When a small team of seven talented individuals come together and create something memorable, there is something special to say. No, I’m not talking about Amazon’s The Seven the boys. I’m talking about OverBorder Studio’s small team and their debut Souls-esque title thymesia, a title with a sharp look and an even sharper edge.
The player is dropped into the plague-carrying kingdom of Hermes, where an era of calamity puts it mildly. The kingdom chose alchemy as the solution to all problems, and through the misuse of alchemy beyond just stopping the plague – to heal, improve, and essentially make life easier – the negatives started rearing their ugly heads. and soon saw the streets littered with monsters and disease out of control. Nigredo – or the decomposition phase of alchemy – seems to have sucked all the life and color out of Hermes. The comparison with Fullmetal AlchemistThe first law of equivalent exchange cannot be underestimated as “To gain, something of equal value must be lost”, and indeed lost it was.
The player takes control of a silent amnesiac protagonist, Corvus, who wears a Victorian mask of the plague doctors as the only hope of finding out the truth through reminiscing, so we have the exact meaning of the title Thyme + amnesia, Thymesia, and a compelling intricate storyline lies in the binding of this well-thought-out plot device that propels the story forward. As Corvus, I was the first to be dropped into this bleak world full of visual shades of gray, dark green, and an overall doomed atmosphere.
The visuals are striking and the classical background music completes the atmosphere with a dark signature that could be interpreted as ‘abandon all hope’. I cannot emphasize enough how well the soundtrack fits the setting. Using crescendo when confronting the player is a delight and grabbed my undivided attention. A short tutorial, although much more informative than Bloodborne, or other FromSoftware titles – is more than enough to put the player behind the sticks in Hermes. Corvus can strike, dodge, parry and use special abilities to slice enemies into ribbons.
“OverBorder Studio did its best with the rich knowledge of thymesia, and the way it works so well is a huge achievement.”
The enemies are indeed fighting back and they are fighting back with vengeance. Learning attack patterns is the only way forward, and adaptability is the best tool for players to get through the infernal landscape. After the tutorial segment, the player is greeted with an obvious ‘I’m a bad guy’ antagonistic figure who places a beast named Varg, with a large sword on our feathered hero. This boss fight is a fight that you have to lose intentionally, just like the opening segment of Elden Ring against the grafted offspring. It didn’t stop me from trying A LOT.
Corvus is then dropped into a beautifully designed hub-world called Philosopher’s Hill, a sort of vacation home for the royal family, where Aisemy, a daughter of the king, is met. Aisemy never introduces herself as such, but her identity can be ascertained by reading the pages of stories about the collection that Corvus can find all over Hermes. This is true Thymesia grips vague stories with an iron hand, while the story at first seems vague and makes no sense; the underlying knowledge picked up while traveling can reveal secrets about the kingdom and its inhabitants and trust me, it’s worth it. OverBorder Studio did its best with the rich knowledge of thymesia, and the way it works so well is a huge achievement.
Of course, Hermes’ rich knowledge and soundtrack compliment what really counts, the gameplay. There are bon- I mean beacons, placed in the various biomes that Corvus will visit through the treacherous Hermes, where the player can level up his character as he sees fit. This can improve skills, grant specific talents that contribute to combat prowess, and use alchemy itself to modify and upgrade potions, making them more effective, helping to easily heal the absolutely low health points of corvus. Imagine Estus Flasks from dark soulsbut with favors to the player that result in less damage received, more damage dealt, and even energy points can be restored with the potions.
The difficulty of Thymesia is nothing to laugh at. The combat is brutal yet satisfying. Each time an enemy triumphed over Corvus’ defeated frame, I was able to adjust my tactics and beat them into submission… eventually. On death – what WILL happen – Corvus drops his memory shards (experience points/souls/runes) and they can be collected by revisiting the site of his death on the next attempt, another nod to the prowess of the From Software Designing souls.
Fight in Thymesia is fluid and seamless, with an impeccable design. In addition to the basic RB/L1 which is equivalent to a light attack, Corvus can use a brute claw attack (RT/L2) that makes him almost monstrous to damage his enemies. This is where the design takes a remarkable new direction. Enemies have two health bars, the brighter one is a ‘wound’ bar that overlaps the darker bar below, which is the real ‘health’ of opponents. If enemies don’t take damage fast enough, the wound gauge recovers, making battles more insidious and longer, and giving the player higher stakes to defeat enemies that place more importance on speed.
Using light attacks to damage the wound gauge and claw attacks to cause permanent health damage, opponents enter an “execution state” where Corvus can finally put them to rest. Another unique mechanism that needs attention is the Reave System, where Corvus can suppress his claw attack and rip off an enemy’s weapon. This ‘hollowed out’ weapon can only be used once and can turn the tide of battle. Reaving doesn’t kill or disarm an enemy, but it really is an effective addition to the arsenal that Corvus can unleash against the plague.
“Thymesia also feels very short, because without reading the lore, a From Software veteran was able to accelerate the title in a meager amount of time. ”
After getting enough shards of a weapon type to drop from ANY enemy, Corvus can unlock them as an equipable ‘pest weapon’, which can be used multiple times with a limited energy meter. This further amplifies Corvus’ powers, making the plague-riddled kingdom of Hermes tremble with fear if used properly.
Boss fights are TOUGH but very rewarding when overcome. The first boss to defeat is a magician named Odur, an annoyance the player most likely wouldn’t want to smell. His background knowledge can also be found in the story pages scattered throughout his inhabited biome, the ‘Sea of Trees’, adding to the dense knowledge of Thymesia. After defeating him, Corvus gains a great plague weapon that gives you unlimited dodge for a limited time and it is by far my favorite plague weapon in the game. Traveling through the kingdom unscathed feels like taking off the training wheels of a bicycle for the first time, until it runs out and an enemy hides inside you, causing imminent death.
The shortcomings of the note are that besides Philosopher’s Hill, all the biomes are too similar to be called anything else, making it my favorite location in Thymesia. There are notable difficulty spikes from random enemies that feel cheap and have no warning that can discourage weary travelers venturing through Hermes.
Thymesia also feels very short, because without reading the lore, a From Software veteran was able to speed up the title in a meager amount of time. This is also definitely an ‘I’ problem, but in addition to the Thymesia taste of the sekiro Mikiri Counter, who tosses Corvus in the air when timed right against an unblockable attack, there’s no way to jump, which for some reason is just missing.
Thymesia is a work of art. If not just a love letter to FromSoftware’s successes, Thymesia features an incredible soundtrack, fantastic design and a rock-solid, non-customizable difficulty setting that will make any player who triumphs over Hermes feel elated with their achievement. The rich knowledge adds to the depth of the Kingdom and allows for an immersion beyond ‘just another FromSoftware clone’. With this title, OverBorder Studios should perhaps just call itself ‘The New Seven’.
0 Comments