Absolum was supplied by Dotemu for assessment. Thanks!
Absolum introduced me again to childhood, once I performed Streets of Rage on the Sega Megadrive once I ought to have been asleep. Certain, it is a fantasy setting, however the vibes have been there from the second I began the sport. Developed by Guard Crush Video games, Absolum blends the basic beat-em-up gameplay from the olden days with the roguelike indie construction that’s so widespread within the new age, and the end result was one thing extra refreshing than I anticipated.
Regardless of my childhood, I by no means actually acquired into the beat-em-up style. I moved in the direction of technique video games akin to Age of Empires, Empire Earth, and the Complete Conflict collection. Regardless of this, Absolum caught my curiosity as quickly because it was introduced. The fast-paced gameplay and an enchanting world drew my consideration, and Absolum got here out of the gates swinging. There’s a lot to love with this title, and additionally it is a superb expertise on the Steam Deck.
I did run into some bizarre freezes earlier than the launch, which is why my assessment is delayed (apologies!). A pre-launch patch mounted the issue. Phew!
Absolum’s visible and narrative presentation hits you from the second the sport begins, and whereas the story beats don’t do something distinctive, the characters and setting greater than make up for that. The world of Talmah was shattered by wizards, triggering a magical collapse that enabled the tyrant king Azra to grab energy and enslave magical individuals by way of his highly effective Crimson Order. Pushed to the sting of extinction, the priestess Uchawi recruits a small drive of rebels to combat in opposition to the regime, hoping to convey magic again to the world. The voice appearing is superb, and I recognize all of the characters’ authenticity. Azra may really feel like a typical fantasy darkish lord, however I favored his portrayal.
Onto the visuals themselves, the battlefields and areas look improbable. Throughout your journey throughout Tamlah within the combat in opposition to Azra, the graphics present a vibrant vary of biomes. Dense forests get away into fights over babbling brooks, and I intervene in battles between goblins and the Crimson Order in ruined settlements. Possessed and damaged dwarves hang-out the remnants of their undergrown kingdoms, and so forth. I even loved the background element, which exhibits how a lot consideration has been put into worldbuilding.
Absolum is a type of uncommon video games the place you possibly can play solo or co-op with out struggling any downsides. That is extremely laborious to do, particularly in narrative video games, due to how individuals are likely to play multiplayer. It’s only a truth of life.
Shifting on to gameplay, that is the place Absolum really shines. I want extra video games had blended beat-em-up with fantasy parts, and Guard Crush Video games has achieved an unimaginable job with it. The beginning two characters have numerous talents and weapons that unlock over time with subsequent runs, and fight feels nice. I acquired tons of enjoyment from beating the tar out of goblins and the Crimson Order cronies with my burly dwarf. You get to unlock extra warriors by encountering them as you progress, and so they all convey their very own twists.
Battlefields are comparatively small and linear, however they usually have issues that stand out. There are a bunch of destructible objects that may be damaged down. Some may be weapons in opposition to silly tyrants, whereas others drop further assets. Completely different areas can produce other characters to work together with, whereas others have elective areas which can be solely accessible with particular keys that you just may decide up in numerous runs.
All the things appears nice, and the fast-paced fight flows properly, too. Few issues glad me greater than once I threw a goblin right into a band of Crimson Order thugs, and the development talents unlocked throughout levels added to the enchantment. The problem is excessive, particularly while you’re overwhelmed by enemies and through boss battles. Nonetheless, the accessibility options are stellar, providing customized issue sliders to alter how a lot injury you deal and take. This excellent little possibility provides extra participant alternative in how they wish to play.
Fashionable is the phrase I considered most when taking part in Absolum. All the things feels well-crafted with love and a focus, and that exhibits within the visuals and animations, in addition to the gameplay loop. Should you take pleasure in roguelike video games and beating the tar out of your enemies, Absolum will probably be an amazing match.
Absolum – Steam Deck Efficiency
Absolum has the Steam Deck Playable badge from Valve, and ProtonDB provides it a Platinum ranking. That is properly justified, as the sport works rather well on handhelds.
The sport’s startup loading display screen strongly recommends utilizing a controller, indicating that Guard Crush Video games designed it with consoles in thoughts. My testing confirmed that once I was testing the preview construct on PC, I encountered these early crashes. Whereas the keyboard is an possibility, I discovered the default controller possibility far superior.
Advisable Settings
That is excellent news for us on the Steam Deck, and I can not discover a lot to fault Absolum’s performance-wise. All of the controls run nice out of the field. The efficiency can also be stable, with the sport operating at a clean 60 FPS with default Steam Deck settings, native decision, and graphics set to medium. This got here as slightly shock to me, however it was nonetheless beautiful to see the efficiency issues I had pre-launch resolved.
Absolum is comparatively power-efficient on the Steam Deck as issues go, and regardless of all of the animations on-screen and beautiful visuals, this was spectacular. You will notice a median energy draw of 12-13 watts throughout basic gameplay with out tweaks, with spikes to fifteen watts throughout heavy fight scenes. That ought to get you a minimum of 3.5 hours of battery life on the Steam Deck OLED. The one slight sore spot for Absolum’s expertise on the Steam Deck is the dearth of font scaling. A number of the textual content may be small, though I didn’t have any issue studying something myself.
Battery Saver Settings
Should you’re like me and fanatical about battery life (it’s like an sickness for me, severely), Absolum scales fairly properly with the ability effectivity of the Steam Deck. Should you’re prepared to compromise on body charge and slightly little bit of visuals, you possibly can nearly double the battery life. I discovered a 4 Watt TDP restrict, Graphics on low, and a 30FPS framerate cap supplied one of the best stability with a median energy draw of 7-8 watts. Absolum nonetheless appears nice even with low graphics settings, particularly on the OLED.
Accessibility
Absolum is accessible in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese language, Conventional Chinese language, and Ukrainian.
Absolum comes with a pleasant array of accessibility options, together with Vsync, colorblind modes, movement blur toggles, and an expanded issue modifier that lets the participant modify injury dealt to themselves or enemies in both route. Total, there’s so much to love right here.
Conclusion
Absolum is, general, a improbable bundle. I used to be shocked it took so lengthy for somebody to craft a beat-em-up roguelike, and Absolum has glorious manufacturing high quality throughout the board. The fight is various and well-made with punchy visuals, and the worldbuilding is best than it has any proper to be. Hades, after all, has set the bar for what rogue-like video games can do with narrative, and Absolum does an amazing job of mixing all of the completely different gameplay parts.
The problem is up there, and I’d say the issue is on the excessive finish, however the injury modifiers give all that management to the participant. A near-perfect expertise on the Steam Deck is only a juicy bonus. My solely actual gripe with Absolum is the poor expertise with no controller, which is minor in comparison with every part constructive concerning the recreation. I strongly suggest it!
Our assessment is predicated on the PC model of this recreation.
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