Sword of the Necromancer

Although Sword of the Necromancer has some exciting ideas, they never fully pay off. Be sure to check out some gameplay footage first to get a feel of what this roguelike has to offer.

62%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, stability

57% User Score Based on 172 reviews

Critic Score 67%Based on 12 reviews

Platforms

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About

In "Sword of the Necromancer," players explore dungeons, battle enemies, and gather loot as a rogue-like dungeon crawler. The titular sword grants the ability to raise defeated foes as companions, adding a strategic layer to combat. With permanent death and procedurally generated levels, each playthrough offers a unique challenge.

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57%

Audience ScoreBased on 172 reviews

story38 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

The game features a unique mechanic of resurrecting defeated enemies to use as allies, adding a fresh twist to the gameplay.
The story is engaging and emotional, with well-executed voice acting that enhances the narrative experience.
The art style and soundtrack are appealing, creating an immersive atmosphere that complements the gameplay.

The controls can feel clunky and unresponsive, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
The inventory system is overly restrictive, limiting players to only a few slots for items and summons, which can hinder strategic gameplay.
The AI for summoned monsters is often poor, making them ineffective in combat and diminishing the impact of the resurrection mechanic.

story
111 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
63%
3%
The story of the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it engaging and emotionally resonant, particularly appreciating the love story between the protagonists and the voice acting. However, many critiques highlight its predictability, cheesiness, and lack of depth, often feeling overshadowed by gameplay issues and repetitive mechanics. Overall, while the narrative has its charms and touches on meaningful themes, it may not be enough to compensate for the game's shortcomings in other areas.
- “The story is beautiful, the voice acting is great, and the attention to detail has blown my mind.”
- “Sword of the Necromancer manages to bring something new to the flooded rogue-like genre while providing a heartwarming story.”
- “A great little dungeon crawler with a nice story presented in a visual novel style!”
- “A story and voice acting so cheesy it made me bang my head against the wall to endure it.”
- “The story is as cliched as it gets and too sappy.”
- “The story is really unoriginal and forced.”
gameplay
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
53%
18%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the unique monster resurrection mechanic and the overall concept, while others find the execution lacking, describing it as slow, repetitive, and clunky. Many critiques highlight a lack of variety in combat and environments, leading to a mundane experience despite the potential for engaging mechanics. Overall, while the game has a solid foundation, it struggles to maintain player interest due to its gameplay flaws.
- “The gameplay is cool, and I found the mechanics of resurrecting the dead and using them like Pokémon really interesting and fun.”
- “Engaging gameplay and likeable characters.”
- “The gameplay is pretty good; reminds me a lot of the 2D Zelda games, with some RPG elements mixed in.”
- “So the gameplay is mostly walking slowly through very large rooms using a small selection of items.”
- “The gameplay is extremely clunky, visuals are very low tier pixel art, sounds are buggy, for some reason monster familiars take up weapon spaces.”
- “The entirety of the gameplay is far too slow and the 'tactics' are very basic and rudimentary.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
70%
10%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the use of outdated pixel art that feels inauthentic and lacks depth. While some appreciate the art style and find it charming, others describe it as simplistic and bland, detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the visuals are seen as a significant drawback, with calls for better quality and more modern graphical options.
- “Love the game's art style and combat; I would recommend this to others. It's so much fun making overpowered builds and one-shotting every enemy.”
- “It's a really comfy experience, and once you have the hang of the possibilities of capturing any enemy and fighting back with it, it becomes quite chill with the cutesy pixel art, Celtic aesthetics, and orchestrated music.”
- “Haven't gotten far in this game but I am loving it; the music, the art style, and the fighting are all very fun to me.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “Visually, this is a ham-fisted mess, a dog's breakfast of bad visuals, and this kind of laziness and poor quality should never be foisted on gamers.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
music
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
24%
13%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the soundtrack as stellar and memorable, particularly the final song, while others find it merely adequate or functional without being groundbreaking. Many players appreciate the music's ability to set the mood and enhance the gameplay experience, especially in combat scenarios, though some note that it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a solid complement to the game's atmosphere, despite varying opinions on its memorability.
- “If nothing else, I love the soundtrack; stellar work on that.”
- “The story, art, and soundtrack are really, really good.”
- “The music sets the perfect tone for delving into a dungeon filled with the monsters created by the mysterious necromancer.”
- “The music in the game certainly exists, not anything worthy of praise or admonishment, just mid.”
- “The soundtrack also wears on you.”
- “[A well-told story with appealing voice work, very occasional moments of engagement, the soundtrack is solid enough].”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, often requiring excessive farming to build effective character setups. The clunky inventory system and lack of quality-of-life features contribute to a frustrating experience, making runs feel repetitive and slow, especially with poorly telegraphed enemy attacks and linear boss encounters. Overall, the grinding can detract from the enjoyment of the game, leading to a sense of monotony.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The enemies often don't have great telegraphs for attacks, which, combined with the stiff combat controls, leads to taking a lot of hits unless you play so safe that the game ends up feeling kind of slow and tedious.”
- “Since you cannot skip the bosses, and this is a very linear game, the bosses have already become stale and tedious after just an hour of play.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find "Sword of the Necromancer" to have a touching and emotional narrative, particularly appreciating its representation of a lesbian relationship. Despite its rogue-like gameplay, the game successfully delivers a heartfelt story that resonates with players, enhancing the overall experience. However, some users express skepticism about becoming emotionally invested in a game that may not meet their expectations in other areas.
- “Sword of the Necromancer is an action game with rogue-like elements, most of which can be disabled, and an emotional and touching story.”
- “The story is great and touching, with two lesbian leads.”
- “Sword of the Necromancer manages to bring something new to the flooded rogue-like genre while providing a heartwarming story.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The humor in the game is highlighted as entertaining and engaging, complementing its interesting plot and solid gameplay. While some players note that the maps can lead to comically long traversals, the overall experience is described as funny and enjoyable, motivating players to continue exploring the story.
- “It's a really funny and entertaining game with an interesting plot behind it, something that I personally find important and makes me want to keep playing not only to advance in the dungeon and see more monsters and bosses, but to learn more about the history of Tama and Koko.”
- “The humor in this game is spot on, with clever dialogue and amusing situations that keep me laughing throughout my playthrough.”
- “The quirky characters and their hilarious interactions add a delightful layer of comedy that makes the gameplay even more enjoyable.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is criticized for its clunky gameplay, low-quality visuals, and numerous sound bugs, including inconsistent volume levels. Additionally, the issue of monster familiars occupying weapon slots further detracts from the overall experience.
- “The gameplay is extremely clunky, visuals are very low-tier pixel art, sounds are buggy, and for some reason, monster familiars take up weapon spaces.”
- “The sound effects are also buggy, sometimes being ridiculously loud despite having the volume set low.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game offers a cool concept with some level of replayability beyond the main story, suggesting that there are elements that encourage revisiting the game.
- “It was a cool concept with some replayability after the main story.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game is well-optimized, running smoothly on all modern PCs, providing a comfortable and user-friendly gameplay experience.
- “The game runs smoothly on every modern PC, and the gameplay is very comfortable and easy to handle.”
- “The optimization is impressive, allowing for seamless performance even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how well the game is optimized; it maintains a steady frame rate and quick load times.”

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67%Critics’ scoreBased on 12 critic reviews

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8h Median play time

10h Average play time

3-18h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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