Real history meets Slavic mythology

The Thaumaturg is set in an alternate Warsaw of 1905, where I can't go anywhere without a couple of soldiers trying to rob me of my nice warm boots, and to make matters worse, I play an exhausted guy who keeps talking to himself. This RPG world doesn't have the immediate appeal of a fantasy world like Baldur's Gate 3's Faerun, but once I start digging I find a treasure trove of great writing and compelling choices.

The game begins with a short tutorial that introduces us to Wiktor Szulski, our proud protagonist. Wiktor is a Thaumaturge, a mage who invokes ancient rites to bind spectral entities and cryptids known as salutors to his will. He's also kind of an asshole; the only people he is even close to are his beloved sister and his new friend Rasputin. (Yes, that Rasputin.) While the tutorial takes place in a small village, allowing the player to learn Wiktor's skills in a low-pressure environment, I'm soon on my way to Warsaw to investigate a mystery with much bigger stakes.

When a game throws a bunch of proper names and mechanics at me, there's always the risk that I'll miss something. Thankfully, Fool's Theory, the developer of The Thaumaturge, does a great job of introducing concepts naturally. This is the kind of game I could blitz through for a few long sessions because I was always eager to talk to one more person, find one more conclusion, solve one more quest.