Sword of the Necromancer

Sword of the Necromancer: An Overview

Sword of the Necromancer is an independent action RPG game with an auto-generating system from Grimorio of Games. In this game, the adventure takes place in an overhead perspective and is based on exploring caves and trenches and fighting monsters. Among countless games of this genre, there is another game and this game cannot captivate our admiration for long. Sword of the Necromancer offers nothing new, and you’ll find out why in this review.

The Design Philosophy of Independent Developers

There is a clear difference in game design philosophy between large companies and independent developers. The design method that independent developers rely on is largely based on elements of automatic generation for many reasons, including creating an element of surprise and innovation every time, as well as increasing the challenge factor. Well, that also means that Sword of the Necromancer unfortunately doesn’t manage to stand out sufficiently from many other better games in this game category.

A Relatively Primitive and Simple Game

In fact, there isn’t much to say about Sword of the Necromancer, as the game is relatively primitive and simple. The game centers on the character Tama, a former thief who works as a bodyguard for the priestess Koko, who embarks on a circumnavigating journey in preparation to enter the temple. The game begins with Koko dead and Tama embarking on an adventure to save her companion and bring her back to life using the powers of the Necromancer Sword. Well, the narrative content explicitly contradicts the doctrine, but we would like to say with all impartiality that the game stands out for the aspect of narrative narration and builds the relationship between the two characters little by little, with a short audio following the completion of each one. Narration clip is added to the ground in the shrine where the adventure takes place. The idea of ​​​​the story also seems to us to be somewhat inspired by the game Shadow of the Colossus, and in fact we saw many signs that the developer was influenced by many Japanese games.

Simple Gameplay and Limited Excitement

The relatively simple gameplay does not arouse any excitement in the player. The attacks are very limited. There are weapons and tools that the player finds throughout the adventure that can be distributed across 4 buttons. The main feature of this game Praise compared to others is the ability to summon enemies after their death to fight until their death. In addition to Tama, enemies can gain more experience if they survive for a long time. Well, the feature is relatively useful when exploring floors, but it’s not very useful against bosses due to their attack and defense method. There are no complex or advanced skills in the game. It’s very simple, very primitive and completely unsatisfying. There are other games that are simple in mechanics but promote a feeling of satisfaction through thoughtful design or something similar, but this game only gives us a feeling of limitation.

The Basic Gameplay and Lack of Variation

The basic gameplay is very simple, and all players have to do is get a key on each floor, open the main door after fighting normal enemies, and then face the boss. Many of the bosses and enemies in the game come directly from the Legend of Zelda series, such as the boss with the big eye. , or from Super Mario like the rabbit that keeps running away! The opponents and their abilities are quite diverse, but there are no fundamental changes as the game progresses. In addition to fighting, the player can also perform a quick side move (dash), which is strangely linked to a fitness although fighting is not linked to the fitness meter. This ! Therefore, this movement cannot be used continuously to allow for quick traversal of floors, which would have made the game, if only a little, more entertaining.

Graphics, Animation, and Music

Even the graphics look normal, so does the animation, and we have seen much better performances in such games. However, we must praise the extremely wonderful music, which creates a unique atmosphere for adventure and promotes a sense of the story and characters in the game desired path. In fact, we feel a little sorry for the low rating, because the game isn’t really bad, and perhaps if this game had been released during the Gameboy era, some might now have praised it as one of the most prominent titles from the very top perspective, but the market is overcrowded and competitors like Hades and even Children of Morta have emerged. At very high levels that make the competition difficult for this game. Sword of the Necromancer isn’t a bad game, but it’s limited and unexciting and doesn’t come close to the level that auto-generated games have reached in recent years.

We tested this game using a Nintendo Switch copy that we received from the publisher.