REVIEW : Necrosmith (PC)
Necrosmith is a fun 2D necromancer simulator in which you piece together an army of monsters and then see how these mindless creatures act in the game world. In the review, I explain what resulted from our Alawar Premium team’s suggestion.
Remember strong and fearsome necromancers who, with a wave of their hand, awaken the toughest warriors to perform all the dirty work for their creators, such as in Diablo 3, The Elder Scrolls, and other RPG / MMORPGs? Forget them; the Necrosmith hero can only aspire to such heights.
Here he is, by the way: a feeble and short man in a raincoat, escorted by a plump white cat. What kinds of horrors can we discuss?
The plot of Necrosmith is superficial and mainly addresses points “A” and “B” – a necromancer with a cat gets lost in a realm other than his own and is compelled to seek refuge in an abandoned tower. True, this environment turns out to be too hostile, and everyone from gigantic slugs to knights in armour is attempting to drive the “villain” away, so he will have to gather his army by collecting the remnants of monsters in the area.
Moving on to the basic mechanics of the game – the monster function Object() { [native code] } – with ease. Instead of raising zombies from graves or summoning skeletons and vampires, our hero creates them on his table from whatever is available.
Can you guess where this is going? Frankenstein’s monsters may have lifeless skeletal legs, a gigantic ogre body, a harpy head, and zombie-like limbs. You can mix body parts however you choose, resulting in the creation of ridiculous monsters with distinct traits.
This is undoubtedly entertaining, but you must still think in the game – not all combinations make sense, and precious mana is expended on their production, which is gained through battles or generated on a new game day.
You can uncover the secret formulas for strong fighters, such as those who can throw two lightning bolts from their hands, if you think carefully, or rather, if you do not build like a mad scientist. If there are sufficient “ingredients,” your recipes can also be stored and duplicated with a mouse click.
The unit can then be released on a walk – there is no other way to describe this process. Brains lack brains, but they have a lot of independence: they wander around the area, fight adversaries, acquire resources, conquer buildings, and expand the game’s borders. One of them can be subdued, but it will only be possible to control his movement while he continues to attack himself.
The map turned out to be massive, including biomes, resource buildings, treasure chests, and other interesting features. The dummy explores it on their own, but it’s also fun to clear the fog of war and see what’s out there. The investigation will yield not only resources but also drawings to improve the tower and scrolls to open the portal home. The latter is extremely rare and concealed in the most remote locations, but they lead to the final game.
Units proved to be far too foolish. The essence of Necrosmith boils down to the fact that you must protect the centre tower, to which throngs of foes flock purposely from all angles every game day.
If any unit travels directly into the forehead of such a mob, he will perish, regardless of whether he is a ranged or melee combatant. If you move to the back, you will almost certainly win because the adversaries do not react in any manner to our minions. You must intercept the warriors to prevent a “direct” collision, which would reduce the worth of limbs and mana.
It is apparent that the theory covers this defect – they argue that all created beings are ignorant and do not understand what they have in their hands. It’s just a shame that the most powerful unit, made for a hundred mana and from rare remains, dies in a split second.
As a result, I will not claim that Necrosmith is simple – units die quickly, a massive army cannot be raised, and a swarm of attackers will sweep away the tower in seconds. The gold coins minted throughout the “session” will be utilised for different improvements, such as new spells, recipe level increases, kitty upgrades, and other enhancements. Each subsequent try will feel easier than the one before it.
And there’s something to be excited about: the terrain, as previously stated, is massive, and the longer we live, the more interesting the remnants get and the adversaries become tougher. So you always start with skeletons, but there are also bits of harpies, vampires, ogres, elementals, demons, and other monsters’ corpses. The bestiary is impressive, which is a major benefit.
Enemies are also fascinating – we are attacked first by slugs and bats, followed by legions of peasants with pitchforks, armoured knights, and even bosses. At such times, the game encourages you to think rather than just entertain.
Necrosmith is an entertaining 2D game with undemanding pixel art in terms of visual and technical features. The clumsy interface, which takes up about a third of the screen at first, puzzles you, but you rapidly grow used to it. The only thing lacking is a mini-map that can be used to navigate. You can easily become disoriented in the enormous game universe.
The flight was flawless, with no faults, crashes, or other issues. Necrosmith is similar to Loop Hero in that it is a brave and honest indie game with unique gameplay and substantial content that will keep you immersed in a peculiar and humorous universe for a long time.
REVIEW : OUTRIDERS WORLDSLAYER EDITION (PC)
