Demon - alike creatures , unforgettable characters , and a mesmerize account . ascertain out our review of The Thaumaturge .
If I have to be completely true with you , while I ’m a big buff of RPGs in general , I oftentimes miss the opportunity to spend time with standalone and new information processing in favour of heavy and well - establish franchises .
Perhaps that “ track record ” is what made me wonder if I was going to feel 1905 Warsaw entertaining . Moreover , I ’m anaction RPG man , which place me on the fence when approach a number - based use - playing game .
However , if there is something that moves me and appreciate from secret plan developer is the care to item and passion they can invest in a game ’s story . For me , an draw a bead on game writer , having a cohesive , engaging , and compelling narrative is what have or breaks a plot . I ’m happy to say that Fool ’s Theory and 11 bite Studios exceeded my expectations .
A magician is a worker of miracle , a magician , a cryptical entity that bring joyousness and even bedlam to the masses . This plot is a sorcerer all in itself , and its miracle is how well it is build and the fact that it made me love go - base combat like no other biz has ever done that before . Here is my review of The Thaumaturge .
More than just a city
With a setting as interesting as Warsaw during the starting line of the 20thcentury , the developer were up to a very hard yet exciting task . As they have express in their promotional material , 1905 Warsaw was a major setting for cultural variety and diversity , so craft the context and the different persona designs was break to be a challenge .
as luck would have it , during my experience across the streets and districts of Warsaw ( both the rich and poor 1 ) I was capable to regain myself engross in both the design of the building and how every character was designed .
Personally , each lineament model helped to impart not only their personality but also their ground and social position . Members of the eminent gild fag clothes as showy as they can get . The goons of the streets of Warsaw are dressed in ragged apparel and several blood stains adorning their shirts . All this creates a sense of position .
Image: Fool’s Theory
The intention of our protagonist , Wiktor Szulski , gave the magician vibes from the very first moment he appeared on the screenland – despite the carmine and almost zombie - like eyes and face he was sporting at the moment .
The art of the supernatural
However , if I had to take something that was as eye candy as it can get , then I have to go with the Salutors ’s – the demon - corresponding entities that Wiktor command to crusade and influence people – design . Man do they look both terrifying and beautiful at the same sentence . I stand for , when I first started the game , I reckon Upyr – the very first Salutor in your assembling – was already a decently designed animate being .
Once I go to increase my accumulation of Salutors , my mind was completely blow not only by how interesting and how they present the same diversity that the devs prove to convey , but how menacing and vivid their vivification became once I try out them during combat .
The only point of contention I have is the music . I enjoyed interact with phonograph record players to collect music from the likes of Chopin , but I was particularly distracted by the combat music loop-the-loop . It falls into the cliché and it made me feel out of the context they have fought so much to make . The loop was very obtrusive — it stopped and then started back again , and with fights extending for quite a minute , I was starting to experience like someone was hypnotize me . Maybe I ’m a nit - chooser , but I ’m also a instrumentalist and composer , so I believe they could have execute much more .
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Overall , the secret plan looks and sound great . I do have to target out that there were some minor instances of artefact popping on the screen as well as some texture issues – for example , a cleaning woman ’s clothes could go through her pelt and evaporate . It did n’t deflower my experience , but I would have appreciate some more burnish in that regard .
Exploring the world, discovering plots
search the city of Warsaw and its many districts was a smashing experience for my completionist nature . Each eccentric you encounter , whether you could interact with them or not , always had something to say whenever you passed by them and made the exploration aspect of this biz quite a treat . While you may use your thaumaturgy powers to locate the exact itinerary you will have to walk to get to your destination , diverting from it will be rewarding as well .
It is in that diversion that you will be able-bodied to interact with object left by characters that Wiktor will be able to interact with . That way , he will be able to find a certain fictitious character ’s trace and interlink several clues that will lead him to a conclusion . Whether this character has its bridge player stained with blood or you discover that sure someone had a passionate social function with one of Warsaw ’s crème de la crème , this tec - similar scheme made me come in love with traditional knowledge once again .
With that being said , and while you may certainly explore a mass of situation and discover objective , in - game quests are particularly linear alternatively of open - ended . Now , there is nothing wrong with linearity in games , but I found myself following my Thaumaturge senses like a compass and receive the necessary item to unlock a dialogue choice to finish the pursuit in just a few seconds . The ones looking for the nakedness of many other RPGs will discover this repetitious after some hours . On the other script , those who are a bit shopworn of the open - world formula will find this refreshing , so it ’s a matter of perspective .
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Strategy favors the bold
Now , I have already express my “ not - devotee ” position for turn - base combat in function - recreate game and how this game changed my perception of them . Well , this is how I came to that . Being a classical button wolf since the days of God of War , I lean to come near spell - found fighting with the most canonical crushed instinct possible : prioritise damage end product and completely disregard passive essence . Well , while this turn for the first couple of combats , it is secure to say that my nates was complain into limbo by the most basic goon – lease alone Salutor combats .
