[h3]Not recommended. A lot was attempted, very little delivered.[/h3]
[h1]If you think “looks like Bloodborne, so it should be fine,” you’ll be disappointed pretty quickly.[/h1]
I refunded Thymesia because it never managed to hook me at any point.
At first I was curious. Soulslike, dark plague setting, fast combat. Sounds good on paper. I had read reviews beforehand, so I knew it would be shorter and easier. But this isn’t just more accessible, it’s simply boring and undercooked.
And yes, the Bloodborne comparison isn’t random. The setting, visuals and overall presentation clearly aim in that direction. If you deliberately go for that style, you have to accept the comparison.
That said, even if you completely ignore that comparison and judge the game on its own, the result is the same. It’s just not well executed.
[h1]Atmosphere & World[/h1]
The visuals clearly resemble Bloodborne. Dark environments, a broken world, everything feels diseased and decayed.
But nothing sticks. It lacks identity. It feels like a copy without a soul. Nice to look at, but completely forgettable.
[h1]Controls[/h1]
The controls feel like a weird mix between classic Souls inputs and bits of hack and slash design that don’t fit together.
On top of that, the game suffers heavily from input buffering. During dodges you can queue so many inputs that your character ends up playing out a full sequence afterward without real control. It doesn’t feel precise, it feels like conducting an orchestra you can’t stop once it starts.
[h1]Combat System[/h1]
This is where the game really falls apart.
The combat feels unfinished. Weak hit feedback, mechanics don’t properly connect, and overall it lacks precision.
It’s also extremely simple. Most enemies are beaten by repeating the same two or three combos. Doesn’t matter who you’re fighting. If something has a shield or more HP, you just add one extra input and that’s it.
That’s not adaptation or depth.
Basic enemies are especially bad. Their wind ups are so long and obvious that you could casually cook a full two course meal before anything even happens. There is zero pressure.
Then there’s the attempt to artificially create that pressure. Enemies lose HP but can regenerate it if you play too passively. In practice, it doesn’t matter at all. You take half their health and could go make yourself a dessert before they even start to meaningfully heal. The mechanic simply doesn’t work.
It’s clearly inspired by the rally system in Bloodborne, where you can regain lost HP through aggressive play. The difference is that in Bloodborne it’s properly integrated and works instantly, while here it feels slow and pointless. On top of that, enemies regenerate HP automatically without even hitting you, so you just ignore the mechanic and rush them down.
There’s also this “great” mechanic where you can steal a kind of spectral weapon from enemies with a charged heavy attack. Sounds cool at first, but it’s basically irrelevant. You don’t need it. Just another “copy the homework but change it a bit” feature with no real value.
Even the bosses, which should be the highlight, feel more like slow fights from Monster Hunter: World, just without the depth. Huge wind ups, lots of downtime, barely any threat. It’s more busywork than a challenge.
This is where it becomes obvious that the FromSoftware formula is more than just “hard enemies.” It’s about precise hitboxes, clear and immediate feedback, proper animation canceling, reliable i frames, meaningful stamina management (which this game completely lacks), and enemies that actually pressure you instead of making you wait. Level design that guides you without holding your hand, and progression that strengthens you without breaking the challenge. All of these systems work together. That entire synergy is missing here.
Like so many other titles, this “Soulslike” fails at that completely. It honestly feels like proof that this type of game is better left to FromSoft. The market already has way too much "Soulslike" trash. 8 out of 10 of these games prove that, and this is definitely one of them.
[h1]Technical[/h1]
Technically, the game is also rough. Even on modern hardware it doesn’t run smoothly. Stutters and performance issues drag the experience down.
There are also small things that feel unfinished. You pick up an item, it disappears, but the pickup prompt stays there as if it’s still on the ground. That just feels sloppy and breaks immersion.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
Thymesia looks like a Soulslike, but it doesn’t play like one.
Even without comparing it to Bloodborne, you’re left with a game that is simply not well executed.
A lot of style, but barely any substance. Shallow combat, no pressure, and bosses that are more boring than challenging.
If you want a good Soulslike, go straight to the originals. And yes, Bloodborne is playable on PC by other means at this point. That’s the better choice.
2/10 – I’m out.
