Sword of the Necromancer has a killer pitch: mash up Zelda with Pokemon, then stir in a heartbroken lesbian necromancer on a dark mission to bring back the love of her life.
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Sword of the Necromancer has a killer pitch: mash up Zelda with Pokemon, then stir in a heartbroken lesbian necromancer on a dark mission to bring back the love of her life. You in yet? Because it gets better.
In this rogue-like action RPG, you don’t just hack and slash your way through dungeons. No, you resurrect your enemies and turn them into your personal, undead army. That moment when Tama, your character, sets her minions on a level boss while you hurl fireballs at it from behind – that is satisfying.
It’s a great idea. Wonderful. But – I hate that there’s a but – there’s some hiccups along the way.
For one, the character development. Koko, Tama’s beloved, is depicted as this angelic, untouchable person. Meanwhile, Tama’s got this brooding, anti-hero energy – which is great! But why not give Koko some layers too? It’s also hard to see Tama being mean to Koko. As in, it’s hard to root for her when she says harsh things.
Then there’s the visuals. Now that intro cutscene – that’s epic. And the pixel art graphics have a whole lot of style to them. But then you get into other in game cutscenes and you see little drops in quality that take you out of the immersion. It’s like the devs wanted retro charm but skipped on the polish. The result? More “budget title” than 16-bit cool.
The music is great. As is the sound effects. No complaints there, I was getting into it. But the voice acting is over-the-top. Whoever is playing Tama went full on melodrama, and really needs to take it down a notch – it sounds like she is ACTING! in community theatre.
The controls? They almost good. I love the different weapons and calling up the monsters to fight But that part where, right after you execute a combo, there’s a one second delay before you’re allowed to do anything else – that sucks. Just a complete mood killer.
Here’s the kicker: the game is “verified” for Steam Deck, but it decided to stop launching after the first run. I had to force compatibility with Proton Experimental to get it working again – not exactly something you want from a “verified” title.
Again, this game is a great idea. I know many people who are pining for just this type of game. You know how many lesbians want badass representation in video games?
Grimorio of Games developed Sword of the Necromancer, as well as its spin-off, Whispike Survivors - Sword of the Necromancer. And it looks like some more Sword of the Necromancer sequels are coming soon.
So believe me when I say this: I hope the next Sword of the Necromancer releases fix the problems that were apparent in this game. Because the truth is, with just a few fixes, this could be one of the best indie RPGs today. I would love to recommend this game but I just can’t. Just please, nail it next time.
