Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection review

There is no escaping the fact that Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection is heavily inspired by a certain first party Nintendo franchise, in particular the Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom experiences. It doesn’t so much wear its influences on its sleeve, moreover it screams them from the rooftops with a megaphone whilst cosplaying as Link. The stamina bar, the look of the main character, even some of the runic insignia encountered in the roguelike dungeons look eerily Hyrule-esque.

But this 3D remake of the previously pixelated dungeon crawler is a different and (probably obviously) inferior beast to the aforementioned classics. You take on the role of Tama, who is on an emotionally driven quest to revive her beloved friend Koko. It is the excellent story and anime styled cutscenes that are by far and away the strongest part of Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection. The opening animated movie is truly stunning, and the artwork employed during the vignettes and static storyline panels is of exceptional quality. Whilst the gameplay loop is extremely similar to the original, the transition to 3D adds a different feel and now employs a bit of platforming. There are unlockable boss rush and challenge modes too, and the ability to play local co-op.

The core experience sees you move through a series of stages, fighting enemies and seeking loot, and once you obtain the titular sword you are able to resurrect and summon defeated foes to summon and fight alongside you in combat, with up to three critters being stashed at one time and dragged into the fray with a button press. In theory this is a great system and we have seen things like this employed to great effect in titles like Ni No Kuni, or the sublime Pawn system in the Dragon’s Dogma series.

The problem here is that in spite of the diverse menagerie of Zelda/Dragon Quest-esque characters, in practice they often find it tough to keep up with Tama, being left behind or trapped as you work your way through the twisting dungeon maps. I also had times where they did not respond correctly to commands, for example being asked to sit on a spot to solve an environmental switch-based puzzle. There are also some irritating moments where you have to sacrifice one of your team of monsters as there are puzzles that can only be passed when you summon a particular type of enemy in your party.

Combat overall is also rather dull. A 3D action platformer can live or die by the dynamism and feel of its fighting system, and most enemies can be given an easy leathering by just pressing the same button over and over. There are a decent variety of weapon types and also tools which include things like a bow and arrow to hit distant foes or switches. A rudimentary crafting system seems to be fairly underused, as I was able to progress quite easily without bothering to upgrade by standard sword and spear arsenal too often.

In stark contrast to the lovely cutscenes, Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection is a drab looking experience, visually. I get the idea and commitment to providing a retro aesthetic, but the environments are far from inspiring to look at and resemble a blocky 3D platformer from a bygone era, and not in a good way.

There are plenty of achievements, and some tricksy challenges to be completed on each new stage you encounter, such as finishing a stage in a set time, or clearing a section only using your sword attack, and these add a bit of longevity to proceedings but this one isn’t going to last you too long before you either defeat it or lose interest.

There was much promise to Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection, and it does have a charming and heartfelt story, but if you really want to play something of this ilk then you are better served taking your business elsewhere with one of the titles I have mentioned earlier, as aside from the aforementioned visuals, it just doesn’t quite hit the mark across the board.