Thysiastery Review
A Roguelike Dungeon Crawling Jailbreak
First-person turn-based dungeon-crawling is an RPG style as old as they come, giving players many ways of combining different classes and abilities to conquer difficult enemies. DIRGA's Thysiastery builds on the sub-genre's basic concepts with the wrinkles of roguelike gameplay, unique skill progression, and random character creation. The game focuses on best utilizing its random characters, and making the most out of skill customization and uncertain treasure collection. Its roguelike nature, makes the gameplay fast-paced, and building parties is enjoyable even in defeat, making for a fun yet basic loop.
The player's first character -- who can be customized and named, or randomly chosen -- wakes up branded in a jail cell. They only recall where they came from, with some classes offering different skills available to learn based on that, but otherwise there is just an introductory backstory to the world that rarely comes up within the gameplay. The only motive is escape, and gameplay is the full focus for Thysiastery . Enemies and equipment lean into a combination of sci-fi, modern, and fantasy in a way that juxtaposes everything to give the world a bit of character, yet it still feels like everything fits in.
The advantage of creating the first party member to explore the labyrinth in Thysiastery is that it gives a sense of normalcy within the random roguelike confines. Random characters can still turn out well, though the biggest hurdle to survival is making sure magic, to hit elemental weaknesses and heal party members consistently, is covered. There are a lot of skills in the game, so even the most unlucky characters can be worked into something productive. With consumable items being sparse and healing spells rarely appearing on non-dedicated classes, finding a way to keep party members alive, usually through a dedicated healer, is a priority. After clearing the introductory floor, a mural with a fighter, mage, and healer allows players to choose an archetype and gain the relevant skills to fill that role within the player's party. The only other guaranteed party member, randomly generated, can be found at the campsite starting off the second biome. Otherwise, players fill out their party by breaking characters out of cages that may be found on the randomly generated exploratory floors. All in all, players can collect seven total members on a full run, presuming no one dies, and being able to mix and match them into a good party is definitely easy enough to do.
[caption id="attachment_187876" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A small wizard by itself in a labyrinth. It is easy to be more scared of it then it is of the party.[/caption]
However, while it is easy enough to make a viable party, there’s a big asterisk in there due to the natural difficulty of combat. Random combinations of characters can only succeed if players survive long enough to make them powerful. Levelling up is necessary to garner the skill points to either learn or unlock the powerful skills that every character can access. All six skills in the basic skill tree can be learned normally, with up to four extra abilities available to be gained by developing a new ability through one they already know, or by being taught one of another character’s learned skills. Developing and teaching can branch characters out from the path they're already on, giving a lot of customization. Developing a skill always results in the same follow-up ability being learned, but Thysiastery always presents this as unknown, leaving it to the player to remember what developments are worthwhile to pursue.
The randomized layout rarely does equipment gathering any favours. Some aspects are set in stone; for example, the first floor players wake up on will have four treasure chests in it, and the boss floor of that same biome will have two in the same spots each time. That does not mean that anything is set for anywhere else; some playthroughs have treasure in abundance, while others have very little. The most important feature is that each non-boss floor has a merchant hiding somewhere on it. This merchant will offer a somewhat randomized trade one-for-one with something the player has in their inventory. This includes currently equipped gear, so it can be quite tantalizing to have an exciting offer, even when it's for the party's strongest current weapon. Every piece of equipment found, even as early as the first floor, can be a lifesaver, simply by being better than what players start off with, and there is no guarantee they will find any better.
[caption id="attachment_187875" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Just a giant rot golem, things will be fine.[/caption]
Thysiastery is not a long game and can be completed within fifteen hours. There are four total biomes, each ending in a standardized boss floor, with the remaining two floors in each biome being randomized and containing a few guaranteed points of interest. Each randomized floors contains a merchant, a tablet that gives all active party members a skill point, an altar where vitality can be sacrificed for any other attribute, and a caged potential party member. Occasionally, a mirror can also appear that either duplicates an item or steals what's placed on it. This leads to a lot of exploration as players will want to make sure each of the points is found while enemies constantly spawn in. If players decide to stick around fighting too long, a special enemy appears that will likely defeat the party, but the timeframe on its appearance is pretty generous, and the entire floor can typically be cleared before it shows up.
The party and the enemies each move in tandem, one square of the labyrinth grid at a time, though enemies can initiate combat before players join, giving them a few hits if players dawdle. Since enemies will hound the party after seeing them, unless it's in a rare open area, close to a campfire, or a ladder to the next floor, it is just easiest to fight the enemy as soon as they are seen. If players run but can't hide, other enemies can join in, making a potentially difficult fight even worse.
Soon after the party begins exploring the labyrinth, they gain focus. While focused, all of the skills players would use cost a fraction of the Technique Points (TP) needed. Manipulating TP this way feels like an expectation due to how powerful routine enemies can be and how high their health totals can get, easily eclipsing a regular set of strikes. Parties will perish, often, as the random luck on equipment can sometimes just feel impossible to overcome, but with fortune just around the corner, even a bad start can turn around quickly. There is always a sense that each run is winnable with what's available on hand; some just feel like the chances are much lower at finding that perfect set of circumstances than others. This feeling is compounded by the merchant's trade options, which can only be viewed once, and sometimes it feels like not having an item from a nearby treasure chest can mean that an offer has shifted or been taken away due to not having what is expected from the party at that point. Combat always finishes swiftly, win or lose, and with the varying party member compositions and skills, it never feels stagnant, making it easy to pop in and out of to enjoy a run or two. It is a battle of quick wits that feels contrary to the thoughtful dungeon crawlers that make up the genre's past.
[caption id="attachment_187874" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A wandering merchant's wares are never offers to take lightly.[/caption]
Thysiastery is an interesting mix of old school when it comes to its presentation elements. The music is very much ambience, never shifting out of that background gear while providing a foreboding dread that tickles tension levels as players explore the labyrinth. At first glance, the visuals seem minimalist with only one monochrome colour utilized, until probing deeper and noticing the use of styling, shading, and background details. These same details are put into the enemy designs that grow on players with each encounter. The way that enemies can slowly materialize from the shadowy background to stalk the party until combat begins, adds to the tension that the music hammers in, particularly when a powerful monster is just ahead. Character portraits in the menus have that same level of detail, but can look more muddled when viewed on the UI during exploration.
Thysiastery is a simple title at heart. The roguelike dungeon crawling always has a sense of random luck in mind that can cause a lingering frustration due to how easily a party can be defeated. This frustration can give way to a pleasant surprise when weak party members strive farther than expected, or when that next treasure chest or merchant visit changes everything for the better. The quick-paced combat is always fun to dive into, and the amount of skills gives plenty of viable variety to tinker with in party composition. Charging blindly is not a usual feeling for the typical first-person turn-based dungeon crawler, but the easy replayability found here makes it exciting to explore all the possibilities, and despite a decent amount of trial and error it is a worthwhile chance to take for fans of roguelikes and dungeon crawlers alike.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
The post Thysiastery Review appeared first on RPGamer .
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