Thymesia Review (Xbox Series S)

by Jim Smale · August 17, 2022

For this Thymesia Review, we play a grueling action-RPG set with fast-paced combat and an intricate plague weapon system. In a kingdom where death spreads, play as a mysterious character known by the code name “Corvus”. Prey upon your enemies, wield the power of disease, and find the truth in your own memories.

Thymesia Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
11.7GB Download size.
1000 Gamerscore.
5 save slots.
Controller settings – rebind controls and Invert axis and sensitivity sliders.
3rd person action-adventure gameplay.
Plague weapons are unique to an enemy and you can create and use one, it only has limited use.
Dark Souls-inspired gameplay.
You can use your claws to deal more damage and also stop an enemy from healing.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
Beacons – activate them to refill health, potions, and save. Will also resurrect all dead enemies.
Lore is found all over the world.
Execution moves can be performed after an enemy is reduced to zero health as they become dazed.
Memory shards are earned from defeating enemies and are used for leveling up.
Upon death, you drop all memory shards and have one life to go and get them.
Great performance.
Combat is hack and slash but requires you to learn enemy patterns, counter, and dodge.
Feathers are used like projectiles and can stop an enemy action/attack.
Very satisfying combat and gameplay.
A lot of trial and error.
3 stats to upgrade – Strength, Vitality, and Plague.
Talents – earn points to put into the trees – Saber, Deflect, Dodge, Claw, Feather, and strategies. These change how you play and can be reset and changed freely.
Find and unlock shortcuts.
Dark twisted worlds to explore.
Plague weapons can eventually be unlocked and equipped with skill shards, then upgrading them can be done.
It just feels so good to play.
Plague weapons consume energy to use.
Potions are used to heal, you can upgrade them for effectiveness and quantity but also unlock powerful variations that add buffs.
Shards for each plague weapon can be found from enemy drops and are used to upgrade the weapons.
Small boss encounters.
Feels like a combination of DARK souls and Bloodborne.
Big boss encounters.
The main hub can be accessed from a beacon and here you can do all the upgrades etc and then choose where to adventure as they unlock.

Thymesia Review Cons:

A lot of trial and error.
Very difficult.
The slight learning curve for Souls players, A huge learning curve for newcomers to the genre.
The parry system takes a lot of time to get down as parrying one hit doesn’t stop the attack dead and in fact, has you having to parry multiple times in quick succession.
Can be hard to make out enemies.
Very little guidance.
Takes some time to get your head around the many new mechanics they introduce, for me getting around the Plague weapons took some time.
The camera can go erratic and either go too close or almost wander off to a part of the screen.
Had annoying fights where an enemy will go into a part of the map and regen all their health!
Few instances of falling through the barriers or enemies would get stuck in them.

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Thymesia:

Official website.

Developer: Overborderstudio

Publisher: Team17

Store Links –

Xbox

9/10
Graphics - 9/10
8/10
Sound - 8/10
7/10
Accessibility - 7/10
8/10
Length - 8/10
9/10
Fun Factor - 9/10

8.2/10

Summary

Thymesia is a ridiculous game, it takes the styling of Bloodborne and the mechanics of Dark Souls to just turn around and say fuck you! We can do it better, and my God did they ever. The performance is excellent which is a really good thing as the game is very fast from movement to combat. The World they have created is one full of Dread, loss, and intrigue, a desire to explore because you never know what you will find. The enemies range from crazy villager types to hulking great big T Virus-inducing abominations. I fell almost instantly in love with the game because it is something different, it is something that you can carve out your own play style and it is a great fucking game. I haven’t even begun to mention the best part, Combat! It is on a level I never knew would exist, it makes the most basic of fights fun, and it evokes Devil May Cry vibes but with a Street Fighter like combo efficiency that cannot be overlooked. Yes it’s tough to start with the combat but that’s because the blocking is all about parrying and if you suck at the timing you are screwed, of course, dodge is there for us that like to Bob and weave but you cannot escape the sheer frustration of the parry system. I do bring good news however because like any game in the genre you can eventually earn memory shards from enemies and use these in the multiple skill trees and make dodging and parrying a lot easier and manageable. Building on from that is the Plague weapon system and fuck a duck it’s next level and so ucking cool I smile that whole time using these suckers! OK so you have a boring basic blade which is fine and all but plague weapons are unique to enemies and armed with your claw you can charge at them with said claw and gain the ability to use their plague weapon once (you choose when to use it). Over time you will collect weapon shards that allow you to unlock the plague weapons and then equip two of them in your load out. Then as you carry on collecting shards you can then upgrade the plague weapons to add buffs, debuffs, or most importantly alter/lower their energy cost for every swing or slam of a plague weapon that requires energy to use it. Worth noting that only equipped Plague weapons require energy, stealing a weapon via the claw is free. I’m telling you, you’ve never had a better feeling than finally beating someone and using their own weapon to end them, in a game where every fight is a tactical mash-up, it’s such a euphoric feeling when you win and all this loot drops out of them. For me Thymesia ticks so many boxes, it does tick some bad one’s mind with no online and annoying and difficult boss fights but this is part of the genre now so I have to grow up and get over it. Thymesia is a game that will cater to so many players I mean Ninja Gaiden players could hold their own as much as a seasoned Souls player. I did find myself coming back to this game more than any other souls game except Demon Souls but man Thymesia is the real deal, it’s a must-play for gamers and a true elevation in the series.