The Thaumaturge Review
With thanks to 11-Bit Studios and Fool’s Theory we’ve been checking out The Thaumaturge to bring you our review and common-sense parent’s guide. As ever we’ve got a full video and extended written review available just below. Both come with our in-depth parent’s guide, so you can find out if the Thaumaturge is safe for kids or best left alone.
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The Basics – What is The Thaumaturge About?
Available on: PC (Steam, Epic). Xbox and PlayStation release coming soon.
Price: c.£30
Type: Isometric, story-driven adventure (with turn-based combat)
Download: 21.4GB
The Thaumaturge provides an isometric-view, story-driven adventure. Players take control of the high-born Mr Wictor Szulski (that’s Victor Szhulski, for the uninitiated) as he returns to his hometown of Warsaw in 1905. After searching for treatment for his supernatural ailments, Wictor has found his hometown a troubled place, suffering under the not-so-benevolent yoke of Russian tsardom.
Players will leverage Wictor’s powers as an often feared but usually respected Thaumaturge – a worker of wonders or miracles. Wictor uses thaumaturgy to discover and link objects and backgrounds to the people along his adventure. Importantly, you’ll also use them to tame Salutors, ethereal creatures from a supernatural plane.
Salutors allow Wictor to use magical abilities within The Thaumaturge’s turn-based combat system. Mixing physical attacks with effects and assault from his spiritual companions, players will need to consider combat actions carefully to survive increasingly difficult enemies. You’ll use Thaumaturgy points to upgrade Wictor’s connection to supernatural planes, unlocking or enhancing the abilities provided by your salutors
Wictor’s path will lead players through both light and darkness, but the choices you’ll make along the way aren’t clearly black and white. Often merging into the morally ambiguous, players will need to tread carefully as choices will make a difference to in-game relationships.
Is The Thaumaturge Safe for Children?
Rating: Adults Only.
The Thaumaturge is rated by PEGI at 18 and above and by the ESRB as a Mature 17+. It’s one which contains supernatural creatures right from the outset. While they are (mostly) on your side, these are fairly graphic depictions of unearthly beings and are not for the easily fearful.
In addition, there’s some fairly graphic violence in addition to the more ethereal attacks. The Thaumaturge also shows alcohol use and drunkenness, as well as strong language throughout the title. It also shows some nudity, and all in all some generally unsettling themes and visuals.
Importantly, a return to 1905 Warsaw will also show players an ugly and anti-semetic side of society. While it’s not promoted, players do encounter it fairly regularly, with NPCs using Jewish tropes in verbal and text conversation.
The Run Down – Our Five-Point Rating for The Thaumaturge
Gameplay – 3: The Thaumaturge has some great ideas, but it rough edges definitely distract from overall delivery. The battle system is simplistic at first, and players will note a lot of repetitive actions in the early stages. While this does grow, it it slow to get there. There are some nice abilities, and I’ve really enjoyed using Thaumaturgy to find objects and draw conclusions, which open up new dialogue options. Overall as a fairly lightweight RPG system it’s decent, but not one for those looking for complexity.
Visuals – 2: The environments you travel through look great, but the Thaumaturge is let down by character animations and visual glitches. In battle and within the isometric view, players will find some decent visuals, providing a fairly immersive experience. However within cut scenes and up-close segments, visuals look decidedly last-generation, distracting from the overall experience.
Audio – 5: I’ve really enjoyed the audio in the Thaumaturge. The soundtrack has been outstanding, and I’ve been even more impressed by audio effects. Voice acting uses clunky dialogue but has otherwise been executed very well, and overall the audio for the title has been a highlight.
Narrative – 4: There is a good overarching story here, set in a well-described and immersive world. Sadly, however, players will need to wade through a fair amount of clunky script writing in order to get there. It’s definitely worth pushing through (I think) but it can’t be ignored and it does rather take the shine off things.
Replay – 3: The Thaumaturge provides a good amount of abilities to unlock and upgrade. It also delivers a solid number of side notes and objects which will help unlock the background story of 1905 Warsaw. Sadly, combat and combat animations can get very repetitive (especially early on) but other than that, the varied choices, story and pickups do make it worthwhile.
The Verdict – Is The Thaumaturge Worth It?
Overall the Pixel Bandits’ Booksmart Level for The Thaumaturge is a respectable 7 / 10. While it does seem quite loosely held together at times, The Thaumaturge has definitely had a bucket of Slavic love poured into it. The story and characters of Warsaw are great, and offer a fairly unique setting, which is always nice.
It does have rough edges, however, which can’t really be ignored. The up-close human visuals are fairly jarring, and mixed with slow progression and dialogue-heavy (and poorly-scripted) story, this may put players off in the initial stages. Repetition in combat can become fairly irksome while working with only a small number of salutors and abilities, but it can certainly be worth pushing through.
Importantly, the problems here haven’t been enough to make me dislike The Thaumaturge, but they have dulled the shine of what could have been a great experience. Overall, while I wouldn’t rush out to grab it, joining Wictor on his return to Warsaw, and the introduction of Slavic folklore, have been worth a slog.
As ever, to provide this review and common-sense parent’s guide, we received a free copy of The Thaumaturge from the folks at 11 Bit Studios.
