There are five dungeon floors, with up to ten randomly-generated rooms on each, and the goal is to find the key to reach the boss, defeat it, and then move on to the next floor. Diving into it, you start at the altar in the crypt, which is your hub. I was so happy to see a genuine, queer relationship as the focus of the story, even with a by-the-numbers plot.īecause of this, it’s especially disappointing that the rest of the game doesn’t deliver on its promises. It was lovely to watch them grow throughout the flashbacks and get closer as a couple. Even with the clumsy, un-engaging story, it’s difficult not to root for Tama and Koko, even when they’re beholden to tired archetypes. Their relationship is told through flashbacks as you progress through the game, which show them meeting for the first time, embarking on a pilgrimage together, and eventually falling in love.

But what keeps it barely held together is the relationship between Tama and Koko, who are the heart of the game.

The story itself is nothing special, filled with clumsy writing, meta-references, and awkward dialogue that feels out of place. Armed with the “Sword of the Necromancer,” Tama must unlock the sword’s full power by finding the Necromancer at the bottom of the crypt. Tama, a former rogue and now-bodyguard to the priestess, and love of her life, Koko, has to delve into the Necromancer’s crypt to bring her lover back from the dead.

It’s frustrating, then, that the representation doesn’t get the game it deserves.

But Grimorio of Games instead lets its two queer, female characters take centre stage without challenging their sexuality or gender. Growing up, the only times women got to be the heroes, they were often uncomfortably oversexualised or only able to succeed because of a man’s help. Sword of the Necromancer is the kind of game I’ve wanted to see for ages: one that takes a heteronormative story (the princess and bodyguard) and gives it a sapphic twist.

Sword of the Necromancer free download