Official Score
Overall - 80%
80%
Thymesia is a Soulslike that rewards aggression and precision; more methodical or sword and board players might want to look elsewhere.
About a year and a half after being announced, OverBorder Studio and Team17’s Thymesia makes its debut during a slow month. Is this Soulslike worth checking out, or should you grind out more Elden Ring? Check out our review and find out.
Thymesia Review
Thymesia starts with a brief tutorial that covers the basics. This is not a friendly world; some sort of disease runs through the land, killing animals and then people. People have also changed from men to monsters. Through Alchemy, the upper kingdom found a cure, albeit a short-lasting one. Enter the player, who is thrust into a town infested with mad creatures and beasts.
While you aren’t sure if it is the same plague or not, there are notes and lore scattered throughout that explain what happened. For example, a famous circus has come to town has caused the people to change since then. In addition, notes mention crates full of odd creatures that could be felt moving around inside. While it isn’t 100% clear what their intentions are, they are clearly responsible for this. You even fight a few of their members throughout the game.
Thymesia is a Soulslike, so you can expect punishment at nearly every turn. It is very fast-paced during combat; you don’t get new weapons or armor, but your saber swings fast and you can dodge and parry. You also have what they call a Plague Claw, which allows players to execute enemies and take their weapon powers. For example, you can steal an enemy’s spear move and use it.
While the Plague Claw lets you steal a move for one-time use, the Plague Weapons are your “special attacks.” While the saber is your main weapon, these Plague Weapons act as your backups. Spears, axes, greatswords, spells, shields, and many others can be equipped. However, they can only be used a handful of times before your stamina is out, meaning you need to use them tactically. Figuring out your play style with these might take time, but the variety should give you enough options to find what you like.
One part people may dislike is the enemy’s HP bars. The green bar needs to be broken down with your Plague Claw; not so bad against mooks, but downright irritating against bosses. Players must act quickly, enemies can recover HP if players don’t break the green bar down fast enough. Again, bad for bosses.
There are also talents at play as well. Some of them slow enemy healing, giving players more damage, more stamina, and greater recovery from attacks. It will allow you to build a little differently from other players, but you will quickly get most of the primary abilities. You get one point per level, so you can grind to get more skills if needed; the game is generous with its leveling.
Thymesia does not feature an open world, but rather an open area – a bit scaled back compared to Elden Ring. Most areas areas are small, and can be run through in about 20 minutes. You can find shortcuts and secrets, but a ton of exploration isn’t needed. After you beat a level, you can go back and do side missions for that area. These usually are slightly altered or different areas of the same map, similar to that of the Nioh series.
The dodge proves to be an issue, as it is more of a step. I usually roll to the left or right of my enemies after they swing, but that strategy does not work in Thymesia. There are I-frames, but dodging backward or sideways works much better. It took me about an hour (and the first boss) to get used to it. Note that there are frame drops and glitching enemies, but nothing game-breaking.
Thymesia is a Soulslike that rewards aggression and precision; more methodical or sword and board players might want to look elsewhere.
