Thymesia is an incredibly fun, rewarding Soulslike, but it's also incredibly flawed in a number of ways. There are some key things any new player should know when embarking on their journey in this great game that I wish I'd known going in:

1) Odur (the first boss) is stupidly hard. Like, not just a hurdle, but a significant mistake by the developers in my opinion that significantly jars after a pretty easy introductory level. Stick with it, the game gets MUCH better after you beat him. His difficulty so early in the game was a mistake (in my opinion, I'm sure other people are far more epic than I am and had less difficulty, but for me he represents a jarring difficulty spike that leaves a very bad taste and makes you not want to continue), but once you beat him, the game opens up and you don't face another boss this challenging for a while, and when you do you have far more options available to adjust and overcome.

2) The "extra" quests in each level appear to just be small minigame runthroughs of the same area. They aren't. Play them. They are whole new sections of each thematic zone with whole new bosses, weapons to unlock and upgrades to gain. Don't sleep on them.

3) You CAN get to the final boss by about lvl19-20, if you didn't bother with the "extra" quests in each zone. Don't worry about trying to beat him then, the game is incredibly misleading into making you think that the "extra" playthroughs in each zone are just minigames in an already-trodden map - they aren't.

4) Potion mixing seems trivial and the bonuses that each ingredient gives you seems small and pointless. What I didn't know until frustratingly late in my playthrough is that there are recipes that give you significant bonuses (like 30% extra health, which is HUGE) if you mix the right three ingredients in a potion.

5) Levelling plague weapons give HUGE bonuses, and some of them are hard to farm for as they only drop from specific enemies or bosses. Experiment with different weapons and level up ones even if you don't like them immediately; some weapons or styles can provide huge advantages against certain bosses. Mix and match as needed, don't get stuck with one weapon and try to play the game around that one - try new things.

6) Parrying isn't everything. Some YouTubers will tell you that you HAVE to learn to parry every single attack to win at this game - you don't. I could never get the hang of constant parrying in this game, it isn't my playstyle, but I got the hang of quick-dodging and counter-attacking and dominated eventually once I got the hang of it. Just because you saw something in a video that said it was the only way to kill a boss, don't believe it. I eventually won by being hyper-aggressive which is exactly how I like to play. Find your own niche and play into it.

This isn't a Souls game, but it can be a lot of fun. The combat is really fast paced and very rewarding once you get the hang of it. Stick with it and have fun!

Thymesia is an incredibly fun, rewarding Soulslike, but it's also incredibly flawed in a number of ways. There are some key things any new player should know when embarking on their journey in this great game that I wish I'd known going in: 1) Odur (the first boss) is stupidly hard. Like, not just a hurdle, but a significant mistake by the developers in my opinion that significantly jars after a pretty easy introductory level. Stick with it, the game gets MUCH better after you beat him. His difficulty so early in the game was a mistake (in my opinion, I'm sure other people are far more epic than I am and had less difficulty, but for me he represents a jarring difficulty spike that leaves a very bad taste and makes you not want to continue), but once you beat him, the game opens up and you don't face another boss this challenging for a while, and when you do you have far more options available to adjust and overcome. 2) The "extra" quests in each level appear to just be small minigame runthroughs of the same area. They aren't. Play them. They are whole new sections of each thematic zone with whole new bosses, weapons to unlock and upgrades to gain. Don't sleep on them. 3) You CAN get to the final boss by about lvl19-20, if you didn't bother with the "extra" quests in each zone. Don't worry about trying to beat him then, the game is incredibly misleading into making you think that the "extra" playthroughs in each zone are just minigames in an already-trodden map - they aren't. 4) Potion mixing seems trivial and the bonuses that each ingredient gives you seems small and pointless. What I didn't know until frustratingly late in my playthrough is that there are recipes that give you significant bonuses (like 30% extra health, which is HUGE) if you mix the right three ingredients in a potion. 5) Levelling plague weapons give HUGE bonuses, and some of them are hard to farm for as they only drop from specific enemies or bosses. Experiment with different weapons and level up ones even if you don't like them immediately; some weapons or styles can provide huge advantages against certain bosses. Mix and match as needed, don't get stuck with one weapon and try to play the game around that one - try new things. 6) Parrying isn't everything. Some YouTubers will tell you that you HAVE to learn to parry every single attack to win at this game - you don't. I could never get the hang of constant parrying in this game, it isn't my playstyle, but I got the hang of quick-dodging and counter-attacking and dominated eventually once I got the hang of it. Just because you saw something in a video that said it was the only way to kill a boss, don't believe it. I eventually won by being hyper-aggressive which is exactly how I like to play. Find your own niche and play into it. This isn't a Souls game, but it can be a lot of fun. The combat is really fast paced and very rewarding once you get the hang of it. Stick with it and have fun!