Absolum (2025)

This game honestly rules. The amount of build variety and shakes up to gameplay keeps this game both addictive and feeling fresh. It's art style and music are great. While the roster of characters is pretty limited, only 4 for now, each plays very differently. Having their own moves and specials that create their own unique interactions with the various relics (this games version of Hades' Boons). Builds aren't nearly as deep as Hades, but the combat itself is just as skill based, just in different ways.

The real bread and butter of this game is the combat and it's easily one of the best beat em ups, in terms of combat. It's simple at face value. You have standard attacks that typically end in 3 hit combos, you have a special that is typically just one big attack, then you have dash, dodge and jump. All of these moves can be comboed into each other, but what really adds depth to the combat flow is in your defensive options. Enemy attacks can either be clashed, deflected or dodged. Each of these are tied to your different move sets. Your special attack will clash, if you time the special to land right before the enemy attack hits you. This parries the enemy and typically will put them off balance for a counter attack. Deflect is timing your dodge into the enemy attack and it also functions like a parry if timed well. Then dodge. Honestly, I found dodge to be very unreliable and never really understood how to execute it reliably. But in theory, I guess you dodge away from an enemy attack last minute?

Having this many options for reacting and turning defense into offense really elevates the combat. This is all before we get to the main mechanic around build variety, relics. Relics, like boons in hades, are tied to specific moves you have and they are completely randomized. There are ways to mitigate the RNG, such as trinkets that force your next relic to be a specific type (much like keepsakes in Hades), but for the most part you are reacting to the RNG you receive like any good roguelike. One key difference between relics and boons though is how they can stack. In hades, if you get a Poseidon boon for your attack, that's what you get. If you want to add blitz to your attack, you have to replace Poseidon's boon. In contrast, Absolum allows you to stack as many affixes to whichever ability you want. Which results in both hilarity and complete visual noise.

Sometimes the most fun moments of an Absolum run is the end game when you have a ton of relics and the entire screen explodes with particle effects, and you have no idea if you are winning or losing the battle. This is both a strength and weakness. On one hand, it does get easy to lose track of yourself and on the other hand, it can get so ridiculous that I am still okay with it.

As far as the Roguelike structure goes, you have set routes that you can choose, which won't change, though the enemies and events you encounter will. This will result in a lot of runs feeling very similar, but I honestly think this system is more a pro than a con. You get missions, like in Hades, and with a set world, you can choose when you tackle missions, since you can navigate to specific nodes of interest. This puts variety more into the players hands, but there is also a limit to the amount of variety since paths are set. I don't mind this. While Hades is fully randomized with a few preset rooms, the randomized rooms always felt like interchangeable arenas. The pros of Absolum's design is to have far more memorable and dynamic set pieces and atmosphere. And the atmosphere hits hard with both the art style and music. But I could see someone fairly critiquing the game over the set world. But again, the game seemingly throws new events and enemy encounters at you, that I liked this design choice overall.

Another key component to this game is the couch co-op. It's a blast and easily elevates the enjoyment of the game. You can play this co-op via online, but I always have a soft spot for couch co-op games. Also the late game visual chaos goes to new heights with a second person. Making it even harder to tell if you are winning or losing. But hey I personally find this to be more a pro than a con.

Overall this game is a blast, especially with a friend. Lucking into a new broken build is a joy. My best run I had exclusively lightning and echoes, which resulted in me completely deleting a screen of enemies very quickly. Then steamrolling the final bosses. All builds are viable, but certainly some are stupidly busted compared to others. After about 10 hours, my friend and I beat the final boss a few times and we still plan to keep playing more. We still have a few more bosses to fight and a few unlocks that we're itching to try.

The strength of a roguelike is in how much you are compelled to need just one more run. The strength of a beat em up is in how fun it is to beat em up as it were.

The structure that makes it so you will not succeed in your first run or even the first handful after unless you apply tremendous skill, that gives branching paths, changing conditions, and reason to go again even when you win, the gameplay does that well. You are compelled to keep venturing back out there to see how far you get and what you find now. The world is not all procedural , there is a set world and stages but aspects of them will change from run to run and you will have paths to choose from, secrets to find, quests to do that will send you back in over the same path. It can get a touch tedious but that feeling goes away if you stick with it. There is just enough variety in character and play style experimentation with the random books you get. The rogue like elements of changing the tools you have is in some places rather bare. It could've done with some expansion or more strategic creativity. But it's not bad and it's enough to make it fun.

The combat though arcade brawler in terms of mobs of enemies and full levels of combat, the mechanics are very 2d fighter in nature. Combos, juggling, counters make up the core of really mastering the flow of battle and that feels like playing street fighter more than streets of rage. It's a good place to be though. It makes combat a blast in this game, in my opinion.

Those bits on their own is that you're here for. But I'm happy to say that the story is pretty compelling while fitting the kind of game it's a companion to and not over complicating it's narrative so much as to be kind its own thing. It serves the gameplay and you don't have to engage with it, but if you do it's worth it. This is a war torn world without clearly defined sides and though your character faction feels righteous in what they fight for, they want magic to be free and unrestricted , no matter the danger , no matter the cost. Your enemy wants to restrict freedom to preserve peace. Neither of you are wrong just serving an idea. The rest of the world factions are fighting each other while also being against you but not uniting about it and sometimes , allying with you. This is a story one expects in an rpg a table top game, a fantasy novel, but we have it in a beat em up. What a time to be alive

The art direction and the music are flawless and well suited. It helps everything feel alive and put together and that's at least a handful of the charm. I didn't get the chance to try this aspect, but the multiplayer looks well integrated and trying to recreate the feel of couch coop. It can comfortably be played alone but multiplayer was crafted into a tempting option.

This is a game that you'll be returning to here and there, fitting in just one or a few runs before playing something else. It'll be an occasional joy long after you've cleared it to your satisfaction.

Had a great time with Hades 2? This is the next best thing. Really fun, and the best beat-em-up I've ever played. Amazing art style, world, characters, and combat; this is just great. Not sure why the IGN review complained of difficulty when the accessibility options are very generous. The base difficulty can be rough, but it is definitely doable. Protip: There's a hidden trinket shop in the starting area, but don't use it unless you've already beaten the game as the trinket is only good for one run and you're better off using those for the permanent upgrades at the tree.

8.75/10