Absolum

There is hardly a genre left that hasn't been attempted to be rogueified. Poker, tactical strategy games, and one-armed bandits have had their turn alongside the more classic side-scrollers and twin-stick variants. Now, after a few tentative experiments ({Streets of Rage 4} DLC, for example), beat-em-ups have also been given a definite hit. The genre is an obvious choice, as it grew up alongside the delightful smell of fried food, which brings to mind the voracious arcade machines that always had room for one more coin, so that my friends and I could perhaps get a little further.

The co-developer of {Streets of Rage 4}, {Guard Crush}, has clearly made the same connection, as they have joined forces with the animation studio {Supamonks} and the French throwback publisher par excellence, {DotEmu}, with the aim of creating a classic beat-em-up with a roguelike structure as an exotic twist. This is interesting in itself when we're talking about one of the genre's standard-bearers, but the surprises don't stop there. Instead of working with an existing series, {Guard Crush} and co. has created an original fantasy universe with a surprisingly rich mythology. Not exactly the norm for beat-em-ups, although {Golden Axe}, among others, has shown that the combination works.

Fortunately, the most interesting thing about {Absolum} is not this eclectic mix of genres. I was drawn into the universe by the silky smooth and expressive animation style, the broad but tasteful colour palette, and the epic backgrounds. It's like a really cool graphic novel or Saturday morning cartoon brought to life, and just seeing a new area or even revisiting an old one (and you'll do that once or twice) is an aesthetic pleasure.

As the beat-em-up label suggests, however, you're in for anything but a leisurely stroll. No, here you have to fight, and fortunately it feels just as good as the idyllic forests, damp swamps, and cataclysmic craters that provide the backdrop for the brawls. In short, {Absolum} succeeds in capturing the crunchy quality that the best beat-em-ups possess. Every single fist, stick, and sword that crushes your enemies can be felt, because both you and your enemies' animations are so vivid and responsive, and the crisp sound effects only enhance the immersion before {Guard Crush} tops it off with surplus details such as going into slow motion when a boss is broken or the last enemy in a wave meets its end.

The controls are simple, of course. You have a light and heavy attack, a dodge that can be extended into a sprint, a jump that can be combined with your attacks, a special attack that costs mana, and of course, an ultimate attack that you can only use rarely. There are combos, but they are few and not permanent. Instead, the focus is on classic roguelike-style rapid build-crafting as your run progresses. At first, I was disappointed with how few options my co-op partner and I had to customise our characters, until I realised that {Absolum} just takes a little longer to introduce the options that are available. In the spirit of the fantasy genre, the game operates with a number of elements such as fire, water, thunder, wind, and a few more esoteric ones, but you cannot choose thunder upgrades until you have found the so-called thunder ritual in the world. Therefore, in the beginning, you will be offered the same elements over and over again, which becomes monotonous, especially if you are coming from {Hades 2}, which offers a lot of variety from the start. And it doesn't help that there isn't much variety within the individual elements either.

But take heart if you find yourself fighting monotony after a few hours, because it gets better. Suddenly, you have 5-6 elements to work with, and at the beginning of the second biome, you get an NPC that lets you combine and improve elements, and then it all actually starts to become quite fun and flexible when you find synergies that almost enable you to break the game in half. It's gratifying, but I still maintain that {Absolum} would have benefited from loosening the build-crafting reins a little earlier.

The permanent upgrades are not the game's strongest feature either. They come in three different forms and affect your character, its moveset, and the upgrades you can find on runs. Examples of the former include a revival upon death or better critical attacks, the moveset gives access to new special attacks, while the latter adds considerable variety to runs. No, the problem is not the amount of permanent upgrades, but rather the oversimplified way in which you always just add them on. There are no difficult choices like in {Hades 2}, where you have to consider whether one improvement outweighs having to drop another, and the currency you use comes in three forms, which are collected quite automatically. You can easily feel the changes and it feels good to get stronger, but the process of unlocking them is a bit underwhelming.

The same can be said about the starting area in general. It's a gorgeous place with fantastic views of the world of {Talamh}, but the NPCs that populate it don't have much to say, so apart from the upgrades, being sent back to the start rarely gives rise to new, exciting developments. A problem that {Evil Empire}'s {Rogue Prince of Persia} also suffered from, incidentally.

On the other hand, the picture is completely different when you set out to kill the evil sun king {Azra}, who has enslaved {Talamh} while basking in his tower in the capital. Similar to {Dead Cells} and {Rogue Prince of Persia}, {Absolum} uses a branching approach to runs. The first world, {Grandery}, has an impressive number of paths, all leading to the first big boss, the wonderfully animated skeleton king {Underking}. They are unlocked through optional side quests and help paint a surprisingly rich picture of {Talamh}, which, however, is not entirely supported by the central narrative, which never rises above classic tropes.

Initially, I was a little disappointed with the game's second world, which seems limited in its possibilities. That is, until I discovered that after a few attempts to beat it into submission, you actually get the opportunity to choose a completely different world, with its own side stories, bosses, and a visual expression that is completely different.

In this way, {Absolum} manages to stay fresh from run-to-run, even though the more handcrafted environments actually limit how procedurally {Guard Crush} can approach the task. In addition, there are four very distinct playable characters, each with their own personal stories. And unlike {Rogue Prince of Persia}, where your goal always felt like a specific main task that had to be solved before anything else, {Absolum}'s ditto inspires more desire-based, curious exploration of what the beautiful world has to offer. Pretty well done for a humble beat-em-up.

As a whole, {Absolum} is not quite as strong as this year's other big action roguelike, {Hades 2}. But actually, I've had even more fun beating up the {Sun King Azra} than taking my father's house back from my grandfather. Perhaps this is because {Absolum}'s genre mix feels incredibly fresh, whereas {Hades 2} largely treads familiar ground. And then I love the crunchy combat and the surprisingly well-developed world, which is presented so beautifully and vividly. One of the big positive surprises of the year.