The Necromancer's Tale

I wanted to like this game, I really did but I hate it. Do you like endless small talk with forgettable NPCs? Do you like constant red herrings that lead no where? Do you like wandering aimlessly with no idea how to progress? Do you like being soft locked out of progress because you must pass a skill check and you can't? Do you like icons that are hard to see and easy to miss that are necessary to move forward? Do you like a game that tells you to do something, you do it, then you are insulted over and over for the choice it told you to make? If no, then skip this one. I made it to the half way point and gave up. Based on the achievements, only about 30% of players make it to the point I did. If nearly 70% of the people that bought the game can't progress father than half way, that's a sign the devs made a bad game. Save your money. I got this on sale and still regret it. Thats 14 hours of my life gone all in the hope the game might get fun at some point. It never did, it only became more frustrating the further I went.

Please add Russian and other languages! The game relies heavily on text and story, and we can't understand a thing that's written there! A lot of people would buy the game if it supported different languages! We live in the age of technology! Even AI can translate a game!

Super linear and extremely punishing if you pick a bad option in a conversation, achieving big opinion negatives because boredom makes you impatient playing this essentially game of clicking and hoping something will work and push story forward or give you some sort of clue to work towards. I literally cant achieve a single damn thing without following like a sheep along the linear ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ story. and every time I find something cool to do its like "oh you need some buddies or you are dead so better turn back" and then you have to essentially figure out how to hire someone but the only mercenary i met so far i cant even hire. Like theres not even an option to hire the guy. Am I supposed to run around in circles engaging conversations randomly and hoping someone will clue me in to something completely randomly? I really wanted to like this game and I have given it a lot of chances and its building quite a decent story and it has a cool mystery but I am incapable of doing anything on my own. I have to be handled by the story in order to do anything, where this could have been a really cool sandbox game it's instead the most boring walking simulator only relieved by a fast travel button.

The game is exactly what it calls itself. A protagonist who is not a necromancer becoming one. The journey of steadily gaining more power is paced quite well. The story certainly held my interest which is not typical with modern day games for me.

Honestly, I loved it. If you like more ritualistic part of magic and also necromancy this game is perfect for that, but I also must say that you really have to like visual novels, as with the amount of dialog and the 1 hour prolog, it is basically part visual novel (wich for me is a plus). The only thing that bothers me is that it could have been even more. For example, some rituals call for resources and once you have them they are done always, this is cool, but some of these rituals loose their use quickly (like torpor or shadow walk) which is a shame. Or for example, there is no real reason to kill civil npcs or request corpses, as when the ritual that uses corpses is unlocked, you will quickly obtain soldiers and brigands 8if you didn't stockpile on those previously). I would have loved to see a ritual that required more corpses, but that is just due to how good the game has been, that I even expected something like that to appear! Also, the panick meter is not very useful, true I have done a neutral run, so the patrols weren't a problem, but again, there is no reason to attack npcs, as you will have too many corpses. On the other hand somethings that I really liked are for example how performing necromancy affects your character feelings, how your portrait changes to show those changes, how there seems to be at least two more paths (one more evil and one less evil I would say), to the neutral one I chose. Also I LOVE how powerful ascending to lichdom makes you, it is the end game and honestly, yeah, whatever, I just want to be a raid boss. Its great and I love it. To conclude, I loved the game, Im planning two more runs, but I have this gnaging feeling that it could have been even better, how to say, I would happily sink 30 more hours, but I feel that with this concept it could have been even more grand. If a dev is reading this, please keep the good work! I would love something like this in even more depth, it would be curious to see one with a demonic style? Anyways, I enjoyed the game a lot, and to me it was completly worth it.

What an absolute gem. A slow-burning tale of horror about one person's descent into the maddening dark. Highly recommended if you enjoy single player CRPGs, necromantic trappings and gradual moral decay. Be warned, however, that the game is not for those looking for a quick thrill or an easy path to power; the pacing is slow and methodical, and all of your necromantic achievements will be earned with time and effort.

I really wanted to like this game. It was so so boring, poorly designed and executed. I really dont understand how it has as many positive reviews as it does. I should of gotten my refund but the first 3 hours were a boring slog and I kept waiting to get to raise the dead. I think this was done on purpose. By time I was able to raise the dead the game was still boring, clunky and buggy as can be. Its bad when a dev has to include a way to get your self unstuck instead of actually doing their job and making a good game. Trash

I have mixed feelings on the game. On the story side, it's pretty fleshed out. There is some decent intrigue and some subplots you can explore and complete if you understand where to look at. However, there are a lot of events that unfold in the same way with very minor variations, and a lot of characters/situations that either disappear or become completely irrelevant as the game goes on. The endings almost solely depend on a handful of choices you make five minutes from the end of the game and can all be reached from a single savefile. You can basically play the entire game on autopilot and never have to worry about any decision since it makes nearly no difference whether you cover up your operations perfectly or go around knocking at every door basically saying "Hello, I'm a pratictioner of the unholy arts, can you spare me a cup of sugar so I can summon Satan?", as the Trust score barely affects anything except a couple dialogue options. Most characters have a fixed fate you can barely alter or intervene in, so again most choices are ultimately pointless and just serve to make you progress. On the gameplay side, the game looks like it's trying to be a RPG, a visual novel and an immersive sim all at once and only manages to scrape something off of the three genres. As an RPG, the party system works fine. You are limited in how many minions you can activate each turn by your Mana, and it incentivizes you to look for rituals and artifacts to increase it. Combat doesn't have many options though: your main character does have some support spells and can learn a single offensive spell that doesn't do as much damage as a well placed gunshot, while all other characters just have their weapon attacks, including the special party members you can recruit (the wraith, golem, and demons). Likewise, enemies just move and attack, without really using abilities or tactics. It does feel good when you eventually can lead dozens of zombies into battle and instantly re-raise them after, but by that point you can win any battle by just hunkering down behind a wall of bodies and letting them pile onto the opponents. As a visual novel, as I said, the choices don't really change anything or put you on a path, and the relationships you forge with the other characters rarely if ever influence your experience. There are some instances where it looks like you're making enemies or burning bridges with certain characters, but in the next chapter they will just speak with you like nothing happened. The story as a whole is engaging but the devil is in the details, and in how little you can do to meaningfully interact with others. And as an immersive sim, seeing how many items and tools are at your disposal sure feels like you would have a lot of secret interactions and a lot of ways to go about your quests, but almost every single item is only used for a single task and never again. It's good that some of them have several different ways to acquire them, but this leads to just mindlessly dumping everything in your inventory without ever thinking you could find a creative use for them, which is really a shame. That and being teased with some abilities that end up only working once (An invisibility spell sounds great for sneaking around, but it's only usable exactly once in the entire game) I'd recommend the game just to play through the story if you like plots about infiltration, intrigue and persuasion but don't want to fret over getting options closed to you because of your choice. But gameplay-wise there's definitely better options out there.

The game is tedious in a good way. Much to figure out. Some hand holding but not much. It's fairly difficult and at the same time very laid back. You're not rushed to do anything and you're in control of the passing of time. NPC interaction is an absolute must and is done pretty well. Tons of dialogue. It's got a few problems but it's very entertaining and there are no game breakers so far. Try to avoid the internet for solutions. It feels good in this game when you finally figure something out. Inventory is kind of funky but once you use it a bit you adapt. The sorting is weird. Talk to any NPC that is available for conversation. This is important and how you get the info you need to move forward. It's a solid and refreshing take on the classic CRPG isometric game.