Game: Necro Story
Genre: RPG, Strategy
System: Steam (Windows) (also available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S & PlayStation)
Developers | Publishers: Rablo Games
Controller Support: Yes
Steam Deck: Playable
Price: US $TBC | UK £TBC | EU € TBC
Release Date: October 7th, 2024
A review code was provided, with many thanks to Pirate PR.
If you frequent LadiesGamers, you may remember that I played the demo for Necro Story back in June. Now I’ve returned to the game, this time for a review for its release into the wild on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and other platforms.
Necro Story is a creature-collection RPG that puts you in the shoes of a mischievous necromancer, a refreshing departure from the traditional hero role. With its unique characters, dark-yet-lighthearted story, and strategic gameplay, Necro Story offers a fresh take on familiar RPG mechanics akin to a popular RPG or creature-collection game.
Choices to Make in Necro Story
When you begin, you have a few choices to make, such as game difficulty. You can play the story mode or try out the other difficulty settings, such as easy, normal, hard and apocalypse. I plumped for the normal mode for this review. I did try out the story mode, and the combat is reduced. As the name suggests, its focus is more on the storyline.
After that, you get to choose between male and female characters and how much karma you want them to have, from overwhelming evil to mostly evil. You can also customise your character; you can change hair colour and style, skin colour and more. These choices allow you to tailor the gameplay to your play style, making you feel invested in your character’s journey.
The Storyline and Characters
In Necro Story, you’re not the typical hero out to save the world. Instead, you take on the role of Jaimus, a somewhat sinister necromancer who, alongside his (or her) cheeky white ghostly companion Vivi, navigates a world filled with undead shenanigans.
The dynamic between these two characters is filled with witty banter and comedic moments, keeping the tone light despite the game’s darker themes. It gave me plenty of laugh-out-loud moments while playing the game. The writing strikes a perfect balance between dark fantasy and humour, and the dialogue between the necromancer and the ghostly white mage leads to some funny moments.
The narrative involves an adventure into the afterlife to prevent humanity’s doom, but it’s the quirky interactions and the odd cast of characters that really shine in the game. Necro Story doesn’t take itself too seriously, which helps to create a unique atmosphere. Whether you’re summoning zombies or uncovering hidden secrets, the game’s storytelling never fails to entertain.
However, while the story is fun, the English version of the text contains a few noticeable grammar and spelling mistakes. Overall, for a studio based in Belgium whose first language is probably not English, the translation is okay.
Turn-Based Combat
Necro Story’s combat system is where the game comes into its own. You have access to over 20 necromancy spells spread across five magical schools: Affliction, Darkness, Life Drain, Summoning, and Dark Pacts.
As you travel around the world, black clouds swirl around, and once they hit your character, real-time battles begin, kind of like in Pokémon. You don’t see your opponents until the fight starts as they remain hidden in the black cloud. Furthermore, battles can be too frequent at times, but the biggest issue is I feel is that the game is a little unbalanced as I was playing on Normal, and some of the battles felt too difficult and went on for ages.
You’ll be using your necromancy spells during battles, such as Infeclio, which poisons the enemy, and Scellus, which spawns a skeleton on the battlefield to help you in combat.
Those are just a few of the spells in the game, as there are many others to try out. Furthermore, each spell has its skill tree, allowing for deep customisation and strategy. The game encourages experimentation by letting you fine-tune your necromantic abilities to match your playstyle.
Collect Souls
Creature collection plays a central role in Necro Story. Rather than merely defeating your enemies, you can capture their souls and command them in battle.
During battles, you suck up an enemy’s soul by pointing the staff in the direction the soul is floating and pressing a button. While I like the mechanics of soul-sucking to capture creatures, I didn’t enjoy using the mechanic as half the time the souls just floated away. In the heat of battle, there is a lot to keep an eye on, and souls are missed.
Rearranging your team is a large portion of the gameplay, but it also adds a layer of strategy as you carefully choose which souls to capture and how to integrate them into your undead army; you can have up to 9 members in your party,
Strategic team management is crucial in Necro Story. You’ll need to equip your minions with powerful gear and level up their skills to maximise their potential. The ability to transform into powerful demons or summon zombies and skeletons adds further depth and fun to the strategic elements of combat.
Exploration
One of the areas I was looking forward to the most about playing Necro Story was exploring; I love a good wander around to see what I can find.
The game has hidden paths and treasure chests to find. However, when I played the demo of Necro Story for the impressions article, I mentioned that the world was a bit sparse of things to interact with. While there is more interaction with the world, the environments still feel empty to me. Other than running into monster clouds and finding warp points and chests, there isn’t much else.
However, paying attention to your environment is still crucial to the gameplay, as uncovering secret paths and chests will lead to unique items and equipment.
Visuals and Sound
Visually, Necro Story adopts a cartoonish art style that complements its light-hearted tone. It looks similar to Rablo Games’ previous release, Healer’s Quest. The character designs, particularly the undead minions and enemy souls, are imaginative and quirky, adding to the game’s charm.
The game’s soundtrack is equally fitting. It blends melodies with eerie undertones to match the game’s mix of humour and darkness. The sound effects are crisp.
I played Necro Story mainly on the Steam Deck and then tried it on my laptop. The game ran fine on the laptop; however, while the game is playable on the deck, I did experience a few crashes with the game on that system.
Conclusion
Necro Story is a twisted RPG that balances dark magic with humour and heart. Its witty dialogue and strategic combat combine to create an experience that sets it apart from other creature-collection RPGs. For players looking for a creature-collection RPG that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Necro Story is a good choice. Its blend of strategy, humour, and quirky charm makes it a unique addition to the genre.
Final Verdict: I Like It 
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