Summary
In many ways,The Thaumaturgedelivers a CRPG experience that is both familiar and unfamiliar, mixing tried-and-true gameplay elements with an atypical setting and plot to provide something altogether unique. While most of the standard elements of a CRPG are on full display inThe Thaumaturge, the game’s framing of them through its historical setting and supernaturally-charged protagonist and plot bring something intriguing to the conversation. Right as the CRPG genre is having a bit of a moment in the limelight thanks to 2023’s groundbreaking success ofBaldur’s Gate 3,the things thatThe Thaumaturgedoes well should provide an example to other games in the genre as it continues to evolve.
Ahead ofThe Thaumaturge’s release, developer Fool’s Theory made it very clear how important it was for its game to tell an authentic story using the backdrop of early-20th Century Eastern Europe. Considering that many members of the team are from Poland or of Polish descent, mixing real-world history and cultural experience with the mystery and horror at the heart ofThe Thaumaturge’s plothelps to elevate the game’s narrative and results in the title sitting alongside other recent genre highlights likeDisco Elysium. Perhaps most importantly,The Thaumaturgeunderstands the fundamental relationship the human psyche has with fear, blending the real and the fantastic to tap into that insight.
The Thaumaturge’s Blending of Reality and Fantasy is a Potent Mix
BeforeThe Thaumaturge, another game that would successfully blend real-world historical influences with a compelling mystery at the core of its narrative was 2022’sPentiment. However, unlikePentiment(which would merely dabble in the supernatural and suggest the influence of otherworldly beings),The Thaumaturge’s Salutorsand protagonist Wiktor’s powers leave little room to doubt the impact that the supernatural has on its story. Rather than simply suggest or hint at the supernatural horror elements at play,The Thaumaturgeleans headlong into embracing its mix of horror and history. And, as it turns out, the history of early 20th Century Europe was so wrought with turmoil and turbulence that there’s plenty of real-world horror for developer Fool’s Theory to draw from, too.
Eastern Europe would prove to be a major player on the world stage in the events leading to both of history’s World Wars, and several of the characters Wiktor rubs shoulders with throughoutThe Thaumaturge’s story count themselves among the more prominent and impactful personalities with ties either direct or indirect to some of the most pivotal moments in European history. Ultimately, this leads to what should otherwise be implausible seeming plausible, and that blurring of the lines between fact and fiction makesThe Thaumaturgea great narrative example forother CRPGs.
How The Thaumaturge Taps Into Lovecraft’s Ideas on Horror
In addition to helping create some of the earliest known literary works of cosmic horror and birthing the Cthulhu mythos, 20th Centuryauthor H.P. Lovecraftwas also a prolific writer on the subject of horror itself. Lovecraft once wrote that “the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown,” implying that good horror should tap into one of the most primordial fears a person can have by suggesting more than showing. Similar to Lovecraft, modern horror mastermind Stephen King once told an anecdote regarding an audience having fear of a locked door because of what might be behind it. Opening the door reveals what was actually there, transferring what was unknown into the known and breaking down the audience’s fear in the process.
While thesupernatural elements ofThe Thaumaturgeare front and center throughout nearly every facet of the title’s gameplay, the game never loses sight of the importance of the mystery at the core of its narrative. Additionally, just as much is unknown about the Salutors themselves and the extent of Wiktor’s powers as to allow the player’s imagination to do most of the heavy lifting in place of an exposition dump.The Thaumaturge’s horror succeeds not just by blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, but by respecting its audience to know the difference and fill in the gaps.
The Thaumaturge
WHERE TO PLAY
The Thaumaturge is an isometric, story-rich RPG with a unique take on turn-based combat, character development features, and investigation mechanics, facing you with morally ambiguous choices – set in a world teeming with mysterious powers and strange ethereal beings called salutors.The year is 1905. Warsaw lives under the yoke of imperial Russian tsardom. Its inhabitants constitute a diverse group of different ancestries, views, and beliefs with often conflicting interests: Russian soldiers, Jewish merchants, Polish townspeople, and more. Despite the circumstances, the city is a buzzing metropolis, where one can attend a breathtaking party with the high society, and later get robbed in one of the dark alleys of the Praga district. A city of great hopes and dreams on one hand and dark desires on the other.A thaumaturge bears both a gift and a burden at the same time. This parallel holds true for Wiktor Szulski, the game’s titular protagonist, who is drawn back to the tumultuous streets of 20th-century Warsaw by family matters. The gift of thaumaturgy is intertwined with family legacy, passed down through one’s ancestors. This mystical inheritance significantly shapes Wiktor’s life journey tied around a pursuit of unearthly entities and their hosts. As only a thaumaturge can tame these ethereal entities - known to a select few as salutors - utilizing their mystical abilities to discover secrets hidden within the human soul and speak to the Darkness, no one understands quite like Wiktor how everyone suffers their own demons.
