The Necromancer's Tale is a new RPG created by Psychic Software that came out on Steam in July 2025. According to the developer,
‘The Necromancer’s Tale’ is a narrative-driven top down story-rich gothic RPG with an isometric viewpoint. Master the rituals of an ancient spellbook. Raise an undead army to march against your enemies. Commune with the realm of the dead & struggle with your descent into madness. Progress through secrecy, diplomacy, blackmail, coercion & seduction until ready to reveal yourself.
When you begin the game you spend a fair amount of time creating your character -- not in a visual character creator, but in a story book where you answer multiple choice questions to create a backstory for your protagonist. I was immediately impressed by the complexity of the backstories you can create for your character; most RPGs with strong story elements give you a paragraph or two of backstory for each character option, but this game allows you to create several pages worth of story about your protagonist.
After you finish creating your character, the game dives into a battle in a top-down, third person viewpoint reminiscent of ARPGs like the Diablo and Torchlight franchises. The gameplay style actually makes me feel most nostalgic for the classic Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games of the late 90s and early 2000s. In these older Dungeons and Dragons computer games, roleplaying a character you create was an important feature (just like in the tabletop games they were created to emulate). The Necromancer's Tale uses similar story roleplaying elements and even allows you to use your own artwork for your character, if you have it. The main difference I noticed between The Necromancer's Tale and Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale is that The Necromancer's Tale is easier to play solo than the older games. BG/Icewind Dale strongly recommended a multiplayer experience (again, like the original tabletop Dungeons and Dragons), which is how I played them -- over a LAN connection -- back in the day. The Necromancer's Tale is much better for the hermit I have become in my old age.
I have only played The Necromancer's Tale up to chapter three, so I can't speak on the entire game yet, but so far the story and mystery-solving aspects of the game far outweigh any battle elements that you might expect from an RPG. For me, that doesn't slow the game too much as I enjoy stories more than fighting, but many RPG players who like a lot of combat in their games may be turned off by this. My biggest difficulty with the game is that I am playing it on Steam Deck, but it's very clearly created to be played with a mouse and keyboard. Steam says that the game is verified on Steam Deck, but I have had a lot of frustrations with the controls. Fortunately the developers have been actively patching the game since its release and I suspect that controller support will improve in upcoming patches.
The TLDR:
I recommend this game to anyone who loves the roleplaying aspects of roleplaying games. It makes a great personal-time activity for someone who plays DnD (or other TTRPGs) with a gaming group, but who then wants even more roleplaying when they get home. Do you love talking to NPCs in Dragon Age: Origins? If yes, you'll love The Necromancer's Tale. But if your idea of playing an RPG revolves more around combat, like in the Diablo series, this may not be the game for you.
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co
One of the most popular and thought-provoking franchises in the Sci-Fi genre continues to be the Mass Effect trilogy (which will be receiving a completely original sequel sometime next year). There are numerous articles and videos on the internet about the ambiguous ending of the original trilogy's story, and any fan of the series you come across is likely to have a lot to say about the ending. I, personally, am usually a fan of bleak endings (unless it involves the death of beloved Harry Potter characters) and found the ending of the Mass Effect trilogy acceptable, if confusing. The developers re-made the game's three endings after receiving a huge amount of backlash from the fan community, and these re-made endings are acceptable to me, if unacceptable to most fans. Why do I find the ending acceptable? Because ultimately, no matter how much "control" the player has over the direction that the story takes, this is still a piece of literature that has been written by an author (in this case, the writers who created this story), and it is the brainchild of said author to be consumed and constructively criticized by players just as a book has a definite ending that one can like or dislike.
But believe it or not, I'm not here today to talk about the ending of the Mass Effect trilogy. Many, many other people have already hashed out the good and the bad (and the very bad) of Mass Effect 3's final moments. Instead, I'd like to take a look at some of the characters in the series: specifically, Joker, Tali, and Wrex. What do these particular characters have in common? They each have complicated illnesses or disabilities that are intricately dissected and discussed throughout the trilogy. It is extremely rare for a video game to feature major characters with disabilities, and as a person who is disabled, I was surprisingly happy to find characters I could strongly relate to in a AAA video game franchise. Now, the argument has been made to me that Tali and Wrex do not qualify as disabled characters because their entire races suffer from specific diseases. I would argue, however, that in the universal world of Mass Effect, where many races from many planets intermingle in one society, the diseases that affect these particular heroes are setbacks that they must overcome, that other characters are unable to relate to.
