There are few things in gaming as satisfying as a good spellcasting system. There are plenty of things that contribute to one becoming one of the best spellcasting systems in gaming, so we’ve tried to reflect that in our list by choosing from all over the place to make sure the variety is good.
At their core though, each of these systems is fun, which has to be one of the best things any system in any game can be. They’ll challenge you to think outside of the box a little bit, and they all encourage experimentation and often multiple playthroughs to see just how much you can squeeze out of the magic from that world.
The Best Spellcasting Systems In Gaming
Magic is, and should always be, magical. It should be an ethereal thing that makes no sense and defies all logic. That doesn’t really work in games though, because they have to have logic and rules to be any good. So, while these systems are all rigid in some way, we also think they’re the best ones out there because of how you cast spells, the volume of spells, or the creativity they inspire.
Blade and Sorcery
Virtual reality is replete with cool spellcasting systems, but Blade and Sorcery just takes the top spot for us because of how visceral it is, and how it’s evolved over time. You only have a few elements to choose from, but you can wield them as damaging spells on their own, or enchant your weapons with them before turning your blades into spinning death scythes you control telekinetically.
The best of all of them though is the gravity spell. This basically allows you to gain mastery over the force and pick up any enemies that face you however you like. Whether you’re yeeting a soldier over a cliff, or just dangling them upside down as you ransack their castle, it’s always a joy to use. Blade and Sorcery doesn’t bring out the best in any of us though, so keep that in mind.
Dragon’s Dogma
Dragon’s Dogma never misses. Despite being 12 years old, it’s still got one of the coolest selection of magic in gaming. The reason for this is twofold. For starters, you have to stand there and charge spells, with more powerful spells taking longer to charge. The overpowered nature of spellcasting should come at a cost, and time is a great one to leverage against players.
The second reason it’s so good is that lots of classes have access to it. While you do have mages that can summon a tornado or call down meteors, you also have archers that exclusively fire magical homing arrows, and knights that can create an orb of energy to hit that shoots out projectiles. All hail Dragon’s Dogma.
Magicka 2
Magicka 2, and its predecessor Magicka, are pure fun. These games have you journeying through levels alone or with friends and picking different elemental skills in different orders to cast an ungodly number of different spells.
Plus, you can purposefully crash different spells against each other in multiplayer to make massive explosions, or just completely kill off your own team. It’s just fun to experiment with, and if you’ve never tried it, it’s usually quite cheap to pick up, so get on it.
Elden Ring
Casting spells in Elden Ring isn’t exactly inventive, and we’re never going to argue otherwise. Sure, needing a different catalyst for different schools of spells is cool and all, but the thing that makes Elden Ring such an excellent game for spellcasting is the sheer variety.
Elden Ring has 171 spells and incantations to find, try out, and mess around with. That is an absurd number, and while not all of them are winners, the joy of Elden Ring, and FromSoftware games in general, is that if you’re committed, you can absolutely finish the game’s hardest challenges using nearly all of them if you want to.
Lost Magic
If you thought Dragon’s Dogma would be the oldest game on this list, then you’re a fool. Lost Magic is a Nintendo DS game from way back in 2006, that had you playing as a little dude just trying to save the world, or something.
Look, the story doesn’t stick with you, but the spellcasting did. To cast spells in Lost Magic you use the DS stylus to draw different runes, and then voila. There was something so incredibly awesome about the input that we still think about it sometimes now, 17 years later. It’s not an amazing game, but it’s got a very cool spellcasting system.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Larian Studios also never miss. Well, at least not since the original Divinity: Original Sin. Divinity: Original Sin 2 adds more spells to the already mighty spellcasting system of the first game, and it gets truly wild.
The systems here are so good because they all interact with each other so well. You can cast a rain spell, then turn all of the water on the floor into poison before setting fire to it and causing a massive explosion. Or you can electrify the water to stun enemies in it. Or you can freeze the water to make everyone fall on their arses. It’s just incredible at all times.
Noita
Noita is a small indie game that has you playing as a witch and trying to survive through a truly gruelling roguelike. It’s genuinely brutal, and it also has a spell system that’s far closer to coding than it is to memorising words and wanging a wand about.
Let’s say you’ve got a fireball spell; that’s pretty cool. Well, what if you put it on a wand with an alteration that makes it fire in three different directions, before following it up with a buzzsaw that bounces around, and then forks again into even more projectiles? If that sounds absurd, well that’s just the beginning of things in Noita. The difficulty isn’t for everyone, but the spell system is sublime.
