Review: Absolum
- Guilherme Ribeiro
- 18 hours ago
- 4 min read
Use your magic to liberate a people from an oppressive regime.
THE GAME
Absolum is a beat 'em up developed by Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Supamonks, and distributed by Dotemu and Gamirror Games. After Talamh was devastated by a magical cataclysm caused by ambitious mages, ordinary people began to distrust magic. Taking advantage of this distrust, King Azra enslaved mages and placed his trusted men in charge of conquered kingdoms. As the king advances his domination of lands, the high sorceress Uchawi and a group of rebel mages emerge using forbidden magic to confront Azra's regime of terror. Choose between Galandra and her colossal sword, Karl, the last free dwarf, Brome the frog, and the agile Cider to embark on this adventure and defeat the terrible Azra and liberate Talamh from his oppressive regime.
MY IMPRESSIONS
Dotemu and beat 'em up is the most certain combination for success. Absolum is an example of how it's still possible to innovate in genres that might seem impossible to change the formula. Even though many people might dislike the roguelite factor the game has, it's understandable to use this factor in a beat 'em up. Many people get bored after a game of this genre, so why not add something that makes you want to play multiple times? Inserting roguelite aspects adds another layer of challenge, making the player not find it boring to repeat a process over and over again. And for that, the difficulty progression as you advance in the game increases in a way that creates challenges for the player, and even if they fail, they will have more resources when they return, since it's possible to improve their attributes upon returning to their initial base, spending points that will help in their journey. Furthermore, it's possible to acquire new abilities for your characters, ensuring that the same character isn't always played in the same way.
Regarding the playable characters, each one has a defined style designed for you to develop a fondness for the gameplay that best suits your style; however, all are very fun to control and have a lot of personality. The art in Absolum is magnificent, teleporting you to a magical medieval world where magic stands out with its vibrant colors, which visually also helps the player immerse themselves in the delightful chaos that is a beat 'em up. The game's story is simple and objective, with various fragments and conversations throughout the game that further enrich the story of that world. The game is in Brazilian Portuguese, which is great for following the story and better understanding the attributes, skills, and items.
Whenever you start a new game, you'll have to choose which path you want to take, as different routes lead you to different destinations to reach your final objective. These paths aren't there by chance: besides different landscapes and enemies, there are different events in each one, which can unlock shorter paths for future journeys. Eventually, you'll want to visit all these places, which is perfectly possible, since the game's cycle is basically to advance as far as your skill allows, be defeated, and return to the beginning. Thus, the game also doesn't become repetitive in the sense that it's always possible to change paths next time. During your journey, upon completing a screen of that scenario, you receive rewards, which are fragments used to increase attributes, money, equipment, or passive abilities. In the case of money, you can use it to buy equipment, advance in events, or hire NPCs who fight alongside you – a very interesting mechanic, by the way. Equipment items improve your attributes, but you lose them all when defeated. However, if you want to start with one of them next time, you can buy them at your base by spending fragments. Passive abilities improve attacks, dodges, and special abilities, usually adding elemental damage to them. Again, if you are defeated, you lose them all. In addition to all this, by defeating bosses, you can acquire new basic abilities, such as more attacks in a combo or different interactions between attacks. All these mechanics combined have the clear intention of turning what could be repetitive and tedious into something fun and satisfying. Furthermore, mastering your game with each character and creating combos with what you acquire throughout your journey is extremely exciting, always discovering new things for each of them.
Absolum is a completely satisfying experience in a genre that was content with doing the basics, which, while very fun, gave you about three hours of entertainment and you never touched that beat 'em up again. If you like the genre and felt it couldn't be more than it was, Absolum took a step forward and brought a refreshing air to the beat 'em up.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Since this is a roguelite with four characters, it's expected that there would be specific achievements for each of them. The coolest thing is that they are related to each character's playstyle, which gives these achievements a lot of personality. Obviously, there are also achievements for defeating Azra with each of the characters, so you'll eventually play with all of them. Defeating each boss is also on the achievement list, but you'll eventually get those as you explore the various paths through the game. What might be more challenging are the achievements that require you to do something specific, of which there are many, but nothing you can't try in one of your many attempts to defeat Azra. Just like the game itself, getting 100% of the achievements will be a great challenge and another reason to play and replay Absolum.
CONCLUSION
I love beat 'em ups and I've always wondered how this genre could take the next step. I always see people complaining that it's a genre you only play once and never touch again. And I agree, really, if there's no more challenge there, you have no incentive to continue. Absolum subverts this idea, giving you various resources and challenges to keep you entertained. It's something that needed to be tried, even if it won't please some beat 'em up fans, but it was necessary. And nothing better than Dotemu, the best in this field, taking this first step in a pleasant and easy-to-understand way. Absolum is definitely worth playing, whether alone or with a friend; the rogue 'em up is among us and has everything to be a success.
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