The Thaumaturge - Review
- Stephen Brown
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
Developer | Fool's Theory |
Publisher | 11 Bit Studios |
Platforms | PC, PS5, Xbox Series |
Release Date | 4 December 2024 |
It's no secret I'm a huge fan of turn-based games - they scratch an itch others don't. That careful planning of moves and thinking multiple turns ahead, I love the strategy. I saw The Thaumaturge advertise when it released back in 2024 and thought it looked interesting. A supernatural, AA adventure set in early 1900s Poland, featuring none other than Rasputin...Sign me up! Having recently been added to the PlayStation plus catalogue, it seemed like the perfect time to finally play it.
The game follows Wiktor Szulski, a Thaumaturge (someone who has control over entities know as Salutors and can read and manipulate the emotions of others) as he returns to Poland to uncover the secrets surrounding the death of his father. It's a very gothic horror inspired narrative and style, which is a breath of fresh air in a genre that often leans more towards fantasy.
The overall plot is decent enough, and some of the side quests are excellent. Featuring Rasputin was a great idea, as he's a character you can't quite figure out and know whether he's a true ally or not until the very end. What's better is that there are multiple endings for the game dependent on the choices you make throughout, encouraging subsequent playthroughs. The only thing I found was that there are too many subplots woven into the story that don't end up feeling fleshed out within the relatively short runtime.
The aforementioned turn-based combat is very persona-like in nature, if more condensed due to focusing on just one character. You get to choose the moves of Wiktor as well as one of the eight potential Salutor's you can unlock. Wiktor's moveset is fairly standard, while the salutors all have a different focus and style of play, such as one that is slow and deals more damage depending on the status effects an enemy is afflicted with, while another is more healing based.
Alongside the health bars, enemies and allies have focus, which when depleted, causes them to be staggered and a powerful attack can be used against them. You are constantly needing to alternate and make use of as many different Salutors as possible as enemies have dangerous traits and abilities that can only be removed when attacked by a particular type of Salutor. Overall, it's a competent system that rewards those that fully make use of everything at your disposal.
Gameplay outside of combat takes place from an isometric point of view. You will explore a handful of fairly simple maps that make up the game's version of Warsaw. You will be moving back and forth talking to NPCs, finding clues and collectibles and then getting initiated with combat. Certain clues can only be picked up if you have a high enough specific stat. These are increased by applying points to corresponding skill line (where new combat abilities can also be unlocked). Unfortunately, this half of the gameplay is pretty dull and repetitive. Where you will be spending so much time just running around - fast travel where you don't have to first walk to a designated spot before you can do it would have alleviated the monotony somewhat.
In terms of presentation, this is where the game stumbles. I was playing on PS5 and the game regularly hitched and stuttered. Visually, The Thaumaturge leaves a lot to be desired. Muddy textures and poor character models leaves this AA expeience looking more like an early PS4 title instead. The only real highlight is the design of the salutors themselves.
The Thaumaturge is a title that shows the potential of this still relatively new development studio (where this is only their second release). An interesting if not fully fleshed out narrative, enjoyable combat and style leaves me anticipating what they can create next if given a bigger budget. This is a gothic, turn-based adventure that will leave you pleasantly surprised as long as you look past the underwhelming and rough presentation.