agenda. Exactly those two traits are what leads to Sylas plunging the rebels into a poorly-planned assault on the Demacian capital, which works out great for Sylas (Who gets to kill Eldred and gets opportunities to kill both his other archenemies, Jarvan IV and Garen) but ends up leading to Leilani's death and the rebellion nearly falling apart, leading Sylas right back to Morgana.
- Early on, when infiltrating one of Hesbeth's labs Sylas finds one of Morgana's feathers which allows him to develop Soul Shackle and proves that the Veiled Lady is real. Later in the game, it's revealed that Hesbeth made his experiments work when Wisteria, after the experiments done on her, starts channeling the power of Kayle.
- Guilt-Induced Nightmare: Rayne's nightmares against Sylas are all people whose lives were (at least from Sylas's point of view) negatively affected by him: the little girl he accidentally killed when he tried to protect her; Lux, who was forced to leave her entire life after her powers were exposed when he escaped his execution, and Leilani, who sacrificed her life for the rebellion.
- Heel–Face Turn: By the end of the game, Jarvan IV has realized he's too caught up in revenge and chooses to end the mage persecution once and for all, even personally abolishing the Mageseekers. Meanwhile, while never a villain, Garen finally openly sides with mages.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: The first fight with Garen has Sylas unable to make any decent damage on his opponent, since he's still injured from his escape. Eventually Killain intervenes and allows Sylas to escape.
- Internal Reveal: The Demacian champions finally learn the truth behind Jarvan III's assassination, namely that it was Katarina, not Sylas, who killed him.
- Interquel: The game's placement in the timeline isn't immediately obvious, but several context clues near the endgame indicate that it takes place before the short story "The Shackles of Belief". Evidently, Jarvan IV abolishing the Mageseekers and giving Demacian mages their freedom and peace wasn't enough for Sylas, seeking power and allyship in The Freljord to aid him in his continued goal of destroying the Demacian crown once and for all.
- Meaningful Echo: When Wisteria was first recruited by Eldred, he asked if she trusts him. When she would eventually find and recruit Rayne, she asked the young girl if she trust her.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: Eldred has one in his office.
- Optional Boss: Both side quests chains have these:
- The Secret HQ Rais: Twin version of Giant's Helms.
- Whispers in the Woods: A copy of Morganna, aka Nocturne in disguise.
- Player Headquarters: The Lost City of Zeffira acts as the base for the rebellion. As more recruits join, Sylas can further upgrade his arsenal.
- Power Copying: Sylas has the power to naturally absorb others' magic and use it himself, something that translated to his ability to steal enemy champions' ultimates in League. Mageseeker makes this a central mechanic of the gameplay, allowing Sylas to copy spells cast by enemies across the battlefield and allows for very adaptive combat.
- Redemption Quest: Upon meeting Sylas, Morgana outright tells him that he's been motivated by vengeance and that she refuses to aid the mage rebellion due to his selfishness. Despite this, Sylas spends much of the game still trying to claim vengeance on the people who hurt him with almost no regard for anyone else. After Leilani dies, however, Sylas decides it's time to shape up and get his act together.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The attack on Demacia is mostly fused by Sylas' rage after he was forced to Mercy Kill his mentor.
- Rule of Symbolism: It's very fitting that Sylas, an Anti-Hero who needs to learn to grow out of his selfishness, ends up meeting Morgana whose nature is exactly what he needs; a person who won't hesitate to cause misery to make others grow out of their flaws.
- During the final battle, Wisteria ends up channeling the powers of Kayle and Sylas uses his Power Copying abilities to channel the powers of Morgana. Given how they both carry the beliefs of the Winged Sisters', this serves as a direct mirror of how the once friends are now opposites.
- The Scapegoat: While Sylas didn't kill Jarvan III, the Mageseekers decide to spread word he did to fuel the fire against the criminal.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Shyvana decides Jarvan has gone too far in the mage persecution and she has to leave. This finally prompts Jarvan to have a Heel Realization and decide to revoke the Mageseekers' power.
- Status Quo Is God: Both Played Straight and Invoked. Despite Jarvan IV making a Heel–Face Turn and the end of the Mageseekers, Sylas still believes that he's doing the right thing by opposing Demacia and says that he and his fellow rebels cannot rest in overthrowing it, noting that Demacia needs a lot more than one won battle to truly change. This simultaneously puts all the characters at odds after their Enemy Mine for the final battle and sets up for Sylas' short story "The Shackles of Belief" and his continued role as an antagonist to Demacia.
- Super Mode: Unshackled Mode grants Sylas increased attack and the ability to use a special move once.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Like many other Demacian champions, Shyvana calls Jarvan IV out on the mage persecution. Unlike anyone else's callouts, her's sticks with him, prompting a Heel Realization.
- Wham Episode:
- The game serves as this for the League universe's Demacian plotline. Specifically, it recontextualizes future events by revealing that the mage persecution had already ended with Eldred dead and Jarvan IV making a Heel–Face Turn and shows that Sylas continued his quest despite that, believing that as long as Demacia continues to have kings the status quo will inevitably shift back to what it was before. This also hugely recontextualizes the soldiers standing at Lux's back in the "Warriors" short, revealing that it's not a Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! moment but them upholding Demacian policy and supporting Lux and her mages.
- The attack on Demacia's capital serves as one for the game itself. Specifically, Sylas kills Eldred alongside personally taking on and beating Garen, Jarvan IV, and Shyvana. However, the poor planning of the attack and Sylas' own recklessness and tunnel vision lead to Leilani making a Heroic Sacrifice to get everybody out alive, leading to the rebellion splitting up temporarily and Sylas being summoned by Morgana to finally learn the truth.