Tali's race, the Quarians, suffer from a fatally low immune system, and even a small scratch in her armor could cause a deadly infection to occur. Even though all members of the Quarian race have this immune deficiency, Tali is uniquely inconvenienced among the heroes of the Normandy crew in that she could suffer from a deadly infection at any time. The only thing that protects Tali from instant death is a specially sealed, technologically advanced suit of armor that her race invented to protect themselves from disease. This suit is as much a hindrance as a help, however. It is very difficult for Quarians to engage in sexual intercourse, and any form of physical contact is almost entirely out of the question. Their faces are concealed, as well, so they have more difficulty communicating with others than members of other species would. Check out the below video for some of Tali's own words on the subject:
Wrex, another of the primary companions in the series, is a member of the strongest race in the known universe: the Krogans. Krogans are often recruited as mercenaries and used as soldiers in war because of their strength and battle-oriented disposition. Why, then, would Wrex, or any Krogan, be considered disabled? Because in the history of the Mass Effect universe, the Krogans were infected with a disease known as the "genophage" which prevents the Krogan from reproducing. All Krogan are infected with this disease. According to the Mass Effect wiki,
The genophage's modus operandi is not to reduce the fertility of krogan females, but rather the probability of viable pregnancies: many krogan die in stillbirth, with most fetuses never even reaching this stage of development. Moreover, every cell in each krogan is infected, to prevent the use of gene therapy to counteract it. (Source)
While the genophage does not inhibit Wrex's ability to aide Shepard or perform his duties to his fellow Krogans, it is a disease that he is constantly battling with and aware of at every step of the story. Every decision that Wrex makes is affected by his disease, and ultimately the aide of the Krogans in the final battle of the story hinges on whether or not Shepard is able to arrange for a cure to be created and given to the Krogans. If the game did not constantly remind us at every turn that the Krogans are sick I might not have included Wrex in this article. But the genophage is a huge part of Wrex's personal identity, and it cannot be ignored.
Finally, the most obviously disabled character in the Mass Effect series is Joker, the well-liked pilot of the Normandy voiced by Seth Green. Also known by his given name, Jeff Moreau, Joker is usually seen sitting in the cockpit of the Normandy. The Mass Effect wiki describes Joker's condition:
Joker's upbringing and career have been colored by his health. Joker has a moderate to severe case of Vrolik syndrome, which causes extreme brittleness in the bones; he was born with severe fractures to his legs and even with modern medicine he finds walking nearly impossible, relying on crutches and leg braces. (Source)
Joker's condition is usually only discussed in passing, and is often easy to forget as we normally never see him leave his seat. Joker tells us that he was able to become a pilot because, despite his condition, he was the top student in flight school and even surpassed many of his instructors in skill. In Mass Effect 2, Joker's illness is brought to the forefront of our minds, however, when Commander Shepard and the rest of the heroes of the Normandy conveniently leave the ship on a shuttle to perform a mission of some sort, and Joker is alone when the Normandy is attacked. The player suddenly finds herself playing as Joker, and must limp slowly through the ship to activate the ship's defense systems. The following video shows this scene (warning: there are a LOT of spoilers for Mass Effect 2 in the following video, so don't watch it if you're not ready!):
Though you may not be able to tell from watching the video, limping along as Joker at an agonizingly slow pace while aliens are attacking the ship is a terrifying experience. I think the scene does a great job of giving players a bit of understanding of how scary it can be to be disabled, especially in the midst of a crisis. I also applaud Bioware for creating one of the very first player-characters that is disabled, even if you only play as this character for about five minutes. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, disabled characters are very rare in video games, and playable characters with disabilities are almost non-existent. Occasionally you'll play a game where your protagonist has an eye patch (and is presumably missing an eye), but rarely does that actually hinder the character's abilities as it should (the main exception can be found in Metal Gear Solid 3, which I won't spoil here).
I find it remarkable that Bioware was able to delve so deeply into the topic of disability with their characters in the Mass Effect series, but then, Bioware is known for being very progressive for a game company. Tali is my favorite character in the Mass Effect universe primarily because I have never before been able to relate to a game character in terms of my disability. I am eager to see how disability, gender roles, and all sorts of other important topics are brought to light in the newest addition to the franchise, set to release next year.
Once again I am far behind when it comes to my extremely large backlog of games. Recently I finished playing Far Cry 3. Having never played the previous games, I knew little about what to expect -- I had mostly only heard that the game is very violent and that the open-world experience is incredible. When I was told (by multiple sources) that the story was also enjoyable, however, I knew this was a game I couldn't pass up. So I got a copy of the game for PS3 and started playing -- and couldn't stop. The story in this game was so well done I found myself reacting to the story as I would a mystery novel. Immediately upon completing the "tutorial" portion of the game, a character is killed. Before this point, I had already been thinking to myself, "He's a cool character -- too bad he'll be the first to be killed off." Note that I had no prior experience with this game or series -- the storyline is just good enough in its narrative that I was able to analyze the story as I played, much as I would analyze the story in a novel as I read.
