Duration: 0:00

14 views

4

Absolum is a Hack and Slash Action RPG Roguelite Sidescroller, a 2.5D Beat em up that reminds me of an updated take on Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.
Oh ya.

Hack and Slash Beat em Up Action:
The clear focus in Absolum is its Hack and Slash combat, and it really shows.
There is no stamina system to encourage pacing yourself: it is all out Hack and Slash assault!
Each character has both a fast punch, and a heavy weapon attack, as well as a character specific special that charges off melee hits.
You can jump, you can dash, and you can run.

The dash here is very useful, as you can use it to not just dodge hits, but you can also use it to perfect dodge an enemy hit and deflect it, making them vulnerable to damage.
Remember: this is 2.5d, not 2d, so you can dodge up and down into the mid-ground to literally sidestep out of a strike, then rapidly counterattack, which feels very tactical.
You can also walk into an enemy to grab and throw them, assuming they don’t whack you.
Also remember: some are just too big to grab, so don’t try to go all bear style on giants!

You can attack downed enemies too, so no need to impatiently wait around while your hated foes take their sweet time standing up!
Here, just pummel them into the ground while they’re down, hero!
No mercy for the wicked!

Absolum is an Action RPG:
As an Action RPG, Absolum offers 2 party members to pick from at the start: the dwarf, or the drow.
You can swap between the 2 characters in the HUB area between runs if you wish, as they have different weapon and special attacks.
Once in the dungeon, as you clear rooms, you are awarded.
It could be an Inspiration, a Trinket, a Ritual, or some coins.
The Rituals offer a pick of 1 of 2 passive buffs that trigger off an action; some examples:
A strike that puts a burn on your punch
A buff to your perfect dodge
A flaming dash
Strikes that build up to unleash a tornado
The offered Rituals feel good and impactful to the run, which is always nice to see.

Meta Progression:
Absolum has some stacking Meta Progression power that the player can amass in between runs.
After every run, you get “Radiance”, which awards more meta progression lvls up and points to spend at the HUB area.
You can also feed collected Crystals to the tree for +10 hp, +5% crit, +25% damage on throw-ables, and +25 starting gold, with more unlockable later.
Also, it seems the possible of healing food dropping seems tied to the first crystal meta progression.

So, it really does feel that the balance point was made taking into account the player having some / all of these upgrades, so it really seems most players will have to do a few runs to amass the meta progression power they need to clear the game.
Due to the above: Absolum is firmly a roguelite, and not a roguelike.

Local Co-op multiplayer is present, which is a very nice feature for an early demo.
Online Co-op also seems present, in case that is something that interest you.

Controller Support is present, as are rebindable keys, which is good.
Unfortunately, Mouse and Keyboard control is flat out not present, as this PC game does not recognize the mouse!
So, unless you are ok with 2 hands on keyboard play: a gamepad is in your future if you want to play this.

Note: This is an early demo look at Absolum so any bugs or other oddness is not representative of the final product.
Still, Absolum is a Hack and Slash Action RPG Roguelite Sidescroller, a 2.5D Beat em up that reminds me of an updated take on Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.
Absolum is easily well worth a wishlist and a watch.
Watch?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3713610/Absolum_Demo/
#Absolum #Sidescroller #Roguelite