The Thaumaturge

Not Exactly What I Expected, But Still A Enjoyable Experience.
I was intrigued by this game when I played the demo during last year's Steam Next Fest. The dark fantasy settings and the subtle writing really caught my attention. The story and what's in store later down the line interest me greatly. I imagine the story being similar to that of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files but in Central Europe. Well, what I experience in the full game is not exactly what I anticipated it would be. The story centers more around human struggles and less supernatural stuff, and the gameplay also has some confusing designs. Yet, I still find the The Thaumaturge an interesting ride.
Thing I Like About The Thaumaturge:
Compliments
→The story isn't what I expected, but it's still interesting to see how a thaumaturge manages his way into society.
→I enjoy the writing of this game.
→ I love how the game recreates some of the well-known folklore creatures in its style, eerie but wonderful.
→I actually learned a lot about Polish history.
Things I Like And Dislike About The Thaumaturge:
Combat and Builds
Like
→Builds: Even though you only have four abilities throughout the game, the options to buff those abilities are quite rich. From simple upgrades like more damage and additional debuff, to interesting ones like granting your salutor faster moves or breaking enemies down faster for finishers. It is important to customize each ability to fit the salutor of your playstyle.
→Salutors: Probably the most interesting part of the combat. Salutors have their own abilities, though they are not upgradable. You can freely choose which one to use during battles. Each of them specializes in different aspects of combat: some are great debuffer/finisher, some focus on reducing Focus points, and some are hybrids. It is interesting to note that salutors synergize quite well with each other. With the right combination and your buffed abilities, it is not uncommon to instantly turn the tide in harder battles.
Dislike
→Confusing Design: What I don't like about combat is that you have to use your basic abilities first before you can use your upgraded ones. I genuinely don't know what the logic behind this design is. Not only does this design make the fights, even the easier ones, take longer than they should, but it also takes up space, which could potentially introduce new alternative abilities for true build variety.
→Encounters: I am disappointed to see how little variety the enemy roster contains, and there are no thaumaturge or actual salutor fights either. Enemies only hit you, make you bleed with different knives, and shoot you. That's it. There is no debuffer, no buffer, and no other class. Traits could increase the difficulty of the fight, except we can easily break them with one move from the right salutor.
Things I Dislike About The Thaumaturge:
1. The Whole "Detective" Thing
The other part of the game is to run around the map, spamming your perception button, to see if any red particles concentrate on one spot. This is how you "detect" clues. Once Wiktor collects all the clues, he will automatically conclude the solutions or ideas himself. This design may appeal to those who just want to get through the story as fast as possible, but to me, it makes the whole situation less interactive on the player's part. There is no secret component on items for you to interact with and discover, and there is certainly no need for you to actually piece the clues together.
2. Other complaints
→ I wish the whole "feed your Flaw" system could have more impact than dialogue choices. Other than Wiktor's downfall, Upyr could also benefit from the evolving Flaw and become stronger in combat. The same deal goes with all the other salutors.
中文小簡評
→故事類型雖然跟我想的不一樣，但還是很有趣的黑暗奇幻風劇情遊戲。
→以為是跟超自然生物斡旋，原來是操弄人性啊。
→很喜歡這款遊戲描繪的傳說生物形象，詭譎中帶有一絲驚豔。
→學到滿多波蘭歷史。
→主角技能配置雖然只有四個，但有很多強化選項供選擇，搭配你的夥伴打出強力連擊。
→夥伴各有各的特色，戰鬥中能自由切換，不僅能配合主角技能，夥伴彼此間也能相輔相成。
→不懂為何一定要先用過基礎技能後才能用進階技能，不只延長戰鬥時間，技能也永遠只有那四個。
→敵人配置嚴重不足，攻擊方式少，敵人種類少，沒有跟其他奇幻士或異界種正面對決的場面。
→所謂的收集線索，就是地圖中狂按感知找紅點。線索找齊也不需要你解析，主角自動幫你總結。
→個人希望主角的高傲程度影響的不只局限於對話選項，相對應的夥伴也能因此獲得強化。

Yes its janky, yes the animations look kinda scuffed, yes i fucking love it. the setting, the whole detective system, the flaws, it seems llike they had a crackhead idea and decided to actually do something with it and the result is Thaumathurge, a lovely, decently voice acted RPG. Its 30 bucks, if you have them spare, you will not waste them on this game

