Video Game / Thymesia

Thymesia is a Souls-like RPG developed by Taiwanese Indie company Overborder Studio and published by Team17. It released in August 2022 to Steam, Xbox Series X|S, the Playstation 5, and the Nintendo Switch.

The game takes place within a medieval setting, overwhelmed by a plague outbreak. The Kingdom of Hermes, which was built atop a giant tree, tapped into the power of alchemy to convert the plague into a cure that also empowered their populace, and entered into a brief age of prosperity. Decades later, things began to go awry when the same alchemy they used mutated their soldiers and populace into hideous monsters. Any attempt to halt or reverse the effects of alchemy proved futile and the kingdom descended into chaos.

You play as Corvus, an amnesiac Plague Doctor who seeks to discover how the kingdom of Hermes fell to ruin and wants to find a cure to the plague. Most of the game takes place within his memories as he does his utmost to recall vital pieces of information.

The gameplay has traditional Souls-like elements, but lacks a stamina bar common to the genre, which encourages aggressive play. Combat encourages moving in and out of range and parrying to progress. Every enemy has Regenerating Health which is indicated by the green portion of their health bar after they've been damaged. This is where Corvus's different attack options differ; his regular Saber and his ranged Feathers inflicts a lot of Wounds, which exposes the enemy to his more damaging Claws. Emptying out a health bar puts an enemy in a dazed state, where your next attack will inflict a Finishing Move that puts the enemy down for good.

The Plague Weapon system permits Corvus to use the attacks from other enemies. Charging his Claw lets him obtain a temporary Plague Weapon from that enemy, but collecting enough Skill Shards by killing those enemies lets him unlock his own Plague Weapons for permanent use. Plague Weapons are stronger than his usual skill set but consume Energy to use.

There is plenty of customizability within the game past that — you have three variants of Healing Potion (and can only equip one at a time) that you can upgrade or tweak with the potion ingredients you pick up during your adventures. There is a Skill Scores and Perks system through which you can unlock a variety of abilities, and you can freely reassign your Talent points to suit the occasion at any Beacon that you can rest at.

Thymesia contains examples of:

