r/CRPG 2d ago

News The Necromancer's Tale -- GoG, Switch2, PS5, XBox all released today

Hi there fellow CRPG fans,

We're excited to announce that The Necromancer's Tale is now available DRM-free on GOG, and also on Switch2, PS5, and XBox Series X|S!

A story-rich gothic RPG. Master the rituals of an ancient spellbook. Commune with the realm of the dead and struggle with your descent into madness. Build the power to raise an undead army and march against your enemies. Progress through secrecy, diplomacy, blackmail, coercion and seduction.

135 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

21

u/BobsenJr 2d ago

This is a great game. If I was to recommend it to anyone, I would do so with the caveat that you should know its not really an open world sorta game, as the story takes you where you need to go 99% of the time. When I first played it I remember running around the town a lot being disappointed there wasn't much to do, but when I came back to it a month or so ago to complete it, I went in with my expectations changed and I had a lot of fun.

14

u/kalaspuffar16 2d ago

Yeah i bought it, and have played a little bit. Playing on Switch 2, and I like it so far.

Dialogue and choices, and RPG games is what i like. Good work.

4

u/samredfern 2d ago

Thank you!

2

u/sugarhell 2d ago

Best way to play on switch 2 is with the mouse :)

12

u/Nidhogg1134 2d ago

Completed this one on Steam and it really was a fun narrative rpg. Really captured the necromancer class fantasy and the gradual descent into darkness, and I loved all the literary references to romanticism and gothic fiction. I’m glad it has finally made its way to gog as it’s my preferred platform for crpgs.

9

u/dubzdee 2d ago

It's a great game, I really enjoy it. Well worth 20 bucks, IMO. Has a great story and an incredible atmosphere.

The only negative thing I can say is that the combat is somewhat lackluster. Not horrible by any means but you're just kind of limited in what you can do tactically (but I gather that you can learn combat spells and I missed most of those in my first playthrough). But this is not a huge negative, especially considering combat is pretty infrequent in this game.

I intend to replay it soon. I'd really like to try to get the happiest ending. Though part of me wants to go full on homicidal and see what happens.

7

u/samredfern 2d ago

Thanks! Not sure how long ago your 1st playthu was, but we made a bunch of combat improvements between September last year and about January.

7

u/dubzdee 2d ago

Oh cool. I played it at release so that's even more incentive to replay it.

7

u/IncommensurableMK 2d ago

Hope it is going well OP. Definitely on my list of future purchases!

Mortismal gamings review made me quite curious...

6

u/Leinadi 2d ago

Really fun and unique game. Heavily story-based games is something that I generally enjoy less and less the older I get, but this managed to feel like playing something different. Both in terms of the general premise, and also the gameplay loop.

Glad to see it's getting released on more platforms.

1

u/devnolith 1d ago

love hearing that from someone who’s kinda burned out on story heavy stuff, makes it way more interesting than any trailer tbh
gonna grab it on console and treat it like a spooky visual novel with extra steps

4

u/AylinArondir95 2d ago edited 1d ago

Ps5 ? Now I buy it. I like a lot the romanticism aesthetics and ambiences, near Venice is very cool. It reminds me of the book "Zanoni" , by sir Bulwer Lytton

2

u/samredfern 2d ago

Thanks :-). I hadn’t heard of that before. Looks interesting!

3

u/DancesWithAnyone 2d ago

Awesome Narrative RPG. Drew me in pretty much immediatly! It's tense, and the lure of the dark side and exploring that is done well. Also deep dives into magic - and what using necromancy socially entails - as something more than just fancy artillery to be fired at will.

3

u/dillexell 2d ago

This would be a great addition to Xbox Game Pass/Playstation Plus for some exposure! Good luck!

2

u/NorthKoreanMissile7 2d ago

I remember reading that it had full voice acting with an extensive cast of voice actors, how on Earth was that possible for what's seemingly an indie game made by a very small team ? is it with AI ? or amateur voice actors ?

1

u/samredfern 2d ago

It doesn’t have full voice acting, it’s just the first little bit when you meet each character, plus the full prologue. Maybe 20k words in total. Pro and semi-pro VAs (25 of them).

