The upcoming Souls-like game Thymesia has turned a lot of heads due to its sleek presentation and strong similarities to Bloodborne. Players control Corvus as he makes his way through a kingdom that has fallen to an alchemical plague. It plays out much like a typical Souls game with players navigating the streets, dungeons, and caverns of a ruined nation. It's not clear how close Thymesia will stick to typical metroidvania, Souls-like elements, but with its promised replayability and customization, it seems that Thymesia will allow for different routes through its world.
Corvus is an amnesiac, and much of the game will be spent collecting his memories. These can impact Thymesia's ending, and combined with different choices and certain items may lead to a number of different results. More pertinent for the gameplay is Corvus' ability to collect plague strains and convert them into weapons. Alongside his mundane arms are various phantasmal attacks that resemble Weapon Arts and Skills from Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring. Add in the usual character upgrading of an action-RPG, and it seems Thymesia will embody one of the best traits of Souls-likes as a genre.
Thymesia Offers Parts to Make Custom Builds
The Dark Souls games, and other titles in their lineage, have always centered a customization aspect. That sometimes means a player can lock themself in a dead-end build, but there are plenty of weapons, spells, and armor sets that work. A good source of replay value is choosing an unusual primary weapon to commit to, such as a fist weapon, a scythe, or a whip. Thymesia may not have as many different items and spells as the average FromSoftware game, but it does have a commitment to diversity.
There will be a number of things to upgrade in Thymesia, not the least of which being Corvus himself. While it’s unclear if equipment other than Corvus’ crow-like garb and twin blades will be a major part of the game, he can increase stats like in any Souls game. Another mechanic similar to Sekiro’s brand of customization has been teased, involving the player unlocking and upgrading abilities. A raven transformation is mentioned in Thymesia’s press releases, and trailers show Corvus gaining access to a small aerial move pool by jumping off of enemies, so there’s plenty of room to build out abilities.
Thymesia's Disease Weapons Parallel Elden Ring's Ashes of War
The emphasis on builds in Thymesia primarily relies on plague weapons. By unknown means, Corvus can convert diseases from enemies and bosses into weapons. These weapons act similarly to the special attacks in FromSoftware’s last few games, probably down to needing a resource to work. Trailers suggest more than one can be equipped at once, and that they can be used in rapid succession, which promotes a lot of build variety.
Whereas in Elden Ring a weapon skill needs to be attached to a corresponding weapon type, Thymesia appears to support any weapon and plague weapon combination a player wishes. These weapons are themselves unique weapon types with corresponding attacks like a bow or a hammer, so players can carry a lot of different abilities at once. While Elden Ring might encourage players to swap out Ashes of War for added damage types, Thymesia lets players commit to upgrading plague weapons and carving out their own build. Thymesia is doing its own take on Dark Souls builds, and it will be interesting to see how its action unfolds once players start their runs.
Thymesia will release in 2022 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.