Absolum, from Guard Crush Games and Supamonks, is a new 2.5D side-scrolling beat-em-up that mixes Streets of Rage and Towerborne with the roguelike progression of something like Dead Cells – and it’s tough. Like, really tough.
It’s set in a world where magic is outlawed and wizards are persecuted mercilessly following a terrible cataclysm. Now only a few wizards remain, four of whom act as the player characters in Absolum. After elf Galandra and her dwarven “brother” Karl free their “Mother” from the clutches of the enemy, they set upon a path to defeat the tyrant Azra, who has turned the world against wizards and rules the lands with an iron fist.
It is the Root Mother’s magic that allows Galandra and Karl – as well as unlockable characters Cider and Brome – to resurrect when they die, beginning each adventure anew but with certain upgrades boosting their stats and abilities. Within their camp are several allies who offer various services such as teaching them new skills in exchange for various currencies earned during runs.
If anything, the currencies just confused me. There’s gold for hiring mercenary NPCs, gemstones for upgrading stats like Health and Mana, and then several other items awarded for performing various feats that would lose nothing by simply being one currency. These are used to unlock new special attacks for each character, or for unlocking new temporary boosters that will then be scattered into the reward pool for completing milestones in each run, such as clearing areas or beating bosses.
Each of the four characters plays differently but feels very similar. Combat is fast, impactful, and combo-based. Standard attacks will only do so much, but by pressing Y you can use a heavier attack that can later be modified in a number of ways, such as turning Galandra’s aerial Y-attack into a powerful spinning strike. Building up mana will allow you to press the right trigger to perform a super-powerful move that you can upgrade or change as you unlock more.
Initially, for example, Galandra has a deadly sweeping attack and Karl clears out the enemies in front of him with a blunderbuss. Later you’ll unlock the mechanical acrobat Cider and the frog-like magic-user Brome. They don’t change the pace of the action much, but they all present different options for play, particularly if you indulge the multiplayer. Periodically you’ll unlock run-specific buffs that can add elemental damage to attacks or evades, or spice up your arsenal with a whole new move.
As a side-scrolling beat-em-up the overall presentation of Absolum is nothing new, but the gorgeous aesthetic, detailed environments, and decent enemy variety do some heavy lifting. In a throwback to Golden Axe there are rideable beasts thrown in now and then that you can jump on until a meter runs out and they leg it, and enemies will come at you with ranged attacks and explosives now and then. There’s also a throw move that is available if you get behind an enemy or close enough to grab them.
On its default difficulty, Absolum is super tough. Enemies hit very hard, and even after several runs with a few upgrades, boss fights are taxing encounters. The first few took me several attempts, and thanks to the roguelike nature, failing a boss means going back through everything again, although you can unlock special monoliths that alleviate some of that issue. If it proves too hard, you can go into the settings and alter your damage input and output, which can utterly break the game for you if you simply want to see it through. I won’t spoil what happens when you beat Azra for the first time, but it’s absolutely worth the challenge.
My main issue with Absolum was the overall lack of lore and backstory. It has a solid plot and tells its story competently enough, but I’d have liked to see more in-game lore about the world and the characters, races, and histories. It’s an interesting world with an intriguing array of peoples and places, but it doesn’t explore a lot of it or fully explain things like the Root Mother. It’s a minor complaint, though, and overall doesn’t take anything away from the experience, especially as the story is revealed in small chunks regardless of your success in runs, like you’d see in Hades 2. Characters will turn up in different places during different runs, offering a little more story or even heading back to your camp to join your cause.
Absolum is a confident side-scroller with satisfying, punchy combat, and a good spread of characters and skills, with plenty to unlock and a solid amount of content given the replayable roguelike nature of the campaign. There are a few things that could do with a tweak such as the abundance of currencies and the lack of context for some story elements, but other than that it’s a good-looking, enjoyable adventure.