The Thaumaturge Reviews

Good game, refreshing to see a setting in an oft overlooked place and time. Thaumaturgy is a really interesting concept and the choices and their implications are far reaching, exactly as they promise to be. They're the real reason I finished this game because they REALLY need to not skimp on voice acting direction. It's often jilted and tonally inconsistent and sometimes just plain mispronounced. Genuinely helped to play the game with the voice volume off. Unfortunately, the subtitles are not always a match for the actual spoken word, which is awful from an accessibility standpoint in addition to the grating VA's mentioned above.

I started the game out of curiosity and got hooked for longer. What drew me in was the atmosphere, which poured out of the trailer, along with the recommendations on Steam. I wasn’t disappointed. The time period, setting, and the game world all maintain excellent consistency. What I experienced could definitely be called an inspiring story about a very difficult period in Polish history, seamlessly interwoven with elements of magic and mysticism. The greatest treasure of this game lies in its dialogues and the descriptions of items scattered throughout the world. As for the gameplay aspects—especially combat—it started to feel tedious over time, and I found that it actually got in the way of fully immersing myself in the world. The closest comparison I can think of for the combat system would be a JRPG, where initiative plays a significant role in the flow of battle. I highly recommend this journey and encourage players to dive deeper into the game’s world.

The lore, setting, vibes, and characters are very well done. The combat can get a little repetitive but it tried something new/interesting so points for that. This game also gives you a wide dearth of choices and rewards/punishes you for them accordingly. A really good RPG.

I really wanted to like this one. At first, everything seemed fine. The game is set in the early 1900s, during the Tsarist era of Russia, before the USSR. The music is solid it does a great job of pulling you into this immersive, bleak world. The environments are detailed, capturing the era and the social struggles of the time. You can feel the emotions the developers wanted to convey, and that deserves some credit. But then... the game falls short in so many basic ways. The graphics feel outdated, like something from 2008. Some textures are just awful, low-quality meshes. Character movement is clunky and stiff, and environmental interactions are almost nonexistent you can’t touch or use anything. The streets might look good, and the atmosphere is there, but the world feels lifeless. Barely anyone talks, you can’t engage with NPCs, you can’t even throw a punch. The camera is locked, which makes the whole experience even more restrictive. Hell, even Commandos from 1998 let you rotate the camera, this doesn't. And the little details? Forget about them no footprints in the mud, no wind, no day-night cycle. It all adds up to a world that looks immersive at first glance but quickly falls apart. Missions are dull. It feels like every character in the main story just travels around dropping letters that conveniently lead you to conclusions. Combat is repetitive and way too easy, despite some attempts at innovation. Worse, every fight has the exact same music. The Salutor encounters? They're all the same: Find clues → reach a conclusion → fight the Salutor and his minions → get confused → visit Rasputin → tame the Salutor → rinse and repeat. The skill tree is terrible and clunky, with a bad system for attaching attributes to skills. It feels uninspired and just plain ugly. In the end, this game is a waste of potential. The concept is great, and it could have been something special… but it just isn’t. And it's a Shame.

excellent narrative where choices matter. the combat system takes a little getting used to, but it's quite interesting and unique. High replay value, especially from certain pivotal points. Well worth the time.

The more I think about it the more mixed my feelings get. I loved the atmosphere, the story was intriguing and I appreciate rpgs where the role of combat isn't a major factor. However the game felt restricted in its scope and gameplay. Finding Salutors wasn't organic, like it is shown how many there are to find and Wicktor finds them by walking in the same room with them. Midway through act 2 there stops being anything else to do and relationships I built up didn't have that much payoff. The more flaws that are collected should have more of an impact than only being stat boosts. Pride options come up in dialogue but other should as well and feeding the pride flaw should have more consequence then it takes the wheel sometimes.

God. I LOVE this game. I don't disagree that the combat is repetitive, but as far as I'm concerned Thaumaturge has SO much more to offer than fighting bad guys. It's the story, the characters, the *world*. It feels so alive, from the swell of mingled voices in the city square to the little pieces of every walk of life scattered across Warsaw, from historical cameos and political tension to the "urban secrets" that showcase the little things in life (marveling at the newest technological advancements, passing the time with the locals, making time for less pressing matters for the sake of living in the moment). The drawings are such a treat every time, I'm only sad there's not more to uncover. Don't even get me started on the Thaumaturgy itself, how it's utilized to uncover the mystery behind every story, big or small. So clever and fun, I can't get enough. This kind of game isn't for everyone, but man has it found its target audience. I typically shy away from super expansive games because I find them to be too overwhelming in scope and get intimidation paralysis. Thaumaturge marks the first time I've ever wished a game had MORE to offer, and that I wasn't nearing the end. Really! That's quite a feat. Bravo, well done, f the haters, they don't understand you but I do <3

Pretty interesting plot, beautiful Warsaw, a bit repetitive combat. Overall decent experience, but some of the side content ("activities") can be really dull.

