Absolum Review

Roguelike’s Gallery

HIGH The Dark Grip power up is a blast.

LOW It’s a roguelike, so expect some runs to be complete write-offs.

WTF Dashing forwards doubles as a deflecting move?

Absolum takes place in a fantasy world where certain types of magic are militarily suppressed by a tyrant known as the Sun King who enforces his rule by locking up or murdering anyone who gets in the way of his ambition. Our heroes set off on an adventure to fight back and topple this system, only for things to go badly wrong roughly ten minutes into their mission.

Said heroes do have an ace up their sleeve though — while they can technically die, it doesn’t last long until they’re reborn in a sanctuary hidden away from prying eyes. So, after being stabbed, bludgeoned, bitten or burnt to death, they’re able to dust themselves off, power themselves up with various goodies from their previous attempt, and have another crack at taking down the Sun King.

Most of the enemies are a standard fantasy medley of orcs, goblins and humans poking at things with spears for the most part. That description also fits the playable characters who are a decent enough cast of misfits, and personable enough once they get talking. That said, Blaze Fielding levels of character design excellence are not to be seen here.

My main choice was the sword knight Galandra, a strong all-rounder. There’s also a Dwarf with stone-hard fists and a blunderbuss, a frog sorcerer who floats around the battlefield unleashing magical justice and a patchwork rogue type who seems the optimal choice for anyone looking to perform freeform combos. The first two are available from the outset, the latter two must be discovered on the journey.

While Absolum is definitely a roguelike, it offers a mostly-traditional 2D side-scrolling approach. Stroll from the left side of the screen to the right mangling anything that gets in the way, pick up gems and loot to either help in current or future runs, and choose a preferred path through the chaos.

If the setup is standard side scrolling fare, then it’s fair to say that the developers have pretty much nailed the combat. Players can run around, dash towards enemies to deflect their attacks, dash up or down to avoid them as well, and use a large variety of special moves to mince through enemy hordes. There’s even the occasional Golden Axe-style mount for added lethality and protection.

One twist to this formula is the addition of Rituals. After nearly every encounter in a given location, the player is offered various rewards ranging from gold and gems to Rituals that can substantially change their playstyle with tweaks such as punches setting foes aflame or well-timed dodges blasting them with lightning.

There are also character-exclusive perks like the Dark Grip, which I fell completely in love with since it turns out that strangling dudes in Absolum is totally awesome. Stroll up to some dirty-looking malcontent, hoist them up into the air by their throat and wait until they turn blue and die, coughing up large chunks of mana in the process.

It should be mentioned that the benefits of some options aren’t always exactly clear, as Absolum is often missing basic information in info panels such as how much damage being choked actually does (lots) to enemies or how effective a floating spectral sword is at stabbing dudes, but experimenting with new discoveries is all part of the experience.

In fact, ‘discovery’ is a watchword here as Absolum shows strength through the variety of things hurled at players. Especially in the early runs, there’s almost always some twist coming out of nowhere to open up new routes, make new friendships or reveal new enemies and bosses lurking in the shadows. One time I was waiting for a lift to another area, only to have a bunch of grenades hurled at me instead. I’m not sure if this was due to the character I picked or not, but my Dwarf didn’t get a warm welcome in that zone.

Of course, this variety in conjunction with the random nature of roguelikes has a downside. When scavenging for life-replenishing food after rough battles, it’s often (literally) a feast or a famine — pointlessly abundant one run with waste aplenty, then an absolute void of sustenance the next. The same goes for abilities and power-ups — one run offers perfectly synchronized Rituals that complement each other, and the next is nothing but a ramshackle collection of redundant nonsense that doesn’t mesh.

If I had a complaint besides the random awful luck of roguelikes, I’d have to say that I’m getting sick of seeing boss characters that borderline cheat by being slathered in hyperarmor that allows them to ignore player attacks until it shatters. It comes across as a bit lazy, honestly — there’s one Warlord boss in particular that takes nasty advantage of this with huge grab windows that last too long, able to snatch players out of combos, mid-attack. It’s not exactly game breaking, but I’d be happy to see it toned down or binned completely moving forward.

I’d also hoped for something to add replay value after killing the true final boss, but Absolum doesn’t introduce any new features that I’m aware of– no randomizers, no new skill tree unlock, and no surprise bonus characters. Given how generous the devs are with content up to that point, it’s a little strange to see the content feed suddenly stop dead like that. Rolling credits feels almost anticlimactic a result.

Minor quibbles aside, Absolum is an excellent beat-’em-up full of cool combos, neat build variations, random events and enjoyable roguelike power evolution spearheaded by a team that Absolumetely knows what they’re doing when it comes to crafting quality content. For fans of roguelikes or side-scrollers, this is one to check out.  

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Guard Crush/Supamonks and published by DotEmu. It is currently available on XBX/S/PS5/Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 17 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes due to lack of available players pre release.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ and contains Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, and Use of Tobacco. The official description reads: Absolum is rated E10+ for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB with Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, and Use of Tobacco. This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the roles of rebel heroes battling a fantasy villain. From a 2D side-scrolling perspective, players use swords, spells, and melee-style attacks to defeat creatures and human enemies (e.g., goblins, raptors, captains, ghosts) in “beat-’em-up”-style combat. Battles are highlighted by impact sounds, colorful light effects, and cries of pain. A red puddle of blood is depicted on one ground level. One character is seen smoking a pipe. The words “damn” and “hell” appear in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles that cannot be altered or resized. I don’t recall anything in the game that would require the use of hearing for successful play, so I’d say it’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

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