Alright. The Thaumaturge is done and dusted. I’m not certain how many endings there are in the game, but I qualified for four based on my choices and skills, so I saw those four. You play as Wiktor Szulski, who is the titular Thaumaturge.
The game itself takes many twists and turns, but much of the game focuses on your friendship with Rasputin, and your relationship with your twin sister Ligia, as you try to figure out how and why your father, also a Thaumaturge, was killed; while navigating the politics and general social climate of 1905 Warsaw.
The story was very detailed and intricate, with a ton of lore and interesting branching paths that will, as mentioned above, ultimately dictate which of the game’s endings you can enjoy. Very well written and although the story itself is fiction, the backdrop of 1905 Poland and specifically Warsaw was, so far as I can tell, quite historically accurate. This game was highly enjoyable from a story perspective. And the progression of Rasputin from the beginning to the end was particularly compelling and noteworthy.
Along the way, you will also seek to defeat and tame salutors, which are spirits who attach themselves to people who have a strong personality flaw (such as anger, fear, and so on). Additionally, you as a Thaumaturge already have a companion salutor who chose you based on your own flaw (pride in Wiktor’s case). A Thaumaturge can see these spirits, and thus try to separate them from their host and add them to your collection. Which in turn offer you special insight and abilities when dealing with other people, and new combat abilities as well.
Combat is turn based and resolved using Wiktor’s fighting abilities and those of his salutors, along with upgrades and buffs earned along the way. These are purchased via skill points and are presented as four skill trees based on the type of salutor you are upgrading. Combat was fun and prevalent, but not specifically the game’s focus.
The game’s focus is really investigation and dialogue. You, using your heightened senses as a Thaumaturge, will find many, many secrets in Warsaw, mostly taking the form of side quests. Some are story related, most are world building instead. Designed to help you get to know turn of the 20th century Warsaw. You of course will also use your investigative skills to further the main story quests.
Gameplay is isometric, although cutscenes are 3-d. There is thankfully fast travel, and objectives are clearly marked. The world crafting was very well done. Everything looked very believable, and the developers clearly put a lot of time into the graphics, really making Warsaw a living breathing city.
Additionally, every interaction is fully voice acted, and I thought it was quite well done. The team did a good job of getting a solid effort from the voice actors. The music in the game was quite enchanting, and the sounds of the city itself were omnipresent and ideal for the places they were representing.
I played this on the Steam Deck, and I would consider it to be Verified despite not having that status. There were some issues with the game, but none seemed to be Deck specific.
Rather, the issues with this game were very much general optimization issues. The game did struggle with framerate drops under certain circumstances. Specifically when it rained, when you were running through certain areas where it seemed like it struggled to keep up with the game’s rendering, and occasionally during conversations. Additionally, the game would sometimes freeze during the transitions between the end of combat and the ensuing cutscenes. These freezes required restarting the Deck and then continuing the game. None of these specific crashes repeated themselves. Meaning, upon restarting the game, the game functioned as it should after said battle(s).
Anyway, I very much enjoyed my time in the game. Special shoutout again to the devs for how they handled Rasputin. That was immaculate. And I wonder if Albuquerque man will be a future expansion or another game in the IP. I guess we shall see. Although I received this game as a gift, it definitely earns its asking price. Give this game a look.
If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, Robilar's Reviews, it would be appreciated. Cheers.
Also follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one.