I really struggled to cross the finish line on this game. There are things I love, and things I don't. Do not take this review as an out-and-out rejection of it. If there was a "recommend under specific circumstances", I'd choose that. As it stands, I imagine more possible customers will leave dissatisfied than satisfied, which is a shame, as with a bit more polish and better design The Thaumaturge could've been an RPG I play every year. Conceptually, this game should be a slam-dunk. It's about an early 20th century wizard solving mysteries in Poland before the fall of the Romanovs. The design team, Fool's Theory, will be working on the Witcher remake, and Witcher vibes are pretty strong here. Technically speaking, the detective parts of the Witcher and its sober grounded slavic drama is what makes that game series so beloved, so producing a condensed version of that formula that focuses on quests and dialogue is very clever and forward thinking. But Fool's Theory, true to their name, fumble the ball in a few areas. The biggest problem is the game is terribly optimized. This is to be expected of a AA title I suppose, but it's shocking how much the game struggles to not leak memory. From afar, the levels look very nice, particularly the mud, water reflections, and clothing textures, but hair and faces are very poorly done. Some characters have wide disturbing mouths, particularly the protagonist when he smiles. The lighting also fights against the character models in certain places. The game is very muddy and simple, despite how taxing it can be on your system. Next is the story which feels like it moves at lightspeed but is slow as molasses at the same time. I'm somewhat surprised I beat it in 32 hours. Mechanically, the story plays like your standard Witcher game. You're presented with a number of side-quests that each toe the line between the natural and supernatural, where the world of man and spirits blurs, all pivoting around a central storyline the consequences of which don't fully reveal themselves until much later. Perhaps it's the localization, but it doesn't all flow together neatly. Characters all deliver sobering and sarcastic lines, which feels true to the source, but not every joke comes across. In some instances it's clear the developers wrote a cultural joke that the translation team didn't even bother to translate. For a game that's mostly about dialogue choices, it's very hard to speak with intention when those intentions aren't always clear. Next, the actual gameplay mechanics are frustratingly stiff and shallow. Every area presents you with a number of "clues" you can unveil with your witcher-sight button. Story progression is gated by finding a certain number of clues until you unveil a deduction, after which you can talk to a sign-posted NPC and open a dialogue that moves the story forward. You are also limited by your salutors, the "spirits" that the main character collects like Pokemon. On more than one occasion I encountered quests I couldn't complete because I needed a certain salutor at a certain level. Oh, also side quests are limited by the act you're in, and some can be missed entirely. If you don't play with a guide, it's very possible that you'll soft-lock your way out of certain storylines, and not for trying. Combat also is interesting, on paper, but vaguely flat. It runs on a Persona-style turn-based combat system with all sorts of stacking debuffs and buffs that don't work well together and don't really matter. The key to victory should be using the right salutor on the right target, but again, if you don't happen to have the right salutor you can still just faceroll enemies away. The long attack animations that play over and over again also drags the gameplay to a crawl. On top of it all everyone in Warsaw is weirdly keen to kick your ass in an early 90s video game sort of way that doesn't always make sense. It was so hard for me to finish the game because I dreaded getting into another alleyway fight when all I want to do is buy a box of goddamn donuts. The voice actors are a mixed bag of average, and no one can decide what sort of accent, if any, the characters should have. You will hear british, french, american, russian, and hispanic accents thrown in haphazardly, and they will all slur pronunciations of Polish nouns full of chaotic consonants. It's bad, but the entertaining kind. So I don't count that as a flaw. The music, is pretty good actually. There aren't many tracks, but they do the job well. The last thing I can say, and the last good thing, is that the monster designs are very interesting and unique. This is going for Witcher vibes, so expect a veritable grab-bag of Eurasian beasties you can corral into your roster. --- Look, if the game is on sale, I recommend a buy. If Fool's Theory puts out another game (not necessarily the Witcher remake), I'd give it a look. Even if it's only a demo or trial run.

Great atmosphere. I loved it from the beginning. Whole game (except prologue) takes place in 1905 Warsaw under occupation of Russians. Poland did not existed during this time period. Mechanics are pretty simple - you look for clues using your powers. Talk a lot. Many of dialogue options have some consequences. Some quick, some will kick you much later. Turn based battles are satisfying. You can play a lot with your build. Changing abilities is free and available before each fight. If you're looking for a lot of action - skip this one. If you're looking for captivating plot, credible characters, and atmospheric world - jackpot!