OverBorder Studio’s Thymesia, an action-RPG Souls-like, received a gameplay demo that was publicly playable earlier this month, between May 2 and May 9. The demo was released as part of Steam’s Going Rogue Festival and enabled fans to get a glimpse of Thymesia’s core combat system in what looks like the opening of the game.
This may end up being an isolated, modified demo apart from the actual game’s original tutorial, but regardless it showed fans what its combat iterates from other Souls-likes, as well as what makes it unique. Regular enemies were faced in tight level designs, and interesting mechanics were explored such as diseased plague weapons, claw wound attacks to prevent enemy health regeneration, and more. Now, Thymesia has unveiled changes made to it since feedback from the demo has been received.
Thymesia is pleased to announce several significant changes that have been made to combat since this demo, which were apparently inspired by the feedback and comments players had left after their experiences with the week-long Steam demo. Changes implemented include a general reduction in wind-up animations for the saber, invincibility frame extensions when deflecting or dodging and a major buff to the feather mechanic which will extend the window for “interrupting critical attacks.” These are all substantial changes made to Thymesia’s basic combat, and all within a month’s time.
Though the demo was only a sliver of the actual experience, it was beneficial for Thymesia to share an early experience so that players could get their hands on it. It does differ from traditional Souls-like combat with new mechanics that are used intermittently; for example, enemies will recover health lost if players are unable to frequently wound or stagger them.
Then, feathers are used to interrupt critical attacks that are more difficult to evade. Still, there are likely many more abilities that have not yet been shared. Thymesia’s Bloodborne-esque atmosphere does enough for its aesthetic style to elevate it among other Souls-like games in recent memory, but its demo did present some clunky animation frames and awkward I-frame pacing.
The fact that Thymesia has been transparent about its gameplay and requested feedback from fans in order to improve it further shows that OverBorder Studio is determined to have Thymesia in a desirable condition when it launches later this summer. Thymesia has a release date of August 9, so fans do not have long to wait if they are eagerly anticipating it and the new changes made to service the fluidity of combat.
Thymesia launches on August 9 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.