The creators of the game knew exactly what they were doing with the narrative when they created it. Like the great mystery authors of old, the creators of Far Cry 3 were able to predict exactly how their audience would react to situations and characters within the game, and they used a variety of techniques to let the player know that their thoughts were already known. As I said, the game is very violent. The violence does not detract from the story, however -- in fact, it adds to the experience and, if you are paying enough attention, it causes a lot of self-reflection. Much of the story revolves around villainous groups of modern-day pirates and those who do business with them. Many players will find that, though they can see that these villains are doing truly evil things, they actually like these characters. This is because the game's writers have made the pirates likeable, regardless of their evil deeds. After the battle with the first "boss" of the game, the game's writers make it clear that they know about your affection for the character that has just been killed by briefly showing a simple quote from Through the Looking-Glass (otherwise known as the second book in the "Alice in Wonderland" duo): "'I like the Walrus best,' said Alice: 'because he was a little sorry for the poor oysters.' 'He ate more than the Carpenter, though,' said Tweedledee" (Carroll 236).
By viewing this simple literary quote, players know that the character they just battled -- a character they found themselves liking -- is a representation of the Walrus, while the player is Alice. The same introspection that Alice must go through when she learns that the Walrus only seemed sorry for the oysters he consumed is then felt by the player, who must then think about the terrible things that this seemingly fun and favorable character has done. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland quotes are actually used throughout the game. This is a common occurrence -- many modern media that revolve around a character lost in a strange and unusual land use references to Alice. What is important here is the way in which the quotes are used. They truly make the player take pause and think for a moment about what is happening in the game.
Being an open-world game, there are a lot of opportunities for players to customize their experience with the game. In this game, however, the entire experience is created to elicit specific emotions from the player. At one moment, a player might be driving along in a car stolen from the pirates, listening to the radio that plays in most vehicles on the island. The player may suddenly see a person sitting in the middle of the road and have to stop or swerve to miss that person. When the player exits the car, she may find that the person in the road is a woman leaning over the corpse of a man and crying. One might infer that the man was killed by the pirates, or hit by another reckless driver on the road. Perhaps it was even the player who hit the man -- and now the player must see the results of her actions. Small moments like this are littered throughout the game. Even playing Poker can seem like a real experience. Though the NPCs that you are playing Poker with may repeat themselves from time to time, as NPCs tend to do, the atmosphere can make the experience seem more real than any other video poker game you have previously played. At one point I was playing poker with three other guys in a small bar on the beach. It was relatively dark in the bar, and it was night-time in the game. Suddenly, it began to storm in-game; the thunder was quite loud and realistic and the lightning could be seen through the windows. I felt a sense that I was actually playing cards with neighbors during a power outage.
It's difficult to describe the incredible experience that this game provides without giving away too many spoilers, so I would recommend playing the game yourself so you can see exactly what kind of experience the game creates for you. And now it's time for me to get Far Cry 4.
Announcement: Video Games as Literature will be participating in Sci-Fi month November once again this year! You can read about the event here. Last year I had a number of great ideas to write about for the event, but this year my brain's a bit dry in the idea department. If you have any suggestions for sci-fi related games that I should write about, please leave a comment!
Works Consulted:
Carroll, Lewis. The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1960. Print.
