Absolum Review: I don’t like Roguelites. But I like this.
- Nathan Walters
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
I’m usually not a fan of side scrollers or roguelites, so believe me when i say i went into Absolum with my arms folded. But i have to be honest, i had fun with this one. And that’s what gaming is all about. Fun. It helps that i always enjoyed Streets of Rage with my brother when we were younger, and there’s a similar vibe here, which makes sense given Dotemu were the ones behind Streets of Rage 4 back in 2020. It’s great solo, but even better in co-op with a mate.
Absolum’s art style is gorgeous. For me it’s reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon and Hades, both of which always had that gritty yet ominously beautiful showing, and there are multiple little viewpoints dotted across the game that let you stop and take in just how pretty it all is.
Storywise, Absolum picks a classic fantasy trope: magic is outlawed, and its users are outcasts, jailed or worse. The tyrant this time is the Sun King Azra, and you play the rebels wielding the forbidden stuff, which is exactly the kind of setup that lets you feel righteous while lamping a guard with a rock.
Speaking of which, combat is simple to grasp but moreish. Light attacks charge up your special magic/mana attacks, and you can pick up various objects, rocks mostly, to yeet at the enemy, which never stops being fun.
Which brings me to the replayability, the main form of which is builds. Every failure, every run, is a chance to grab different items and cobble something silly together. My winner? Finishing strikes (aka the last hits of a combo) spawned daggers i could throw, and coupled with an item that replaced my final attacks with claw strikes, i was spawning 10 daggers per enemy and wasting no chance in yeeting the lot straight back at them… for +50% damage thanks to another item. Beautiful.
I played mainly as Galandra, but there are other characters with their own quirks, moves and stories, which only adds to the replayability. Brome for one is great. He’s a slow burn, but as soon as i got his shock and stun bubble build going he was a force to be reckoned with, and his laser beam with the charge up upgrade is NUTS if you can get one off.
Replayability is built into these types of games of course, but Absolum goes further than most. The end isn’t the end, the big bosses change each time, there are different pathways each run, and sometimes you fix a bridge in one run just to use it in the next. In my case i helped a fella build a bridge, which at first helped the goblins get supplies… until the humans used it to attack them. That made the goblins pissed at ME, bombs and all, so i helped them reach the centre of the forest to spawn reinforcements for a counter attack on the human village. Things you’d only ever see across multiple runs. It adds a little flavour that isn’t just, die, do it again, die, do it again.
There are also some fun easter eggs you’ll only hear down certain paths, quotes ranging from Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias to Mad Max. They alter pretty much nothing, but it’s always good for a little chuckle.
And although i didn’t use them (i had to suffer for a fair review), the accessibility options deserve praise. They let every skill level enjoy the game, its mechanics and its story without needing to be a roguelike pro, which i am absolutely not. Hell, the last ones i remember playing that come anywhere close are Cult of the Lamb and Crypt Custodian, which i guess is more Zelda-esque anyway.
I played Absolum for free via Game Pass, so i’m a bit late to the party, but it’s well worth checking out if you have Xbox Game Pass. Because honestly, not many roguelites ever have me coming back for more. This one did.
Reviewed on Xbox Series X. ~12 hours played. Played via Xbox Game Pass subscription.
