Twenty hours into Absolum, I thought I’d seen everything the fantastical world of Talamh had to offer, only to discover an entirely new route on my 30th run. That delightful surprise motivated me to keep playing and poke around every single corner.
Ever since the 2018 release of Hades, a wave of games has tried to mimic its roguelike formula. Absolum is, by far, the most successful attempt I’ve seen, brilliantly combining the Hades-like with crunchy and satisfying beat ‘em up gameplay, then layering a fascinating fantasy setting on top. Despite taking clear inspiration from Hades, Absolum manages to carve out a distinct identity and crafts an entrancing adventure that keeps you hooked until the last second. It already feels destined to be a cult classic.
Fantasy Fracas
Absolum comes from Guard Crush Games, the studio behind the fantastic Streets of Rage 4. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Guard Crush is the best beat ‘em up studio out there. Absolum doesn’t just feel like a classic beat ‘em up, but a bold reinvention of the genre, and the way it straddles the line between old and new is admirable.
In Absolum, the high-fantasy world of Talamh has been rocked by a magical cataclysm that’s turned wizards into untrusted pariahs. A tyrannical organization called the Crimson Order, led by the Sun King Azra, has taken advantage of the panic to seize control of the world. You play as one of four surviving wizards given the power of rebirth by the High Enchantress Uchawi, which puts you in a seemingly endless loop of combat against Azra’s forces. It’s the perfect excuse for Absolum’s roguelike gameplay.
While the setup might seem similar to Hades, what’s fascinating about Absolum is how its narrative is more about its world than its characters. Whereas Hades uses its loop to build out dynamic relationships, Absolum is about building an understanding of Talamh piece by piece, from its culture to the conflict between its different tribes. This is a smart storytelling twist that allows Absolum’s fantasy setting to flourish, and Guard Crush clearly put a lot of thought into designing a world with an air of mystery. What initially feels like a standard fantasy setting becomes fascinatingly complex as layers are peeled away.
There are still interesting characters, but the attraction here is in how they fit into the world. At the start, you can choose between the rough and tumble dwarf Karl and the lithe elven assassin Galandra. As you progress, you’ll gain access to the frog-like wizard Brome and a mysterious skirmisher named Cider. Each character has a distinct personality, and each comes from one of the game’s major areas, meaning who you play as might trigger new dialogue or details as you explore. That’s on top of each having a drastically different playstyle. Brome is easily my favorite — as an angry survivor of a dying race with an unrelenting hatred of his authoritarian enemies, his cute exterior yields to some hilariously bitter commentary.
Bringing the Beat Down
What really makes Absolum’s narrative shine is how it works in tandem with the gameplay and roguelike elements, with each run yielding new revelations as you improve your skills and unlock new mechanics. And the core of what makes all that work is deliciously satisfying beat-'em-up combat that embraces fighting game inspirations.
Absolum feels great to play on pretty much every level; the core controls are snappy, responsive, and easy to pick up, but deep. If you’ve played a beat ‘em up, you know the gist: each screen presents a set of enemies that you’ll tear through with light and heavy attack combos. Each character can also choose one of a multitude of Arcana skills to bring into battle, and will build Mana in combat to unleash them.
Absolum then cleverly layers in complex elements from 2D fighters. You have a dodge button that lets you duck and weave away from attacks, and if you hit the attack button right after that, you can pull off a strong counterattack. If you dodge an attack at the exact right frame you can deflect it, completely negating the damage and often staggering the enemy. In addition, Absolum lets you pull off some crazy air juggles, liberally rewarding you for timing and extending your combos. Then there’s a throw mechanic you can use to bypass enemies’ guards and knock them into other foes.
You’ll need to use all these tools, as Absolum does a fantastic job of tossing dozens of different enemy types at you and forcing you to adjust how you fight. Thankfully, the game makes you feel like a badass when you pull off lengthy combos or instantly cut a boss’ health in half with an absurd air juggle. Absolum makes it easy to do cool things, but uses its roguelike elements to pack in plenty of challenges.
Clearing each screen gives you a reward, whether that’s crystals to buy permanent buffs at your base, gold for your current run, Trinkets that boost your stats, or Rituals that grant you powerful magic abilities. Rituals function like Hades’ Boons, granting you abilities that drastically change your playstyle, such as summoning a skeleton helper whenever you dodge, granting a rotating ring of fire after deflecting, or creating throwable daggers on your combo’s last hit. There’s a wide variety of effects, and Absolum does a great job of providing a robust array of options to make runs feel unique by letting you lean into disparate character builds.
The icing on this is how much the world shifts and changes. I discovered something new on nearly every run, as Absolum does an incredible job of mixing things up by opening up new pathways, layering in combat twists, and weaving in new narrative details. It’s astounding how much variety is packed into the 20 to 30-hour playtime; almost every single run feels important in a way that I’ve only ever seen Hades really nail. The sole downside is that after you finally “beat” the story, there’s not much incentive to keep playing. Absolum doesn’t have endless replayability, but it’s sure exciting while it lasts.
Beating the Odds
After Hades and now Hades 2, I’d long wondered if anyone but Supergiant could effectively use that formula. Others have tried, but I’d never found anything that scratched that same itch – until now. I played Hades 2 and Absolum back-to-back, and Absolum feels like the perfect chaser.
I barely have time to mention the game’s lavish art style and outstanding orchestral soundtrack. Everything is hand-drawn, in a style that feels like a souped-up version of Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings cartoon. It’s a style that injects so much vibrant personality into the diverse areas you explore, as every frame is a treat for the eyes. Throw in the gravitas of the extravagant orchestral soundtrack, and you have a shockingly confident experience from a studio that took a real stab at innovating in a beloved genre and succeeded in nearly every way. Absolum handily joins the ranks of definitive beat ‘em ups and crafts a promising new universe that I sincerely hope we see again.
9/10
Absolum launches on October 9 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Inverse was provided a PC copy for review.
INVERSE VIDEO GAME REVIEW ETHOS: Every Inverse video game review answers two questions: Is this game worth your time? Are you getting what you pay for? We have no tolerance for endless fetch quests, clunky mechanics, or bugs that dilute the experience. We care deeply about a game’s design, world-building, character arcs, and storytelling come together. Inverse will never punch down, but we aren’t afraid to punch up. We love magic and science-fiction in equal measure, and as much as we love experiencing rich stories and worlds through games, we won’t ignore the real-world context in which those games are made.