Reputation does not equal quality -- especially when it comes to storytelling! In a Hack & Slash A-RPG like Diablo where most of the screenshots online resemble the above, one doesn't expect a highly detailed plot -- everyone knows the game is all about self-assurance through killing hordes of baddies and gaining ridiculously high stat points. Diablo III does, however, have a storyline. I'll admit, it's been many years since I played the previous installment in the Diablo series, and I do not remember a storyline at all (I know it had one, but for me it was definitely not memorable!). The plot of this game, however, seems to revolve primarily around which cutscenes the developers thought would look the coolest (and I'll admit, they do look pretty cool). Spoiler alert for the following Act II video:
But these glamorous cutscenes are quite few and far between. While they show an inkling of a plot, that plot is barely carried out through the actual active parts of the game. In fact, I became confused about what was actually going on in the story at a few points, just because I was being told to go out and, say, kill 100 zombies without getting a reasonable explanation for why I was doing this. And that's the point of an Action RPG such as this -- the player is not expected to be burdened with the storyline, instead you are expected to just do as you're told to advance through the game. At one point, the player character begins to be referred to as "The Nephilim," but his or her background is not given much detail. In chapter IV, the player is told that their character has no clear fate, and thus it is possible for that character to change fate itself. Again, this is not clearly explained. This part of the game, however, reminded me immediately of a much more story-driven, yet less well known game: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Though this game is more of an open world, traditional RPG, and despite its cheesy title, it seems to have everything that Diablo III lacks: a well thought-out plot, a vast history (see this linked video for more information on that), and a beautiful, huge world to explore. I tend to tell people that it's a lot like The Elder Scrolls series, but prettier. Like many other western RPGs, Kingdoms of Amalur allows players to create their own hero to play as. This is the case for Diablo III to some extent, though in Diablo's case players can only choose their class and gender. Even though the player has created their own character, however, that character has a rich and important backstory that is revealed little by little as the player progresses through the game, with the mystery of the player character's history finally made fully clear at the very end of the game. Not only does the main character have a rich history, but many of the surrounding characters have strong backgrounds and stories, as well. And here's the reason Diablo III reminded me so much of Kingdoms of Amalur: Diablo III's plot seems like a weak imitation of the plot of Kingdoms of Amalur! In both cases the hero has no visible fate, and can change the future accordingly. In Diablo's case, this is barely explained, yet in the case of Kingdoms of Amalur, this is the central plot point of the entire story.
Please share your thoughts on the matter below! Do you feel that Diablo III needed more of a plot, or are you fine with hacking and slashing for hours on end?
Okay, I'm ready to admit this: over the years, I have become addicted, little by little, to Natsume's "Harvest Moon" series and all of its spin-offs. The "Rune Factory" games have become especially prominent in my home. I think I've made it fairly clear that my favorite game genre is the RPG (generally the most story-based genre), and that I especially favor J-RPGs. So, of course, I recently picked up the latest title in the "Harvest Moon" universe: "Hometown Story". I knew little about the plot and play style of the game when I bought it, but when I began the game it became clear that the gameplay is very straight-forward.
At the beginning of the game, your character arrives at a new town after receiving word that your grandmother (whom you don't seem to remember) has died. It is a pretty basic Natsume beginning. You must then meet the townsfolk and, ultimately, take it upon yourself to run your late grandmother's shop. The retail simulation is the main focus of the game, and there is often little reason to leave the shop at all, unless you want to look for things on the ground that you can sell. And really, this simple concept is enough to keep me interested... almost.
Unfortunately, prior to playing "Hometown Story," I had already played the indie underdog retail sim "Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale". In "Recettear", you similarly play as Recette, a character who must take over her family's business, but in this story the driving force is the imminent threat of bankruptcy, which comes with a skeptical fairy to hover over the protagonist's shoulder and remind her every day how close she is to destitution. In "Hometown Story" there is no such urgency, and though one may find this to be a good thing (it certainly makes the game easier), the lack of a clear goal actually makes the game more dull. There are many other minute, yet important, details that "Recettear" boasts and that "Hometown Story" clearly lacks. The selling mechanics in the shop, for example, are much more simple in "Hometown Story" -- there is no bartering system or percentage mark-ups on item prices (as can be found in "Recettear") -- instead, you just set a price and hope the item sells.
More importantly, however, "Recettear" leaves "Hometown Story" in the dust for two major reasons: 1) aside from the retail sim aspect, there is also an entire dungeon crawler side to the game. You can choose to spend all day in the shop, selling items, or you can hire a mercenary to accompany you in one of the many large dungeons found in the game. Here, in the dungeons, you can find items that you can either sell or synthesize into better items. 2) The storyline in "Recettear" is unbelievably good. The dialogue is filled with so many hilarious quips and the character development is so incredibly adorable, one might mistake this game as a G-Rated Nippon Ichi product.
Why did I choose to write about these games, you might ask? Honestly, I've been playing "Hometown Story" and though it would still receive a recommendation from me (though it may be best suited for children), I am constantly wishing that it were a bit more like "Recettear" when I play it. I also feel that this is a good example of a small company performing significantly better than a more major, well known company (Natsume). Natsume may still be one of the less popular game companies in America (I was once told by a Gamestop employee that when a new "Harvest Moon" title is released they only order about two copies per store, since that's about all they expect to sell), but they still have a strong cult following. If they don't want to find themselves constantly upstaged by an indie game maker, they may want to put a bit more dressing into their future releases! Or just keep releasing "Rune Factory" titles. Especially on non-handheld consoles. Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny on PS3 is still one of my all time favorites.
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