Sword of the Necromancer - Review

Sword of the Necromancer - Review

Review for Sword of the Necromancer. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam, the video game was released on 28/01/2021

Grimoire of Games, really suggestive name for an indie studio of videogames, after a campaign on Kickstarter - in collaboration with JanduSoft SL and Game Seer Ventures - its project of an RPG that mixes elements of Hack and Slash and Dungeon Crawler with a Rogue-lite component. The title of this ambitious project proposed for PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is: Sword of the Necromancer. Let's find out if this ambitious title will keep the promises made during the crowdfunding campaign.



Sword of the Necromancer - Review

Sword of the Necromancer rests on a banal but at least well-constructed and multi-faceted plot. Although told through static and not too varied artwork, the thread of the story holds, narrating the story of Tama - our heroine protagonist - who tries to bring her beloved Koko back to life from the kingdom of the dead. Through a glimpse of past deeds we become aware of the existence of the Sword of the Necromancer, an object capable of bringing the dead back to life.

Conquered the blade in the first exploration phase, which also serves as a tutorial, we discover however that this is not yet powerful enough. We will have to face the enemies in the procedural dungeons in order to acquire the necessary power to awaken Koko, who awaits us cold and motionless on the altar.

Sword of the Necromancer - Review

So far so good: the plot holds up and involves, although greater care of the artwork would have been appreciated, but where Sword of the Necromancer lends its side is on the gameplay side. Our protagonist has the ability to awaken and subdue fallen enemies, placing them as minions at her service. We will therefore have weapons and monsters in large quantities to choose from, but the first great limitation of Sword of the Necromancer lies precisely in the choice. Tama has only four equipable slots available, one of which is always occupied by the Necromancer's Sword.



If you consider that even the consumables that wearables occupy a space it goes without saying that the ability to reanimate the dead is little exploited. Furthermore, once summoned monsters do not follow the player during the adventure, who finds himself having to call them back after each stage. This mechanic becomes not very functional to the goal and in the long run even frustrating, since we will always try to subdue and use the strongest monster but every death will see us return to the altar from our beloved stripped of everything we had painstakingly conquered previously.

Sword of the Necromancer - Review

Fortunately, to alleviate these defects of Sword of the Necromancer there is the possibility, which unlocks after a few runs, to set the game settings: among the options we can choose not to lose the levels conquered and the skills acquired, as well as to bring the conquered monsters with us, provided that the boss on duty has not killed them.

The gameplay offers nothing more than the four fundamental attacks and an aerial dash, effectively making Sword of the Necromancer repetitive. The enemies, however varied, do not offer an adequate level of challenge except for the bosses at the end of the level, which offer more articulated patterns and better realized concepts.

Sword of the Necromancer - Review

We do not explain the tendency in the indie world to value bosses at the expense of ordinary creatures that are constantly recycled, even in Sword of the Necromancer, changing their color and adding status such as "ice" or "fire" which in fact they modify only the aesthetic aspect.


Finally, the mapping of the keys could have been better done since attack, resuscitation and interaction key are all relegated to the same button, creating a bit of confusion.



Sword of the Necromancer - Review

The soundtrack and the graphics sector defend themselves quite well, managing to involve without being invasive and to fascinate without being dull. The Spanish translation is good, with rich and profound texts, but at times too long. It denotes a desire to give depth that would be more appreciable if the title reported it in every aspect.

For the writer, after a test carried out on the Nintendo laptop which has always been able to enhance indies, the feeling is that we were in too much of a hurry to complete a job that would have required more time and attention to detail. Too bad, because the conditions were there and were valid.

Sword of the Necromancer - made by Grimorio of Games and published by JanduSoft SL and Game Seer Ventures for PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox ONE - is an RPG that mixes elements of Hack and Slash and Dungeon Crawler in one Rogue-lite component with high expectations but little substance. While appreciating the great passion placed in the development of the plot, we found ourselves encountering a series of technical problems that preclude the quality of the final product. Not that Sword of the Necromancer ultimately doesn't offer a few hours of enjoyable entertainment, but we could, and in our opinion should, do more.


► Sword of the Necromancer is a scrolling-indie RPG-Beat 'em up game developed by Grimorio of Games and published by JanduSoft SL Game Seer Ventures for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam, the video game was released on 28/01/2021

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