thymesia is a new entry in the Souls-like genre, where the focus is on punishing enemies, a ruthless combat system, and players knowing they’re going to die…a lot.
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We can’t ignore it, but thymesia is clearly inspired by FromSoft’s Bloodborne, and that’s certainly not a bad thing. Everything from the crazy villagers, environments to fast-paced combat seems like a love letter to FromSoft’s game. It’s hard not to look thymesia and think of transmitted by blood one way or another, and thymesia takes a lot of it with varying degrees of success.
During thymesia you’ll take the reins of Corvus, a silent protagonist who has forgotten why he is where he is, and what happened before waking up in Philosopher’s Hill, a safe space used to collect your thoughts (literally) and to recall a memory in one of the game’s three main levels.
While three levels might not seem like a lot, they are sprawling levels filled with plenty of enemies and collectibles, which act as a way to tell the game’s very minimal story and expand the lore of the universe. Once you’ve completed each level, you’ll then have the option to return to each with “sub-quests”, which are shorter optional areas filled with bosses and more of the story. However, to complete each level, you’ll first need to defeat a major boss, which is no small feat.
To do this, you will spend your time improving the character through three main stats, Vitality, Strength, and Plague. The first two are self-explanatory, but the plague is where the game differentiates itself from other Souls-like games. The kingdom of Hermes has fallen into calamity, with a plague sweeping through it, turning its previously calm, normal villagers into mad, mutated enemies intent on killing you. You wield the plague in your own way, being able to use it to damage your enemies by wielding plague weapons, ranging from axes, knives, bows and more, to using your plague claws, which will quickly become your best friend. In addition to plague weapons, you’ll also have a set of sabers which act as your fast attack weapons, and feathers, which are essentially your ranged weapon.
Thymesia – Dodge, attack, dodge again
The game puts a heavy emphasis on deflecting attacks during the tutorial, but honestly, just dodging works just as well, if not better, when fighting some of the more powerful enemies, and it will keep you on the front of the game. the scene. Choosing your times to attack is vital, but waiting too long will also end in your death.
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You’re also tasked with picking Corvus’ skills, like any good RPG would, but they’re not particularly well balanced in terms of perks or usability. I found myself upgrading saber attacks and claws, then staring blankly at other groups thinking I was losing points.
One of the main things people play Souls-like games that I haven’t talked about is the bosses in the game. Elden ring, bloodborne etc have a wide variety of different patterns, thymesia has much less to test your skills. The most frustrating boss is the first, Odur, a circus ringleader with a flair for the dramatic and an irritating, infuriating, smirking laugh. Once you beat him to your lower level and inexperienced skills, the rest of the game is a breeze.
The game isn’t huge, it takes between six and eight hours to complete and it’s much less demanding and difficult than others in the genre, but it’s a lot of fun, even if extremely light in some areas . For anyone who hasn’t played a Souls game, I would suggest starting with this Souls-like game, as it will give you an idea of what you would expect if you tried one of its ‘bigger brothers’ like Elden Ring, Bloodborne, etc., but that won’t be a challenge for those familiar with older FromSoft titles.
thymesia was played and reviewed in code provided by OverBorder Studio.
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