• Absurdly High Level Cap: The game's level cap is 50 (with an achievement for getting there) but you are generally expected to finish the game in the ballpark of level 30-35. You stop getting new Talents after level 25, and the individual stat points offer minimal increments to power, unless you're aiming for breakpoints to unlock additional effects of your Plague Weapons.
• Amnesiac Hero: Corvus has to figure out how to save the kingdom by exploring and piecing together his memories. Stages are termed "Recalls", the main currency is Memory Shards, and dying displays "Memory Interrupted".
• Background Boss: The God of the Fools takes up the center of the stage you face it in. Rather than fight it directly, you climb through the scaffolding that surrounds it, avoiding its attacks and fighting through the Mooks in the way, until you reach a vantage point to deliver a One-Hit Kill.
• Bio-Augmentation: Essentially what the Kingdom's "alchemy" boils down to: injecting individuals with Pure Blood enhances them, making them immune to the plague and greatly increasing their strength. However, Pure Blood also slowly turns the recipient into a soulless husk, best seen in the gargantuan knight Varg, and its effects demand an upkeep of constant injections. The creation of Pure Blood also creates Vile Blood, which is hard to contain or dispose of, and mutates anything it contacts.
• Boss-Only Level: The final sub-quest of the Sea of Trees and the only section of Ocean of Memories give you just one Beacon, situated directly in front of the boss arena.
• Circus of Fear: The Sea of Trees level takes place in a run-down and abandoned treetop circus. The boss at the end is Odur, its ringmaster.
• Combat Tentacles: Mutated Odur sports a set of tentacles which he uses to assault you from afar or quickly close the distance for a slam. You can also use these yourself as a Plague Weapon if you hit him with a charged Claw or defeat him.
• Counter-Attack:
  • Deflecting attacks negates damage and damages the attacker in turn. Feather attacks can interrupt enemy critical attacks and open them up to a follow-up. You can invest in Talents that improve these actions.
  • As you strike an enemy, you build up an invisible enemy Counter gauge, and when it's full they'll deflect your attack and open you up to their follow-up unless you react quickly. Some Talents and Weapon upgrades can reduce or reset the Counter gauge so that you can get more hits in.
• Critical Status Buff: The Adrenaline Talent gives you an Offensive buff if you're at or under 20% health. The level 2 version adds Energy regeneration.
• Defend Command: The Defence Talent exchanges your usual Deflect for a blocking stance that you can maintain by holding the Deflect button. Accurate timing is not required, but Corvus takes greatly reduced damage while in the block stance.
• Finishing Move: An enemy with an emptied health bar enters a "dazed" state and the targeting reticle turns red, where your next attack finishes them off. Stronger enemies and bosses get more elaborate killing animations.
• Full Health Bonus: The Perfectionist Talent gives you a permanent Offensive buff so long as you are at full health. The level 2 version adds a passive Energy regeneration.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Emerald eventually reveals that Corvus is the result of one of Emerald's experimental plague treatments that involved implanting cells from animals and Sacred Trees. Corvus is one of the "lucky ones" who's been successfully transformed without losing humanity, though it would make him part-raven.
• Heal Thyself: The Hanged Queen has the ability to heal herself by consuming the blood that pools on the floor of her arena, though it can be mitigated by Claw damage. Her associated Plague Weapon, Blood Storm, lets you do the same.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: The tutorial ends with a boss fight with Varg, who will likely trounce you in two hits, which will bring you to the Hub Level. There is an achievement for depleting his first life bar, but when that happens he'll still knock out Corvus and send him to the hub level anyway.
• Hub Level: The Philosopher's Hill serves as a break between levels where you select the next level to embark on.
• Life Drain:
  • Short Claw Lv2 restores health when you do Claw damage while at the maximum Offensive buff stack of 5.
  • The Scythe Plague Weapon restores 50 health when it hits an enemy. If your Plague stat is 10 or higher it restores even more health on hit.
• Mad Scientist: The alchemists of Hermes have done plenty of experiments revolving around Pure and Vile Blood that have birthed the monstrosities you face across the game. Among these scientists is Odur, the first boss of the game, who perceives these monstrosities as the next stage of evolution, and recruits the nearby villagers for his experiments under the guise of "circus staff". In the final Sea of Trees sidequest, he injects himself with his own mutagens and fights you as Mutated Odur.
• Mini-Boss: You can tell you're up against one when the game plays the "outnumbered" combat theme even though they're the only enemy nearby. Defeating them gets you a lot of Skill Shards and maybe a potion upgrade, and unlike the other enemies, they will not respawn when you rest at a Beacon.
• Mirror Boss: The final boss, faced in the Ocean of Memories, is a copy of Corvus himself. Everything you can do, he can do, too — except heal with potions or use the boss-granted Plague Weapons.
• Multiple Endings: Defeating the Final Boss brings you to one of the endings, depending on the combination of Cores you use to create the Hermes' Answer. After achieving each ending, the game gives you a prompt to reload from the Philosopher's Hill, letting you look for things you missed and experience the rest of the endings.]]
  • Chaotic Power — Triggered if the combination of Cores didn't fulfill any of the other endings; going through only the main levels without exploring side quests will lock you into this ending. The haphazard interaction of different Bloods permeate the forest, causing a wild mixture of effects. Some were healed, some were mutated, but the monstrosities grow increasingly grotesque. Even Corvus looks distraught at the chaos he has wrought. Perhaps more memories are needed for a better outcome...
  • Power of Vile Blood — Created using cores of Vile Blood — any combination of Odur's, God of the Fools, or Sound of the Abyss. The power of Vile Blood spreads across the kingdom, purging it of the plague, but causing all remaining life forms to be transformed into monstrosities. Human civilization is no more, and Corvus, emerging from the Philosopher's Hill alone, must face this savage new world that he helped bring about...
