‘Thymesia’ is a fast-paced, action RPG game developed by OverBorder Studio and published by Team17, and is currently available on Playstation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC.

The game takes place in the Kingdom of Hermes and follows the story of Corvus, the hero of the title. The kingdom has succumbed to a plague that has killed many and the infected survivors. It is up to Corvus to fight back while searching to reclaim his lost memories that were stolen after he was beaten in the training segment of the game. Thymesia is a game that I would say is a perfect blend of ‘Sekiro’ and ‘Bloodborne’ in style and narrative with its fast-paced combat to badass boss fights. It certainly holds a great challenge ahead for players.

The combat in Thymesia is broken up into three different ways of attacking. Firstly, the basic sword attacks can be upgraded to include extra swings in the combo chain. These will result in better damage dealt. Next, is the claw attack. Corvus can wield a claw mutation attack that deals bleed damage which is a separate health bar from the base health bar that the sword attacks lowers. You are able to charge up the claw attack and perform a skill called “Reave” which will copy an enemy’s skill. This brings us to the final attack system Thymesia has to offer, the plague weapons.

These can be acquired mid-combat by performing the Reave action but if you acquire enough skill shards from the enemy skill your Reave, you are able to have plague weapons set as an action to use in combat. Plague weapons can range from attacks like a Battle Axe swing to Claymore Greatsword slashes. The more skill shards you earn, the more you will increase the plague weapon and make it more effective in combat. I personally ran the healing skill which can be stolen from the second boss in the game.

Thymesia offers players three main areas to explore with a fourth area strictly being a boss fight for the end of the story. You will be able to explore the Sea of Trees, Royal Gardens, Hermes Fortress, and Ocean of Memories. Each level has a unique design style and theme which will impact what enemies look like. The Sea of Trees area is the darkest area across the locations as you are in a village that is suspended in giant trees. This will be the area you will see the plague spores the most within the game as they are heavily present in the background throughout the forest. This makes long-range visibility harder to be achieved which makes each blind spot a threat to any enemies that may be waiting to ambush you.

The Royal Garden level will have the player start within the kingdom gardens as they progress through greenhouses and experimental labs. As you progress in this area, the lighting and environment change from dark and spore-populated air to a vast library with a bright red glow from the massive pools of blood that are congealed across the floors.

Hermes Fortress takes place within the kingdom walls with many high fields of view for enemies to await Corvus, so expect archers to be present in this zone. The fortress is fairly well lit with torches and lanterns scattered about all the zones. This one for me felt like there was more fighting to be done to progress as it is the last main area before the final boss encounter which brings us to the Ocean of Memories zone. This area is just a boss fight to end the game which takes place in a giant bird-like cage amongst ruins.

There are a total of eight boss fights in Thymesia, four of which you will need to do to progress and finish the game, the other four being optional boss fights which can be found by doing submissions in each zone. Once you clear a level you will then unlock the side quests to partake in. Sadly, Thymesia is missing one major thing which is a new game plus, and given there are five different endings, it seems like something that should’ve been added.

Thymesia has a smooth control scheme with no input delays. You are able to string together combos with ease while swiftly avoiding attacks and land hits like a ninja. For souls like players, the controls will come very naturally as it is a copy-and-paste sort of formula that works so well in these rouge-like titles.

Visually, it is done quite well. The enemies have brilliant character designs and bring them home with their looks and styles. The plague doctor outfit model being altered for a warrior-like attire works really well in this title and the boss artworks are top tier. I loved the look of every boss fight Thymesia had to offer and so will you if you are into these hardcore adventures.

The soundtrack for the title is mainly done with an instrumental and opera-themed style. The music felt like it shifted from background filler to create a loud hype during boss fights and it worked. The music definitely kept me pumped for the fight I was dealing with. Each boss and zone featured a unique backing track too. One downside was the very absent voice-overs during boss fights. There were subtitles but in the midst of battle, you don’t get the chance to stop and read what is being said. I would’ve loved the audio segment more if there were voices of the bosses during combat.

In conclusion, Thymesia is a solid souls-like game. The story may be a tad bit lacking at parts due to its short premise but it makes up for that with amazing combat and skill systems while throwing some truly enjoyable boss fights and enemies our way to clash with. I really do hope we see more things to come for Thymesia like DLC or at least a new game plus.

Written by: Shane Walsh