Absolum is the brainchild of Dotemu, Guard Crush Video games, and Supamonks, collaborators largely accountable for bringing in regards to the renaissance of the scrolling beat ’em up with Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.
Dotemu’s first unique IP, Absolum is a ‘rogue ’em up’ impressed by Capcom’s Dungeons and Dragons arcade video games, Lifeless Cells, Golden Axe, and, most prominently, Vanillaware’s Dragon’s Crown. Set on the planet of Talamh, you are out to thwart the tyrannical reign of Solar King Azra.
You start with a alternative of two warriors, Galandra the Elf and Karl the Dwarf, who’re killed within the prologue and revived in The Fireplace, a sanctuary that acts as your start line and hub for character levelling. The story is subtly carried out, a lot of it dictated throughout play by temporary exchanges, factors of curiosity, and narration. An motion sport, finally, fight is on the forefront of all you do.
In The Grandery, the primary of 4 lands, your aim is to defeat the Underking, however until performed so early by some fascinating feat of talent, this goal takes time. Initially, there are solely two paths – both alongside the seafront or by the forest, and firstly of every run you equip an Arcana (tremendous assault) from these you’ve unlocked. Throughout your journey, new map factors and alternate routes open up, tied to numerous sub-mission alternatives.
Absolum is a sport the place you make some headway, die in battle, and repeat from scratch incrementally strengthened. It requires you to journey its paths time and again, accruing gem stones and factors to be spent in The Fireplace on upgrades. Earlier than lengthy, murderer Cider joins the get together, after which Brome, a staff-wielding warrior frog. Every character has a singular type: sword-wielding Galandra is gradual however balanced; the highly effective dwarf fielding a ranged particular; Cider, weaker however lethal quick; and Brome with aerial capabilities.
Every is finely balanced to permit you to get essentially the most out of them, and you may select to deal with one or all to work out the professionals and cons. Your whole group advantages from everlasting upgrades like elevated energy, well being, particular transfer shares, and extra Arcana assaults.
To extend your probabilities in every run, you acquire Rituals, Trinkets, and Inspirations – randomised pickups that grant results and increase your character’s energy. Rituals bolster fight with fiery rings, electrical prices, or damaging waves; Trinkets supply bodily benefits like diminished harm and improved velocity; and Inspirations can grant fully new fight manoeuvres, usually showing after a boss combat. While you die, all of those bonuses are wiped, however the high quality of Rituals enhance with progress, rising in energy, rarity, and performance from the outset.
Fight-wise, Absolum is as easy and pleasurable as one would anticipate, additional evolving a style that was as soon as thought played-out. The battling is livid, combo-rich enjoyable, and stuffed with selection. Breakable and throwable objects are scattered all over, from arcing axes to hefty grenades, and Golden Axe-style beasts may be ridden into crowds or positioned to spit fireballs.
Money, too, performs an element, permitting you to purchase Trinkets from distributors in cities. You may’t retailer any usable or consumable objects in a menu, ridding the motion of pauses; this, nonetheless, makes the invention of meals in scattered e-book mounds or leafy bushels all-important, rising the problem considerably.
By way of mechanics, you possibly can sprint and interact with mild and onerous combo mix-ups, soar in to begin a volley or lead with a knee, juggling enemies effortlessly. There’s a dodge that may be timed to create a knockback, and a Conflict, which requires a timed strike to repel. Each go away the enemy open to punishment, however may be difficult to drag off within the warmth of battle. Nailing the timing towards bosses is dangerous however can create large benefits, particularly if the repel impact is tied to a Ritual that produces a harmful secondary property. It is value noting that some characters have a greater window for pulling off Clashes than others, however their fight motions are slower total.
Absolum is extraordinarily well-defined. It’s a mission the place the fight processes and development have been clearly structured lengthy earlier than the primary code was written. It is probably not as instantly accessible as Shredder’s Revenge, however it’s twice as intelligent and — by design — way more replayable. The roguelite parts supply refined background randomisations and rearranged enemy formations, and a one-eyed rabbit within the background denotes hidden areas to seek out, normally revealing treasure.