Ever since the success of Disco Elysium there has been a small resurgence in more story focused RPGs, the Thaumaturge is another game in that style. Set primarily in Warsaw during the late Congress Poland era, when the city was a part of an ailing Russian Empire, The Thaumaturge tells the story of Wiktor Szulski, a Polish expatriate gifted with extraordinary powers who returns to the city of his birth to settle family matters. As a fan of RPGs, good stories and history in general, this was a game I could not possibly resist playing. So I did play it and now, a few dozen hours later, it's time to write down a few thoughts.
The game's setting is largely historical but there are twists. In the game's world demons, called Salutors, exist. Drawn to people's flaws and influencing their behaviour. Superstitions and legends are explained as often being the work of those Salutors. There is also people that can perceive and form bonds with them, called Thaumaturges, which gives them incredible powers of perception and awareness. The idea may not be too original, but it's clever enough and well-executed. The historical aspect is also quite intriguing. The setting is not one often explored, though with the recent rise of the Polish gaming industry, I do expect that to change. Either way, the setting is well presented and fairly rich. A lot of time can be spent enjoying the sights and taking in life in early 20th century Warsaw.
The game is heavily story focused. Following the death of his influential father and while trying to reclaim his legacy and repair his relationship with his sister, the protagonist finds himself at the epicenter of a struggle for the future of Warsaw. All that in the shadow of the teetering Russian empire and the plots of its would-be saviour, the charismatic Grigori Rasputin. Yes, that Rasputin, whom somehow Wiktor befriends. This mix of historical events with fiction works well and keeps the tension high. The player has many choices to make and things can often take unexpected turns. Most of the principal characters are well developed and complex. The various factions are often given ambivalent and conflicting appraisals.
Combat is the other main aspect of the game. It has a turn based battle system where actions are queued and happen one after the other. The player character can use his Salutors and their various abilities to gain an advantage in combat, summoning them to do his bidding. Combat is not particularly complex, but it does have a fair amount of variety. There are negative effects that can be applied, a focus system which allows for special powerful attacks when the enemy's focus gets broken and so on. I did like the combat, but not overly so. The various animations can get repetitive after a while and there really is a lot of fighting. Surprisingly, the options provided to avoid fighting via dialogue are often quite ineffective. Rather uncharacteristic for a story-focused RPG. Negatively so.
Focusing a bit more on the negatives, the game does come with a number of issues. The quest trackers for example are not always particularly helpful, some questlines don't follow organically and parts can be missed. Sometimes you just have to guess where to go next, when the game doesn't really cultivate a guessing style of gameplay. The obtuse map system is also partly to blame for this. The repetitiveness of battles was mentioned earlier, but the same can be said for general exploration. The game expects you to right-click both for tracking and to uncover hidden elements using the protagonist's powers. After a while that does reach a few clicks too many. Finally, on the story-side some choices feel somewhat railroaded and, particularly on minor encounters, rather illusory.
All in all, the Thaumaturge is a nice package alright. Flaws and all. The setting, story and characters deliver and despite some mostly minor issues the game stays entertaining throughout. It is quite obvious that whoever created this game cared a great deal for Warsaw and its history, though I rather doubt they were big fans of tsarist Russia. Whatever the case, I do recommend this game to all fans of story-driven RPGs, fans of history and anyone who has an interest in this not often explorer era.

Initial impressions are good. If you are a fan of Disco Elysium or Spiders games, this feels like a cross between the two.
The graphics are solid, and the writing is EXCELLENT. Control support is well done, and besides the UI being slightly small, it plays great on a TV.
The game splits its focus into two pieces; investigation and combat. While neither are particularly complex, they aren't too simple either. Investigation may feel thin at first, but the dialogue and writing are very enjoyable. Combat, too, is very fast to understand the mechanics but there is enough variation that unlocks as you play to maintain interest.
(Obviously after my low play time I can't fully estimate the game length, but it seems perhaps the short side for the price.)

If you like historical fantasy and RPGs, this is a great one for you.

Im so glad unique games like this can still exist in todays bloated and bland triple A space. Im loving my time with this so far! The story and atmosphere is dark and mysterious and keeps me wanting more. The combat is simple yet engaging, the voice acting is mostly good. The game is definitely not without jank, like texture pop-ins and wonky animations but I kinda feel that adds to its charm. Absolutely worth playing!

Its like a janky Persona 5, but instead of 2016 Tokyo it's 1905 Warsaw and instead of a harem of anime waifus you get Grigorij Jefimowicz Rasputin.
tl;dr below:
It's janky, a bit buggy, combat is pretty easy even on hard difficulty, progression system is 'existent' and investigations don't require much of thinking on player side.
However, there is a certain charm to The Thamuaturge. Setting is fascinating - mostly historic, with a touch of fantasy. Graphic design is fantastic. Supernatural creatures look cool. Characters feel distinct. Environments feel very autenthic and have tons little, interesting details. If you look for historic photos of pre-WW1 Warsaw, ie. dworzec wiedeński, you'll see that much care was put into this aspect of the game. Music fits the setting and time period, same with stories presented in the context of the world. While I was not holding my breath when following the story beats, characters and events are interesting enough to not mindlessly blitz through quests.
Combat and progression is pretty good "on paper", but those systems are not pushed to their limits. There are four "skills" to deveop that affect both combat and exploration/dialogues, but i never felt i needed to pick one. You get so much experience, that you can basically 'specialize' all of them, passing all skillchecks on clues for revealing information. In combat you have a set of 'human' active skills which you combine with passives giving various significant boons and each Persona Demon Salutor has it's own active skills focused around some additional mechanics (ie. utilizing statuses). There are several 'winning strategies', but you can figure them out quickly and enemies don't do enough to stop you from executing them.
If you play games to experience interesting worlds, alternative history or time periods not usually represented in media - The Thaumaturge is definitely worth checking out. Price is fair IMO. Otherwise, maybe wait for discount.