The Lich Wars is a narrative-driven RPG and adventure title set on PC that places players in the role of a soldier navigating an alternate-history world gripped by war and the spread of necromancy. Spanning the years 1700 to 1728 in the kingdom of Rulsthen near Venice, the game follows a recruit in the Rychva Musketeers through the Venetian War and into the subsequent civil war, with choices shaping personal relationships, military advancement, and the broader consequences of dark magic infiltrating society.
Gameplay
Core gameplay centers on branching interactive fiction supported by RPG skill systems and skill checks that determine outcomes in dialogue, investigations, and key decisions. Players establish an origin story and form connections with comrades early on before entering extended military service marked by combat, travel across Western Europe, and the social fallout from necromancy. A distinctive narrative-driven combat system integrates with the story rather than operating as a separate loop, while hand-written text, hand-drawn illustrations, portraits, maps, and occasional 3D tabletop scenes present the world. Partial voice acting highlights character personalities and delivers narration during pivotal moments. The experience emphasizes life as a soldier over 17 years in the inter-war period, including side content that explores daily existence, courtly intrigue, and the tension between emerging science and persistent superstition.
Game Modes
The game structures its main content around three distinct career paths that open after the initial Venetian War, each offering a separate primary playthrough with unique progression, duties, and narrative branches. These paths allow players to pursue different military or post-war roles while carrying forward relationships and experiences from the first conflict. Choices throughout influence promotions, available optional content, survivor outcomes, and the resolution of the 1727 civil war, encouraging multiple runs to explore divergent stories without requiring prior knowledge of related titles.
Story and Setting
The narrative delves into the introduction of necromancy to Rulsthen and its pervasive effects on the kingdom and its people. Players encounter figures who appear in later events from the connected universe, witnessing the formative experiences that shape their perspectives. The alt-history backdrop blends historical military campaigns, such as elements of the Great Northern War and the War of Spanish Succession, with gothic themes of technological anxiety, unfettered progress, the ethics of warfare, and the psychological toll of black magic. The world remains dark and hazardous, where courtly maneuvering intersects with supernatural threats at the threshold between rational inquiry and lingering superstition.
Is It Worth Playing?
Players seeking a text-heavy RPG focused on personal choice, character relationships, and a self-contained story set against a backdrop of war and forbidden magic will find substantial depth in the branching paths and extensive hand-written content. The three career routes support varied experiences across repeated playthroughs, while the integration of skill checks and narrative combat keeps decisions meaningful. As a standalone title, it requires no familiarity with its sequel to enjoy the full scope of soldier life, alliances, and the creeping influence of necromancy across two major conflicts.
