Hack and slash arcade games use to be one of my go-to games. Back when the tech was limited they were always some of the better games. Games like Gauntlet Legends was fun and made even more so by having friends to play with. Nine Parchments by Frozenbyte very much follows these lines.
Don't Play This Game Alone
A school of wizards has a problem. Something has opened a large hole in their tower and the nine scrolls that make up the teaching of the schools have floated out and into the world. Your job is to pick one of the students to go out and collect them. The game can be played solo but like most of these hack and slash games, you are going to want to play with more than one person.
Actually, this game is can be annoying without help. You will start out with the three spells and not all characters have a healing spell. The game plays like a twin-stick so there will be a lot of dodging and a lot of getting hit. If you die, you only get one to revive, otherwise, you are going back to the last checkpoint. If you go down with other people playing, they can revive you. On top of the health issue, the game has a paper-scissor-rock mechanic with the spells, which means you might have the wrong spells for the occasion and do minimum if not negligible spell damage. This leaves you using a clunky melee that puts you right in danger. You don't want to play alone.
Once you get a party together the game begins to shine. It's a fun hack and slash where you can combine spell stream to dull out extra damage or do spell combos to drop heavy damage on the enemy. You have to be careful though because you can play with friendly fire. There is always turning it off but there is something that makes the game better when you play this way. 
The boss fights are pretty fun and add great caps onto a game that was already well paced. The music isn't much to talk about along with a basic story. It's also short. Even though you can barrel through the game in a few hours, the collection part is what is going to take time. You can collect hats, staffs, and more characters so the replayability is pretty high. If you are like me and are more of a one and done type of player. This game might not give you the value you are looking for.
One drawback is that the game is limited by Nintendo's online system. There were constant drops of other players and one day I couldn't get online at all. I somehow forced a solo run through but it was nowhere near the experience I was having to play with others. It's really easy to create and join games when the online service is working, but you need it to be working.
It's not a very deep game and its a bit repetitive as all character basically play the same. I am sure this is a great couch co-op but if you have nobody on the couch the online play is good substitute. This is not a game for people who like to fly alone so if you don't like strangers and you don't have eager friends, don't pick it up. For those looking for a mindless hack and slash with some unique mechanics its worth a play.
TL;DR:
Nine Parchments its a pretty neat hack and slash multiplayer game. Not very long and not very great for solo play.
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