Thymesia

Thymesia is a 2022 soulslike action role-playing video game developed by Taiwanese indie studio OverBorder Studio and published by Team17. It was released on August 18, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, alongside a cloud-based version for Nintendo Switch; a cloud-based Amazon Luna version followed on September 15, 2022. The game's combat and plague-themed setting draw heavily on FromSoftware's Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Gameplay

Thymesia is a single-player third-person action role-playing game in which the player controls Corvus, a sword-wielding figure clad as a plague doctor. Combat emphasises fast, aggressive engagement and does not use a stamina bar; the player can dodge, parry and attack freely, with most actions instead gated by short cooldown frames.

Each enemy has two health values displayed within a single bar: a white "true" health value that can be permanently reduced only by Corvus's claw attack, and a green "wound" value that regenerates over time if not finished off. Standard sword strikes create wounds, leaving the white value unchanged; the claw harvests the wound to do real damage. The design was inspired by the medieval practice of bloodletting and is intended to push the player toward aggressive play.

A central mechanic is the "plague weapon" system: by executing enemies, Corvus can copy their weapon (knife, greatsword, whip, flying daggers, scythe and others) for one-shot use, with permanent versions unlockable in a talent tree tied to "memory shards" earned through combat and exploration. Defensive options include a deflect-style parry and a thrown-feather ranged attack that can interrupt enemy combos.