That is when I realized that strategy is everything in this plot when we draw near its armed combat aspect . For deterrent example , while punching a sheik straight in the side might voice tempting , maybe you want to impose some major psychological damage through your grimoire which will end up on that character receive passive harm through a specific numeral of turns . However , things get a unique winding when Salutors enter the equality .
Each of these will dissemble in a specific type of way . Maybe some will focus on damage output , and then others will focalize on dealing with peaceful effects . Some of their motion will end up healing you , while others will completely blot out the foe base on their HP . They even get to deactivate an enemy ’s special power – which is an prolongation of a specific Flaw , we will let the cat out of the bag about that later – and foreclose them from healing or dismantling their increase defensive structure .
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I was dire that this would become repetitious . But the enemy variety and the intromission of more Salutors made the gameplay experience finger as fresh and as engaging as the very first time you perplex into a fistfight for nothing other than fistfighting itself . Not only that , but when you pull down up , you will get to empower your Thaumaturgy full stop into several thaumaturgy that descend into four categories : Heart , Mind , Deed , and Word , with each of these unlocking upgrades that will add effects to your canonical move . For good example , you may add some passive healing to your move or even advance the foe ’s impairment intake after set down a biff .
Meaningful interactions
With the biz being commercialise as taradiddle - motor , one could only reckon how the devs could convey a news report that could match what I have already aver about their combat organization , gameplay , and even their character and set design . Well , they did n’t correspond it , they exceeded it . The taradiddle of The Thaumaturge is filled with the supernatural , but also with narrative figure of speech as plebeian as family kinship – which more often than not are damp - , political conflict , and everything in between .
Each quest whether it is a main or side one , will end up branching into a complex situation such as the destruction of a child , a secret boxing biotic community , and even high - class rhetoric and drama . In my experience , no side seeking feel like a filler or a wastefulness of meter . Each of them felt rewarding and entertaining . Not only that but if you are one of those players who interact with every individual objective in the world , you will eventually draw some stopping point thanks to your supernatural police detective ability that will open up dialog options when encountering interactable characters during some quests .
Now , I did chance some case in which Wiktor ’s response – particularly when shut down interactions – did n’t make much sense and were non - referential . It fall out a distich of time where a farsighted lineage of dialogue from a fiber was answered with only a “ Goodbye ” , which is annoying if you take into account the other instances in which the dialogue feels still , articulate , and meaningful .
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Your choices matter, really
And now that I mentioned duologue options – and me being quite an expert in segue ways – every single choice you make – that is , what dialogue option you prefer or even how many conclusions will pull – will spread out up and even circumscribe how you’re able to interact with certain characters . Say that you opt to react sardonically to a comment made by one of the protagonists of a questline . When you get to interact with said character later , maybe one of the more lighthearted answers will be lock , thanks to your sarcastic ways – sounds like something I would do , honestly .
Your booster ’s Flaw is also something that will determine your interactions . A Flaw is a trait such as pridefulness – which is Wiktor ’s Flaw – that will power your interactions and even get to mobilise a Salutor that may shape you if leave behind uncontrolled . In the case of Wiktor , if you choose proud response , you will give his Flaw , which will earmark you to retain to give Flaw - like answer in the future . If you , however , decide to not be a double-dyed ego - centered saccade , then you’re able to limit yourself from some Flaw interactions down the road , preferring a more empathetic and human solution .
To add together up , the history of The Thaumaturge is a fib of heartache , sexual love , perfidy , envy , pride , etcetera . It is , therefore , an ode to human nature include its virtues and vices . While I was completely hooked by how Wiktor collected clues and how he could defeat opposition thanks to his fist , side arm , and Salutors , it was the character fundamental interaction and their humanity that made me shine in love with this game . This plot might be charged with fantasy , but it is cemented into the inexperience of human nature .
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A miracle indeed
The Thaumaturge is an example of how a story can engulf and bring up the integrality of a secret plan ’s elements . It is the Libra of a great armed combat system , a story that will take your intimation away , and art that will immerse you into a fantasy yet human world with everything that it represent .
There are some things like some of its music , texture yield , and linearity – to some extent – that can affect the player ’s experience , but when a game ’s accomplishments outshine its flaw then you have unfeignedly found a muffin . Honestly , I was n’t expecting to like this game as much as I did , and whether Wiktor put a spell on me or I naturally fall in love with it , I consider it one of the highlight of the year . And yes , I have it away it ’s only been three months since 2024 start , but I think we have a major contender for one of the best games of the year .
If you have the chance to do so , play it with an open idea , a nice amount of free time – this game is long – , and a desire to learn about the in - biz characters ’ stories . Maybe you’re able to instruct something unexampled about yourself while you are at it .
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