  • Blessing of Pure Blood — Created using cores of Pure Blood — Varg's and Urd's cores. The blessing of Pure Blood is spread all across the land, causing the monstrosities to die out, bringing an end to the plague, and further empowering those who were already Blessed. However, this would spark an age of conflict that leaves the kingdom fractured, as many opposing factions would aggressively pursue alchemy in their lust for power. Corvus and Aisemy leave the kingdom, keeping the research behind Hermes' Answer secret so that it will not be abused.
  • Harmonized Force — Created using cores of hybrid Blood — Mutated Odur's and Hanged Queen's. With the powers of Pure and Vile Blood in perfect balance, the empowered and the mutated were all returned to normal, leaving normal folk who are now tasked with rebuilding the Kingdom of Hermes. Corvus, as a product of this alchemy, would also fade from existence. However, the threat of the plague still looms, and Aisemy would continue her research to derive a cure.
  • Power of Cleansing — Same conditions as Harmonized Force, but after Corvus releases Hermes' Answer into the core of the Sacred Tree, walk forward towards the glowing light. Corvus grabs the crystal that holds Hermes' Answer and stabs it into himself, and he keels over. In addition to a perfect balance between Pure and Vile Blood, the essence of the alchemic processes that made Corvus, along with his memories, disseminate across the land. The mutations were reversed, and the populace, receiving Corvus' memories, understand that the misuse of alchemy was the root of the tragedy. These memories will linger in generations to come, encouraging more responsible use of these dangerous techniques. But for now, humanity must continue to deal with the plague...
• Mysterious Waif: Aisemy accompanies Corvus by helping him recall and providing exposition on the various story-important items that Corvus recovers. She manifests at mid-level Beacons and beckons him to return to the hub at the end of each level.
• No-Damage Run: Downplayed — The "Piece of Cake" Steam achievement is awarded by defeating a boss without using potions. The most straightforward way to do this is to aim for a no-damage run, but the requirements allow for some room for error, letting you take non-lethal damage or use a healing skill without getting disqualified.
• Optional Boss: The God of the Fools, the Sound of the Abyss, Mutated Odur, and Urd don't need to be defeated to complete the game, but having their Cores on hand will allow you to see more of the game's Multiple Endings.
• Potion-Brewing Mechanic: Your Healing Potions can be upgraded to have ingredient slots, and you can freely reassign the ingredients among your potions to change their behavior, akin to Socketed Equipment. Mixing a potion with a specific combination of ingredients reveals a "recipe" that imparts a unique effect on top of the individual ingredient effects.
• Power Copying:
  • Charging a Claw attack lets Corvus "reave" the Plague Weapon from an enemy, giving him a one-time use of their weapon.
  • Defeating enemies can yield Skill Shards that are used to unlock and upgrade Plague Weapons associated with them. They can be used repeatedly, but each cast costs Energy and sets them on a short cooldown.
• Regenerating Health:
  • All enemies will regain health if left untouched for long enough. Inflicting Wounds converts part of their white health bar into green, which indicates how far they will heal to. Claw Damage lets you inflict real damage to an enemy, depleting this green portion and eventually exposing an enemy to a Finishing Move. Investing in the Plague Wounds talents extends how long it takes until enemies start regenerating and slows the regen rate.
  • The Long-Acting Potion restores more health than the General Potion, but applies its healing over a period of time.
• Remixed Level: Once you complete a level, you unlock sub-quests that let you go through the level again with different objectives, sometimes in reverse and/or with different pathways made available.
• Shield Bash: The Shield Plague Weapon manifests a shield that blocks an attack and then clobbers the enemy in front of you shortly afterwards.
• Situational Sword: There are Talents that improve your aerial attacks, but they have a very niche use since the game lacks a jump function and launching yourself in the air requires other conditional Talents or Plague Weapon upgrades.
• Skill Point Reset: While you can freely reassign your Talents, your stat points can only be reassigned by expending a Forgotten Feather, which resets you to Level 1 and fully refunds all the Memory Shards in level-ups.
• Skill Scores and Perks: Each level you gain, up to level 25, gives a Talent point, which unlocks a Talent for Corvus. You can freely learn and un-learn Talents while resting at Beacons to adjust your build for the situation.
• Story Breadcrumbs: Most of the lore you can discover comes in the form of notes written by long-dead people. Reading them records them in your collection log to review, and they hint towards the Blood experiments conducted by the Kingdom, the ingredients for potion recipes, and the nature of the Cores you collect from bosses and how they can influence the ending.
• Super-Soldier: The elite knights are augmented with Pure Blood, making them very strong. Varg is the first of them, and he exemplifies both positive and negative effects of Pure Blood, as his prolonged exposure has made him a physical powerhouse but also a soulless monster. Urd is a knight who has received a large amount of Pure Blood at once and so retains some of her sanity, but seeing its effects on her fellow knights makes her utterly opposed to alchemy of any form.
• Unblockable Attack:
  • If you see a green line travel between an enemy and Corvus, that's a critical attack. These cannot be deflected and must either be dodged or interrupted with a timely Feather attack. Precise Deflect Lv2, however, lets you deflect a critical attack with a few side effects.
  • Red lines traveling between an enemy and Corvus indicate an Ultimate attack. These cannot be interrupted, parried, or blocked; you must dodge them.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Odur is the first main boss you face. He can slip out of your reach before unleashing a fast attack combo that's hard to interrupt, and fling cards at you if you try to keep your distance. He teaches the player the value of parrying and the danger of over-committing to an attack combo.