Category: Reviews

“The Thaumaturge” is a story-driven RPG with morally ambiguous choices, taking place in the culturally diverse world of the early 20th-century Warsaw.
In this world, Salutors exist: esoteric beings that only Thaumaturges can truly perceive and use to their needs.

This story-driven RPG was developed in Unreal Engine 5 for the PC, PS5, and XBOX Series X by “Fool’s Theory” and published by “11 Bit Studios“, both are located in Poland.

A force that cannot be ignored

A thaumaturge bears both a gift and a burden at the same time. This parallel holds true
for Wiktor Szulski, who is drawn back to the tumultuous streets of 20th-century Warsaw
by family matters. The gift of thaumaturgy significantly shapes Wiktor’s life journey tied
around, a pursuit of unearthly Salutors and their hosts.

As only a thaumaturge can tame them, utilizing their mystical abilities to discover secrets hidden within the human soul and speak to the Darkness, no one understands quite like Wiktor how everyone suffers
their own demons.

Obedience of beings

Only Thaumaturges can truly perceive the presence of esoteric Salutors and use their powers to their needs. Once captured, Salutors – whose existence is imperceptible to ordinary people – faithfully obey their masters.

Next to being capable of influencing people’s temperaments and affinities, they serve as a useful tool during fights. And be prepared to be dragged into many of those from the dark alleys of infamous
districts like Praga and more.

Warsaw, 1905 AD

This isometric, story-rich RPG will portray Warsaw under the yoke of imperial Russian
tsardom. Its inhabitants constitute a diverse group of different ancestries, views, and
beliefs with often conflicting interests.

Here hopes and dreams mix with dark desires, because darkness constantly lurks and waits to stigmatize its victims. “The Thaumaturge” will offer a unique take on turn-based combat, character development features, and investigation mechanics, and confront gamers with morally ambiguous choices.

My thoughts

I simply love it.
The gameplay is easy, just navigate with a left mouse-click to a spot or walk with WASD. However, if you use the keyboard, you cannot walk in a straight line and often have to use W with D or A to zic-zac through Warsaw’s streets. With a right mouse-click, you can use your powerful Thaumaturge senses, who lead to hidden objects or forgotten stuff, or you follow the thoughts of people, and it leads to side quests.

The battle system is round based, and you can use your Salutors to aid yourself, or harm your opponents.
It’s relatively easy and good explained. Think about some strategies, and even 4 enemies with guns and knives are no problem. Also, don’t forget to max out your skills.

It’s more story-driven rather than RPG, your choices in answers are limited. But that’s not a problem at all, since the story is excellent. It’s a lot of fun to see or interact with some of the famous people of that time.
It exceeded my expectations… and don’t forget to visit your barber or tailor sometimes.

System requirements

Minimum:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (6 core with 3,5 Ghz) or Intel i5-10400F (6 core with 2,9 Ghz)
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Radeon RX580 (8GB) or Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) or Intel Arc A750 8GB
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 25 GB available space
• Additional Notes: SSD (Recommended), HDD (Supported). Framerate might drop in graphics-intensive scenes. Ultrawide screen supported.

Recommended:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (6 core with 3,5 Ghz) or Intel i5-10400F (6 core with 2,9 Ghz)
• Memory: 32 GB RAM
• Graphics: Radeon 6700xt (12GB) or Nvidia RTX 3060 TI (8GB) or Intel Arc A770 16GB
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 25 GB available space
• Additional Notes: SSD. Framerate might drop in graphics-intensive scenes. Ultrawide screen supported.

December 4th. was the publishing date for “The Edge of Allegoria”, a turn-based 2D role-playing game by Button Factory Games and CobraTekku Games (CTG). Released on PC with Game Boy aesthetics, adult humor and a huge game world with over 25 hours of gameplay.

This unique pixel RPG is definitely not aimed at children. “The Edge of Allegoria” is available for PC on Steam for €19.99, and is fully localized in both English and German.
Button Factory Games boss Joe Picknell’s describtion of the game: “Some Nudity and Sexual Content, Pervasive Coarse Language, Alcohol and Drug Use“

What’s it about?

Joe Picknell of Toronto-area Button Factory Games told us at 2024 Gamescom about his game in-house development since 2021, published by CobraTekku Games. In this lovable indie 2D RPG full of monsters, magic, and adventure, the protagonist embarks on a journey to put an end to the ever-present danger (we won’t spoiler, but it’s as simple as that).

When asked what Joe Picknell thinks the best feature of the game is, the long-time pixel artist answered “the dog,” meaning the animal companion, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a dog. “The Edge of Allegoria” has a retro look from the Game Boy era and should take around 25 to 30 hours to complete. It offers 96 different weapons, 50 pieces of armor, 145 monster types, 41 boss fights, 31 dungeons, and 6 divine beings with their own domains.

The game is clearly designed for a player who has fun with the easy game mechanics and the mature language. It can be played either with keyboard or controller and you won’t need many settings.

Recommendation?

Simple answer – YES
Enjoy the time with this extraordinary game, and remember to pet your best friend from time to time.