I was really excited for this game, but The Thaumaturge ended up not clicking for me. A big part of it was the gameplay, which I tried to push through to try and enjoy the incredibly interesting setting, since a game set in early 20th-century Poland during the 1905 revolution is not something you come by everyday. The mythological-God collecting aspect really peaked my interest as a fan of SMT, too. That, mixed with my interest in East European history, made me get myself excited at the idea of the game being this historically-accurate Polish SMT.
It's not to say it's not like that, it did kinda live up to it. The "demons" that you gather help you fight, not unlike an SMT game, and they're also super awesome looking. I took a lot of pics lol. Running around in the real setting was cool too, especially for someone who likes the history. A video game around that kinda mix was super exciting, I thought it would make the game an instant 5/5 to me.
There was a lot I was excited about going into The Thaumaturge, so I really tried to push through the parts I didn't like, which was almost entirely the gameplay. But, it got to the point that I was dreading turning the game back on and playing through, so I ended up dropping it. The fight sequences are awful, I don't know if I was doing it wrong, but they're painfully slow and very tedious. You never get a move that lets you attack everyone at once, instead forcing you to attack one-by-one, which by itself takes a monotonously long time. There's never an attack you can do that one shots people either, and to unlock a new demon, you have to fight two groups which level out to 7-8 individual people to fight! I dunno... I really started to dread getting into fights, a pretty key part of the whole game.
The other part of the gameplay I was fine with, but fine is as far as I would go, is finding clues to continue your story. You simply right click to see what's around you to investigate, and then move to the next part in the map to continue doing the same until eventually you reach the group you need to fight. Just go from point A to point B to point C until you reach a boss fight. Rinse and repeat. The involvement of the Polish Revolution is super interesting, but another part that did bother me enough to put it in this review is when you go to do the "Urban Events", which are these very short side adventures where you experience exciting things happening in 1905 (Russian Partition) Poland. These were things like telescope viewing, cola tasting, even visiting a gentleman's club! The thing that was a bit of a bummer was that they don't show you the area, they just draw you a picture of the event. Don't get me wrong, it's a small complaint, but it bothered me, I think because I was so excited about the general-life aspect of the game. I really wanted it to go into more depth, especially in the way that only a video game can immerse you. The text boxes which just lead to drawings made me feel as if I would have been more satisfied just reading a book on the topics instead. I imagine the group had limitations because of budget and time and all that, but at a certain point I wonder if it was even necessary to keep the "Urban Events" in the game.
There are missions that do focus on these aspects in more depth (you even go to an actual brothel), but being in more depth = more fight sequences, and you know how I feel about those!! The final straw that broke the camels back for me was when the dialogue started adding in modern gaming references, such as saying "I gotta catch them all!" into the dialogue - it was super awkward, I really didn't like it. All of this put together had me realize I would much happier if I stopped the game where I was at.
I would say you should check out this game if you're interested in the history, but I can imagine you might just get more from reading a history book at a certain point, as I didn't feel any of the pluses that gaming gives over a book. The gameplay just hit all my pet-peeves and then some, even with my gorgeous demons by my side. I unfortunately couldn't bring myself to finish it because of that, but maybe you might enjoy The Thaumaturge differently.
2/5
It's not to say it's not like that, it did kinda live up to it. The "demons" that you gather help you fight, not unlike an SMT game, and they're also super awesome looking. I took a lot of pics lol. Running around in the real setting was cool too, especially for someone who likes the history. A video game around that kinda mix was super exciting, I thought it would make the game an instant 5/5 to me.
There was a lot I was excited about going into The Thaumaturge, so I really tried to push through the parts I didn't like, which was almost entirely the gameplay. But, it got to the point that I was dreading turning the game back on and playing through, so I ended up dropping it. The fight sequences are awful, I don't know if I was doing it wrong, but they're painfully slow and very tedious. You never get a move that lets you attack everyone at once, instead forcing you to attack one-by-one, which by itself takes a monotonously long time. There's never an attack you can do that one shots people either, and to unlock a new demon, you have to fight two groups which level out to 7-8 individual people to fight! I dunno... I really started to dread getting into fights, a pretty key part of the whole game.
The other part of the gameplay I was fine with, but fine is as far as I would go, is finding clues to continue your story. You simply right click to see what's around you to investigate, and then move to the next part in the map to continue doing the same until eventually you reach the group you need to fight. Just go from point A to point B to point C until you reach a boss fight. Rinse and repeat. The involvement of the Polish Revolution is super interesting, but another part that did bother me enough to put it in this review is when you go to do the "Urban Events", which are these very short side adventures where you experience exciting things happening in 1905 (Russian Partition) Poland. These were things like telescope viewing, cola tasting, even visiting a gentleman's club! The thing that was a bit of a bummer was that they don't show you the area, they just draw you a picture of the event. Don't get me wrong, it's a small complaint, but it bothered me, I think because I was so excited about the general-life aspect of the game. I really wanted it to go into more depth, especially in the way that only a video game can immerse you. The text boxes which just lead to drawings made me feel as if I would have been more satisfied just reading a book on the topics instead. I imagine the group had limitations because of budget and time and all that, but at a certain point I wonder if it was even necessary to keep the "Urban Events" in the game.
There are missions that do focus on these aspects in more depth (you even go to an actual brothel), but being in more depth = more fight sequences, and you know how I feel about those!! The final straw that broke the camels back for me was when the dialogue started adding in modern gaming references, such as saying "I gotta catch them all!" into the dialogue - it was super awkward, I really didn't like it. All of this put together had me realize I would much happier if I stopped the game where I was at.
I would say you should check out this game if you're interested in the history, but I can imagine you might just get more from reading a history book at a certain point, as I didn't feel any of the pluses that gaming gives over a book. The gameplay just hit all my pet-peeves and then some, even with my gorgeous demons by my side. I unfortunately couldn't bring myself to finish it because of that, but maybe you might enjoy The Thaumaturge differently.
2/5
LordDarias
9 days ago