Developer Fool's Theory is cooking up a very different role-playing game with The Thaumaturge. It blends a dark fantasy storyline about fighting hooligans and actual demons in early 20th-century Poland with a detective-style plot of uncovering people's dark secrets to free them from their curses. It presents a morally ambiguous and surprisingly humorous journey to undertake, and it has all the makings for one of the strangest, yet most intriguing takes on a Western role-playing game I've seen in some time.
I got extended hands-on time with an extensive questline from the early hours of The Thaumaturge, showcasing its absurdist take on a historical-inspired RPG where you quite literally have to face your demons.
Set in 1905 Poland, you play as the cunning and enigmatic Wiktor Szulski, the titular Thaumaturge who can commune and command spirits known as Salutors. These horrifying apparitions can possess humans and torment their lives, and only Wiktor can track them down. Haunted by one such Salutor named Upyr, Wiktor forms a bond with it and embarks on a quest to find other demons and sever the connections to their unsuspecting hosts, all while forging connections with his closest confidants in early 1900s Poland.
Wiktor's journey takes him back to his hometown of Warsaw, bringing him in contact with the town's most unsavory – including a childhood friend who's got a foul mouth and a chip on his shoulder. The Thaumaturge's take on pre-World War 1 Poland pulls together a mix of real-world locations and mashes them up with a dark-fantasy storyline drawing from Polish and Russian folklore, making for a truly bizarre setting that was quite compelling to explore.
It's an intriguing premise, and playing over an hour of the game gave me an understanding of the vibe and tone it hits for its take on an absurdist historical RPG. It felt like a very Western take on the Sega/Atlus' Persona series, which also focuses on communing with demons and forming bonds with your closest allies.
But what The Thaumaturge does differently is focus on the protagonist's journey and the morally compromising choices he'll have to make in how best to proceed with situations. Wiktor isn't alone on his quest to find the Salutors in hiding, and he'll team up with childhood friend turned rival Abaurycy along with captured demons that now fight on The Thaumaturge's side. Combat plays out turn-based, with you controlling only Wiktor and his chosen Salutor in a fight. There's a decidedly more tactical approach to battles, with you monitoring ally and enemy turns in the upper right part of the screen to see which attacks are coming and planning ahead to beat them to the punch.
This approach to combat made me more conscious of my choices, especially with how challenging fights can end up being. I even died in some fights as I was still learning to leverage the Salutor's attacks with Wiktor's. But once I did, I could pull off some satisfying combination attacks with Wiktor and Upyr, and even switch off to another demon in my arsenal who could sneak up behind targets and unleash a devastating attack.
The Thaumaturge is a role-playing game set within a supernatural detective story, and the social and investigative gameplay is just as compelling as the fights. One of my favorite moments came when I met a pair of citizens attacking a lamp post – who were unknowingly under the influence of a Salutor in hiding. You can try to talk them down, but instead, I knocked some sense into them through battle, which opened an amusing dialog scene right after.
With Wiktor's perception and his magical abilities, you'll be able to find evidence and engage in conversations with key characters. By finding clues, you gain insight into threads you need to chase up, which can open up new conversations with characters and even avoid potential conflicts altogether.
During one section where my party had to enter a bar, the bouncer wouldn't allow us entry. In one playthrough, I took the aggressive approach and fought him to force my way in. In my next go at it, I decided to find clues nearby and even went to a different hangout spot to talk with Abaurycy about the current situation. After talking with him, leading to a surprisingly harsh yet still important chat between allies, we formed a greater bond, and he stepped in to talk our way past the bouncer.
I really enjoyed these character-driven moments in The Thaumaturge, and coupled with its take on a demon-hunting adventure through 20th-century Poland, the upcoming role-playing game has some intriguing ideas for how to build an experience and a sense of place in a setting that seems so offbeat for an RPG -- but it's one I want to keep exploring further.
The Thaumaturge's approach to letting you bend and pierce through social interactions and fight rowdy humans and monsters with your team of demons is a real sight. Though we're still way out from the full release, it's interesting to see what developer Fool's Theory has in store for its weird and clever spin on a Western RPG.
