A Reforged RPG or a Rusty Relic?
There are various mythical swords engrained in pop culture forever. Excalibur, the sword of Gryffindor and the Master sword are all examples of when a particular object from a story becomes bigger than the story itself, driving home the mystique and beauty surrounding them.
Whilst not on the same level, Sword of the Necromancer tells the tale of a weapon that can bring back the dead; whether you use it to fight enemies or raise an army of monsters is down to you.
Aptly titled Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection, this title is a remake of an isometric 3D game of the same name (minus the resurrection part) from 2021. For a remake, the game is perfect, reimagining the mechanics to fit an entirely new axis, whilst keeping the main gist and gameplay of its predecessor. New systems such as the tactics system and Persona 3-esque rooms help to strengthen the unique identity as it finds its footing in the third dimension.
A Love Lost and a Dark Pact
To summarise the plot, players find themselves thrown into a mysterious crypt with a tomb ahead of them which, upon completing the tutorial, is revealed to be a loved one of the protagonist Tama. As she receives the Sword of the Necromancer, imbuing her with the ability to raise things from the dead. In a last ditch effort to save her loved one, Tama attempts to use it on her only to discover she isn’t powerful enough. Distraught and hopeless, a voice revealing itself to be the Necromancer entices her to journey further into the crypt to become powerful enough.
This simple yet effective plot, that oddly enough reminded me of Dante’s Inferno, gave enough incentive to venture deep into the crypt. The story is told through these gorgeous hand drawn images – reminiscent of the cutscenes from Sonic’s storybook games – which will captivate you, adding to the games aesthetic. This presentation is occasionally ruined by the use of cutscenes utilising the models from the game which, whilst serving their purpose, seem to be lacking multiple console generations behind.
Exploring the Depths
With an enticing story to live up to, has the beloved gameplay been converted appropriately into the third dimension? To put it simply, it’s complicated. Certain aspects such as the stage design definitely make improvements. With the added dimension, exploration is encouraged through the use of chests containing various items to use at the forge or weapons, and diary extracts you can discover the subtle lore with. These chests can usually be found following a wave of enemies as a reward for testing your combat skills.
Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection’s Combat and Tactics System
Speaking of combat, has it been translated as well as the exploration? Partly. Summons are very buggy due to the added axis, either getting stuck behind walls when you start an encounter, leaving you stranded, or not getting involved at all.
The combat itself is a step up when Tama is using her wide arsenal of weapons to attack enemies, but utilising the summons raises many issues which is a shame. The tactic system works like a well oiled machine with a huge array of options for how you want to approach encounters. Feeling like an aggressive approach? Program your summons to attack instantly and vice versa for a stealthy approach. In theory, this system would be a great addition and give Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection even more of a unique selling point, but in execution, a clunky AI system causes various bugs to appear.
Repetitive Rooms and Engaging Modes
Level design consists of many small scale levels filled with chests and enemies you must defeat to unlock a key to either the following room or monstrous boss. Each stage is well designed with criss crossing paths allowing various distinguished routes to the same destination filled with puzzles. Each stage has three tasks you can complete offering rewards and personal gratification as you prove your skills. The problem that arises from this design choice is repetitiveness that can eventually plague your play-through which, when paired with a lack of varied environments, leads to becoming fed up with the similar stages throughout.
To get a break from this monotony, the devs came up with the brilliant idea of other game modes to fill your playtime with. These consist of a boss rush placing you against five gargantuan horrors in a row, and the challenge mode which operates as a roguelike mode. Both game modes provided me with extra playtime, in certain cases more enjoyable than the main story. Specifically the challenge mode, I found myself favouring to spend my playthrough exploring the puzzles and bosses found there. I appreciated the addition of these modes for added playtime as many titles opt into the copy paste side quest category which becomes tedious extremely quickly.
Graphically, Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection is a little disappointing. The original isometric 3D art style hid the fact this wasn’t a triple-A game for modern consoles whilst allowing players to immerse themselves in the extremely well built up world presented. Whilst this is still possible in the remake, the almost polygonal models of characters paired with overall lack of polish sees the game’s presentation fall flat on its face on certain occasions.
A Promising Remake with Some Lingering Issues
To simplify this review, the contents of Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection are good, certain times great in fact. The tactics system that provides in-depth player customisation, along with the ability to experience various game modes that add replayability that isn’t just copy-paste fetch quests give a breath of fresh air to set this apart from its predecessor. Unfortunately, a severe lack of polish at times, paired with a level environment and design that may become bland after a while, stops it from achieving the potential greatness it may have.
If you love dungeon crawler RPGs or even roguelike games, resurrect your console from the dead and engage your fantasy brain as you hack and slash your way through Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection; a brilliant, yet flawed crypt of surprises.
Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection Rises from the Grave with a 3D Makeover – https://www.thexboxhub.com/sword-of-the-necromancer-resurrection-rises-from-the-grave-with-a-3d-makeover/
Buy Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/sword-of-the-necromancer-resurrection/9MSX644FWPRZ
