Thymesia, the tried of a soulslike that has something interesting to say
Thymesia
Coming directly from Taiwan, on August 9th we will have the opportunity to get our hands on the full version of Thymesia, a new action role-playing game that, like everyone else, takes great inspiration from the world of souls-like.By now, talking about games inspired by Miyazaki's works no longer has great effect, given that even the most unlikely games belonging to genres with decades behind them are in one way or another linked to the souls (who said Hollow Knight?).
With Thymesia OverBorder Studio really tries to be a souls-like with its own style, they focus on precise ideas and a very different combat system from Dark Souls.
Thanks to a demo released on Steam these days, we had the opportunity to test the fundamental ideas of the developers: here is our tried-and-true Thymesia.
Alchemy and disease
Corvus, protagonist of Thymesia Let's start from the context . Thymesia takes us to a world with a gothic fantasy flavor, in a realm that has gained great power over time thanks to its alchemical knowledge. While the neighbors perished amid epidemics and contagions, in the regions we are going to explore alchemy has made it possible to turn every disease into a cure.This power, however, probably has a dark side, since finally also a disease falls upon this kingdom that has no mercy for anyone. Our protagonist, Corvus, has the answer to the problem, but it is lost in his memories, now inaccessible for a reason that we suppose will be far more interesting than a banal amnesia. In search of answers, he sets out on a journey that will only raise new questions.
Since the beginning of our test we are offered - in the form of classic white will-o'-the-wisps in souls style - various objects with which to interact, namely messages, diaries, posters and so on, whose purpose is to give us an idea of what's going on. We do not know if Thymesia will focus above all on a cryptic souls-style plot or if it will have a clearer and more linear advancement, but for sure the team's goal is to give the player a lot of little information about what is happening in the game world, which could help. to characterize the setting.
We specify that the demo is very short and allows us to see just a few alleys of a dirty and disbanded town, so it is difficult for now to judge the quality of the setting. We can say, however, that on a technical level we do not believe we will have to expect too much from Thymesia, given that the level of detail is not very high. It will be more important to understand if in the final version the game will be stable: in the demo the frame rate was fluctuating. This is a serious problem in an action game.
Saber, dagger and claws
Thymesia is fought with a saber The Thymesia demo, however, is not intended to let us explore the storyline or the game world. The goal is to make us understand what the core of the gameplay is, ie the combat system.Corvus has a saber, with which he can perform a simple three-hit combo. He can use a dagger to make a parry, throw a feather to block enemy special attacks (marked with a dedicated color) and use claws to transform wounds into real damage.
Thymesia offers a particular mechanic . Hitting enemies has two effects: it deals a small final damage to the enemy and applies a temporary wound. If we attack an enemy and inflict wounds on them but then stop attacking, they heal within a matter of seconds. To turn wounds into ultimate damage, you have to keep attacking with the saber, but even better you need to use claws, which transform a large part of the wounds into real damage.
This mechanic has a very important effect on combat : You have to maintain a high attack rate and, as seen in the demo, hitting and then retreating rarely works. Enemies inflict considerable damage and already in the test there are very resistant mini-bosses, which must be pressed and eliminated quickly, otherwise we will be crushed by their power.
This system also means that probably in the Most of the game we will find ourselves clashing against very few enemies at a time, because having too many opponents in front of you means risking never being able to focus on just one long enough to take it down.
In Thymesia it is possible to steal weapons of enemies to use them On average, the impression is that parries and feathers to block special hits (and inflict serious wounds) will be quite important for battles. The fact that the dodge has a considerable recovery time also makes the player not want to avoid all the shots with the classic souls "panic rolls", as most of the time you find yourself unable to make a sprint. just when an opponent's hit is about to arrive.
The impression is that Thymesia will be a much more technical and difficult game than the average souls. We'll see in the review if that's the case, but we don't think this is a game for those who</a> want to have an easy life.
Finally, Corvus also has another capability. Through a charged claw strike he can copy the opponent's weapon and gain access to a disposable special strike. In a fight with a very powerful knight (basically a miniboss considering how easy it is to die), we could steal his greatsword to attack him and throw him into the air. In another case, we could steal an ax for a quick, powerful jump shot. These moves could greatly enhance the gameplay, especially if it is possible to use them effectively against bosses.
Speaking of bosses, there is one in the demo, but it is clearly too powerful an enemy for the character level one (you cannot level up, but there should be skill trees). In fact, once defeated, the demo ends automatically, a clear symptom of the developers' confidence in our abilities.
The Thymesia demo is extremely short and only serves to understand the fundamentals of the gameplay. Inspired by the souls, OverBorder Studio's game seeks and, as far as we've seen so far, manages to propose its own vision of the genre, with a combat system based on rhythm and aggression. The impression is that it is a difficult game, which will be good or bad depending on the individual player. The doubts for the moment are mostly technical, given that the game struggles to maintain a stable frame rate and visually it is not the top of the range. However, there is time before the release, so for a true judgment we refer you to August 2022.
