This game was good. OMW To make sure Hands of Necromancy 2 is in MY HANDS. https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2706450/Hands_of_Necromancy_II/

If you like Hexen and Heretic, this is great. I make my reviews after beating the game. This was 15 hrs of my life that I enjoyed. I played it over a few days this Christmas break after Wrath: Aeon of Ruin & Selaco. So yeah, that's what I put this game up against. It was good.
It is far less convoluted than Hexen (not knowing where anything is and how things worked)
Civvie will attest to that.

Anyways, the music is great.
Weapons/Powers have different uses. For example, you get a bomb. So, group them up and use that. This weapon does a slash that goes through enemies. Line em up.

Necromancy is available by a power. There are many to pick up and use. Do not summon 10 in a level. That's a waste. Sometimes they get stuck on the telemetry . They do teleport around sometimes, but have some pathing issues. I would reserve them for bigger fights or several big enemies. Kill one and hit the use button to re-animate the enemy. let them tank and hit. Also, great on boss fights. Kill like a few enemies & then raise a few quickly while strafing to get aggro away from you.

Having the Wyvern so late in the game was sad, but I get that it would break everything too quickly.

I like how each "transformation" has a use. Snake is better in water and allows you to breathe infinitely in water. The Demon allows for traversal and combat in fire & against a certain projectile deflecting enemy. The Golem allows you to punch through walls & do heavy AOE. You can use these to save ammo in a pinch or vary your play style. If you're a one-trick-pony, you'll get bored and that's on you.

If you expected an RTX game, tell everyone you know that you saw a game on the GZDOOM engine and expected Crysis 3 level graphcs. Let them slap you and return to the store screen and buy the game. As stated, you're on the GZDOOM engine, baby! Selaco and other games use this for its awesome options. If there was a modding scene for this I'm unwaware of, I need to hit it up. It does very well aiming for that Heretic & Hexen vibe with magic and monsters. The arenas, setpieces, and backdrops are great. As a person who grew up with Wolf 3d, Doom, Quake, Blood, Shadow Warrior and Duke Nukem... this is glorious.

The Map. Don't use it. You're gonna get confused. It's part of it being in the GZDOOM Engine. Most Doom maps do not have the verticality & so the map layers over itself and may confuse you. I did not use the map the entire game. It made no difference to me. Places were easy to discern so I didn't get confused. I explored and was able to backtrack without the usage of a map.



MUSIC/SOUND Design 💀💀💀💀💀/5 Necroskulls
Gameplay 💀💀💀💀💀/5 Necroskulls
Graphics 💀💀💀💀💀/5 Necroskulls
Map No (It's there, but I didn't use it) /5 Necroskulls

Luke Janser - The reason why he was so good at Hands of Necromancy was because he did such a good job at his covers for Heretic. Luke deserves some more attention as a composer of music with that retro boomer shooter feel. If anyone is making a game, he is one of those people to reach out to.

I look forward to Hands of Necromancy 2

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNAPnQKc2cJsaYChTQdb1VPQcXSxHFTGh

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNAPnQKc2cJsziFlePDUBQtNac78GKMdf

Bought this on a sale and it feels like I robbed the devs.

I've completed two of the three episodes but I already want to give it a big thumbs up. I simply love the level design. Every location feels fresh (Despite its theme being either necrotic or fire & brimstone) and brings a good amount of variety in the way you navigate them. They require some exploration like you expect in a game of this genre. And yet it's not the sort you would need to constantly look up a walkthrough, because the game would give you text pop up, giving you a hint what has happened after activating a switch. To put it simply, it strikes a perfect balance in my opinion.
Weapon (or spell) variety feels good and each has multiple uses. Do you slash an enemy with your sword or use its magical charge to reflect projectiles back? Send a single tornado out to the foe or let multiple circle around you? But I can't forget to mention the transformations. You get to change into four types of enemies (I got to try them all in the tutorial. The wyvern is the one I still need to get in the actual game) once you find the appropriate spell. Each bringing three types of attack (using a recharging energy bar) and a special gimmick for getting around. For example the first you get is a snake that can get in narrow passages you would not be able to otherwise. And speaking of gimmicks just as the title suggests you can indeed raise vanquished enemies from the grave to assist you in combat.

And there you have it. This is a true bargain and I’m happy to give it my endorsement. Looking forward to finishing this and checking out the sequel!

Hexen but honestly better.