Tag: Isometric

Let’s Play – Chants of Sennaar

Chants of Sennaar is a puzzle game that involves translating languages based on the interactions that you have with the world and the people in it. We play as a wanderer, exploring the tower, ascending our way through a variety of communities.

While the gameplay largely consists of learning the languages, there is also a lot of learning to be done about the way these different people live, interreact and perceive the world. Exploring the environments, taking in both the diegetic landscapes and the art direction itself tells a story beyond words.

From the moment that I played the demo I knew this needed to be a Let’s Play game, as the only thing more fun than solving these puzzles is sharing the thought process that leads us there. Whether you are playing Chants of Sennaar yourself or watching along, I hope your experience with the game is as beautiful as mine was!

Full playlist available on Youtube!

The Thaumaturge – Demo Impressions

Taking demons for our own.

The Thaumaturge

Developer: Fool’s Theory

Release Date: 5 December 2023

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

The Thaumaturge drew me in with its well written dialogue, and kept me with the hellish creature design, intrigue, setting, atmosphere and gradual learning curve. While it isn’t the most polished game that I have ever played, the ambition of this game is to be respected and I am amazed at how few issues I had considering the scope of what is on offer.

Fool’s Theory are clearly aiming for high quality in every aspect in the game and while performance has a little bit to go (at least for me on my machine), they are well on their way to their goals and I see no reason that they don’t achieve them with flying colours.

The game itself looks stunning. The environments make me want to be there despite eldritch horrors and the cold – and I hate the cold. The characters look fantastic which is not an easy feat, and the UI is not only cohesive but it is obvious how much care has gone into creating the entire look of this game. Opening the menu and exploring the various pages is a treat for both lore junkies and art appreciaters alike.

As for the rest of the game, we play as Wiktor, a Thaumaturge which is a person with the ability to not only sense Salutors – the best way I can describe them are demon type creatures in a parallel plain, affecting the world around us – but can learn to control them too, to both great personal gain, and cost. This links the story and the combat, as solving others problems benefits us in ways they do not know. Once we control a Salutor, they help us out in the turn based combat.

While combat felt strange and barebones at first, that is for a purpose. The further you delve into the demo, the more elements are introduced, converting it from a brutal fist fights to intricate battles. Enemies hit hard and you dont have a huge HP pool, which makes health management an essential part of every choice you make. Hurting their focus being just as important as damage, with more options unlocking as you go.

Overall, I had fun with The Thaumaturge and I am certainly going to keep an eye on reviews. Wishing all the best for release at the end of the year!

Demo Length – 1 hour 45 mins.

At a glance
+ Ambitious.
+ The writing/dialogue.
+ The art in the menus.
+ Creature design.
+ Everyones hair.
+ The progression of combat. There is more to it than there initially seems and they make sure you understand one element before adding the next.
– Cutscenes and loading in weren’t the smoothest but the demo makes clear this isn’t representative of the final quality.

More demo impressions here…
More from Steam Next Fest October 2023 here…

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