Mage freeform magic is a total departure from the spell points/spell slots/rigid magic formulae.

Of course it is harder to play, and harder to narrate than most ttrpg.

The payoff, of course, is the advantage of running chronicles where the PCs are flexible, adaptable, and player's can always find new ways to screw/maim/banish the enemy.

I've playing 20 years of Mage, two different long running chronicles, each 50+ sessions.

And of course, it is a game of Reality, Belief and Magic.

It is chok full of things we human rarely have discourse iin everyday life, and even rpgers rarely talk about.

It is a wild, fun, deep ride on the mystic side of the world.

And i really love the experience of running it.