The Grandery feels initially restrictive – a grinding space the place you be taught fight, levelling, secrets and techniques, map expansions, and the capabilities of the sport’s myriad passive power-ups. But, levelling up your staff and buying more and more fascinating fight augmentations fosters encouraging, addictive momentum, even after numerous runs. Exploring the map is pleasurable regardless of the repetition, principally due to the excellent fight, and by the point you fell the Underking and cross the ocean to the swamplands of Jaroba, it all of the sudden begins to fly – in some circumstances so rapidly the pacing can really feel barely lopsided.
Whereas the problem does scale with development all through, it is at all times simply sufficient behind your levelling that it is extra a check of talent than an obstacle, and ultimately you should have all you could one-life clear the marketing campaign and defeat Azra. For many who do, a shock awaits.
The developer’s best success right here is in taking the prevailing framework of a number of titles and honing it into one thing splendidly swish. Combating is enjoyable, levelling is rewarding, and incremental progress is encouraging. Probably the most dazzling facet, although, is the broadness of its Rituals and Trinkets and the way these pickups form a run. You may go all hearth, on a regular basis, or splice electrical properties with these of water. Rituals can bolster Arcana with secondary assaults or off the again of profitable dodges. Trinkets, too, may be stacked in energy, permitting you to fortify your defence so that you barely take harm, or make even the slowest characters blazing quick. In a single run, after gathering Trinkets that tripled any throwable, after which boosting their energy a number of occasions, The Underking was virtually utterly destroyed by a group of lobbed rocks.
It’s this sort of malleability and unpredictability that makes Absolum so fascinating to return to, and much deeper and extra assorted than the likes of Dragon’s Crown. A single run in The Grandery is roughly quarter-hour, and you may attain the Underking rapidly and lose simply as quick. By the point you’re in Jeroba’s fearsome Area or the hidden mists of Yeldrim, this run-time is greater than doubled, and a complete playthrough takes round an hour.
Uncooked fight talent received’t at all times grant a victory till you’ve sufficiently levelled up, and, in contrast to the beastly lairs, vampiric castles, and set-piece occasions of Dragon’s Crown, Absolum’s world is extra normal, joined collectively by acquainted paths and backdrops that keep quick to their theme. Relying in your mileage, that is both a plus or a minus.
Absolum is a good sport in single-player, permitting you to pay to recruit assist alongside the best way and supplying you with a lot to see and do, whereas the multiplayer expertise (both native or on-line) actually excels. Finely tuned with rollback web code and permitting you to configure your individual body delays from the choices, becoming a member of up with one other individual is sort of the journey.
One factor that is troublesome to fathom, although, is why there is not a four-player possibility. There are factors when you possibly can recruit a number of employed palms right into a busy enviornment, the display screen ablaze with sprites, and the processing is totally unfussed.
Graphically, it’s lovely finish to finish, with a definite, daring cartoon type and a secure 60fps body fee. It is clear in its visible nature, choosing picture-book-flat over shaded fantasy grit, however this works effectively in busy screens with a number of battling sprites. Its conflict results, vital hit slowdown, and magical parts all look nice, too.
Musically, it’s very spectacular, with a Ye-Olde-English-style set of flute-backed motifs scored by Mick Gordon of DOOM fame. It swells properly at boss encounters and could be very cinematic, seamlessly constructing from the soothing to the thunderous.
One of many solely issues that irks is the voice appearing. It’s all English, on a regular basis, in step with parts of medieval fantasy. Some, just like the Dwarf and sure NPCs are all acceptable, however different main characters appear missing in professionalism. It may very well be that, being an Englishman myself, I’m extra liable to nitpicking, however Cider sometimes drops strains like a bored receptionist that had me mocking them out loud, and the odd American character and principal NPC give all of it the trouble of an unwilling trainer roped into reciting strains for the college play.
This isn’t a serious subject, only one that might have benefited from extra route. Whereas some character actors are working to suit inside the medieval interval, others are delivering dialogue prefer it’s a present-day trade over a espresso.