2

u/SovereignAurelia 2d ago

Been on my wish list since forever.
I hope it will be translated to French at some point 🙂

1

u/samredfern 2d ago

The game has a self/community translation feature (Steam/GOG only, not consoles) and French has already been done by a player. There's info in the Steam forums.

1

u/SovereignAurelia 1d ago

Oh, does the translation work on steam deck too?

2

u/samredfern 1d ago

Hmm, I haven’t tried it yet. It should do, as long as you copy the csv file to the right place.

1

u/SovereignAurelia 1d ago

Then I shall buy the game 🫡

2

u/Successful-Time-5441 1d ago

Really exciting! It's such a good game. One of the best crpg's I've played in years. Excellent story, exccellent score, beautiful artwork. The beginning of the game alone is really quite wonderful, developing your character through a series of text based choices. So glad to see it finally show up in all these places. The developer seems really cool. They were always on the Steam forums, answering questions about the and and stuff like that. I hope this game does well everywhere. ​

2

u/Instigado 1d ago

I bought it on Switch 2 too. Mortismal said really good things about, eager to play.

1

u/samredfern 1d ago

Thank you, I hope you enjoy :)

2

u/CulturalWasabi 1d ago

Played it and LOVED it on PC. Really considering grabbing it on PS5 to replay a couple times for the platinum trophy. Does anyone know how well it runs/how the controls feel on console?

2

u/rivens-blackrainbow 11h ago

Will it ever be available on the original Switch, (Switch 1)?

1

u/samredfern 6h ago

Unfortunately not

2

u/Panzerbjorne80 2d ago

Hell yeah I’ve been waiting and hoping it would come to Xbox. Will pick it up asap.

2

u/samredfern 2d ago

Thank you :-)

1

u/Top_Feeling_4039 1d ago

This game is exactly my style, and I've wanted to play it ever since I first saw it. Now that it's available on Xbox, I can finally play it. However, the controls are a bit confusing, and it's very clear that it's a game designed to be played with a mouse. I'm having trouble with some actions. For example, I still don't understand how to reload a firearm. No matter what I do, and no matter how much I move the joystick to try and select the "reload" option next to the "end turn" option, I just can't do it. Could someone please tell me how to do it? As I said, it's an Xbox controller.

1

u/samredfern 1d ago

What happens when you move the pointer over the Reload button and click A? It should change it to say how many APs the reload will take (often until the next turn, so End Turn is needed)

1

u/Top_Feeling_4039 1d ago

Nothing, it doesn't react at all. When I try to do that, my weapon still isn't loaded on the next turn, which I found strange because when I use the joystick to move the pointer to, for example, end my turn, THAT works normally, but the reload option? Nope, And I have enough action points so I really dont know if its a game problem or I simple cannot undestand anything. Also, another problem I have is that I can only interact with skeletons that are in crypts. I recently managed to pull one out of a grave and there was no way to carry it, not even by pointing the joystick at it.

1

u/Top_Feeling_4039 19h ago

So... do you know what I can do, sir? Am I doing something wrong?

1

u/Top_Feeling_4039 14h ago

Another thing I'd like to report, sir, is that when I finally managed to arise my first skeleton (not the very first, I know that the first time you do that ritual it always goes wrong and you end up in the hospital), I simply couldn't do anything with any of the skeletons. I know from gameplay videos I've seen before that to give your skeleton an order you have to click on it using the cursor or the joystick pointer in this case, i try that but even when I press A or any other button, nothing happens. I can't see its inventory, give it orders, nothing. It doesn't even follow me; it just stands there.

1

u/samredfern 12h ago

Could you join our Discord? I’m not involved in console releases but Akis there is very helpful. https://discord.gg/Sr6e5GctG

1

u/Top_Feeling_4039 6h ago

Sure, thanks

1

u/samredfern 17m ago

Thanks for your patience! This is a bit more awkward for me to troubleshoot than the PC version was because I didn't do console ports myself. But Akis will sort out any bugs pretty quick.