If you’re looking for an RPG with a gothic and magical twist, then you won’t do better any time soon than with The Necromancer’s Tale. It’s a Lovecraftian, twisting tale of murder, mystery, and magic that will have you hooked from the very beginning. 

Developed by Psychic Software, The Necromancer’s Tale is now available for all through Steam, and it’s definitely an RPG that I would highly recommend, even as someone who wouldn’t list the genre as one of their favorites. It’s intriguing, dark in all of the best ways, and will steal hours of your life without you noticing if you’re not careful. 

A flawlessly woven tale

The Necromancer’s Tale starts with an interactive tale that feels 75% audiobook and 25% choose-your-own-adventure. You mostly get to listen to the soothing voice acting of Paul Warren as he takes you through the tale of your birth and early life where you get to make critical decisions that affect your stats moving forward. 

By the time the initial story came to an end, I found myself genuinely surprised that it wasn’t how the entire game was going to be and I would have been happy for it to continue down this spoken story route. However, once that portion is complete and you’ve ‘designed’ your character by the choices you made, you find yourself able to move around freely. 

What comes next is a true adventure game in every sense. You can use WASD, the mouse, or a controller to freely roam about your house and the city, talking to whoever you come across and exploring to your heart’s content. It feels part old-school MMO, part RPG, part detective story as you try to get to the bottom of your father’s suspicious death. 

It’s all in the details

While the story is definitely the main attention grabber in The Necromancer’s Tale, and it’s a long one that will suck you in for hours without you realizing and will take you anywhere from 25 to 50 hours to complete, there are also a lot of small details to notice along the way. 

Not least is the character ‘creation’ process that I alluded to previously. That initial story and the choices you make shape your version of the main character, from their name to their appearance to their skills. My choices led me to be diplomat who is terrible at lying and prone to madness, which doesn’t bode well for the rest of my playthrough, but your character will be entirely different based on the choices you make. 

Other details are less gameplay-based but are found in the settings. For instance, you can change the entire appearance of the game by tweaking the Painterly effect that applies to everything, opt to auto-run (which is really useful and saves a lot of time and hand cramping), and even go as far as changing the font that fills the various books you find in the world. 

Perhaps the most important and game-changing detail of The Necromancer’s Tale is the immediate access to fast travel to any location that you’ve previously traveled to in the city. The place is a rabbit warren and it’s overwhelmingly easy to get lost if you go wandering around on your own, but you can open the map at any time when you’re outdoors and immediately travel to a marked location.

Magic and combat

As soon as you go to sleep the very first night you’re home, things start to get really weird, really fast. You suddenly find yourself in a world of ghosts and shadows. It doesn’t last long, but it’s a strong indication of the direction The Necromancer’s Tale is about to take, as though discussions of witches and the Lich weren’t enough to point you in that direction. 

Chapter three is where the fun really begins, and it’s at this point that you unlock the ability to skip through time, but most importantly, it’s when you give in to the world of magic. You’ll need to gather up ingredients, such as Wolfsbane and Lavender, to make potions, and more spells unlock over time as you progress through the story. 

Chapter three is also likely to be the first time you find yourself entering into combat, which comes in turn-based hexatile form. You have AP points that can be used to move, equip items, or attack using either weapons or spells. My first combat encounter was utterly brutal, and yours likely will be too, but The Necromancer’s Tale puts more focus on story than combat, so you likely won’t have to suffer too often. 

The Necromancer’s Tale released on July 17, 2025, so you can go and download the full game right now if you want to go and experience the mystery and magic for yourself.