Absolum

Absolu-te fun!

What stuck out to me first when seeing Absolum for the first time was its striking visuals, having a balance between the art of both Marvel Comics’ Chris Bachalo and Hellboy’s Mike Mignola, heavy with black lines and a solid use of strong black pockets that help the colors around it stand out. Then came the realization that it was a Beat'em Up Roguelike, and that's when I fell in love.

Absolum is a dark fantasy Beat'em Up that plays as good as it looks. And with a host of accessibility options, including a no-damage setting, you could put this in front of anyone and see their eyes light up from sheer unadulterated enjoyment. Few games play this well, and I loved so much of this adventure. In fact, I don't think I've played a game that feels as fluid or as perfect since Dead Cells.

Your mission initially is to save Uchawi the Mother, a woman who, while pregnant, is the living embodiment of spirit and nature. She's been captured by Azra, the Sun King. This evil fiend has halted the use of magic across the land. Once freed, Uchawi is able to grant you the power of Rituals, the abilities and perks you'll find throughout your runs that have that Hades feel of choosing between a skill that is immediately great to one that is less great, but may favor your potential build better down the road.

Absolum is a Beat’em Up, akin to something like Streets of Rage 4, especially given the feel of its combat and that this is the same publisher and that co-developer Guard Crush also worked on the aforementioned Streets of Rage 4 alongside Lizardcube. The games artwork is handled by Supamonk, an extremely talented team that will be aiding in the game’s animated series endeavours. 

For its roster of characters, you'll have Galandra, an Elven sword for hire, a Dwarf named Karl, an assassin type in Cider, and a wizard frog in Brome. Each character feels uniquely different in their power, range, and agility. And, when you have a full 2-player team kicking ass, it's a sight to see the various attacks, specials, and abilities, like lighting enemies on fire, shocking them, or just a good ol’ fashioned drop kick to the dome. 

Combat is outstanding here with some wonderful animations and a nice weight to each kick, punch, or the numerous abilities you'll unlock for each character. Each hit builds up mana, which is how you'll handle your character's Arcana attacks. And, as you collect upgrade items, you can unlock new Arcana and swap them out and try new attacks. I love that when you select them, they display the attack, so you know what you're getting into and not accidentally selecting the wrong attack and then ruining your run. 

Borrowing from the Beat’em Up genre, there is a lot to love here. You have deflects, dodges, and clashes, as well as grabs and tech abilities to land from getting hit and get back into the fray. Also, if you continue to hit an enemy and keep the combo going, you’ll enter an overpressure mode. This is fairly hard to keep going if you don’t wall bounce them, but it deals insane damage and looks extremely cool as a result. With these systems all working in tandem and utilizing all of them in your arsenal, it makes for a wildly addictive experience. 

As Absolum is a roguelike, death is part of the game. Each death brings you back to the sanctuary, and you'll use the currencies and upgrade items to make your character stronger and more deadly. The tree, which is the centerpiece of the hub location, is where you'll upgrade your damage, critical chance, health, or how much your hired companions can hit for, and more via a currency called Radiance. These upgrades are attached to every character, meaning you don't upgrade these passive perks per character. There are different upgrade paths for each character that are elsewhere in the hub, allowing you to purchase new Arcana and more. This is on top of additional shops that can help you increase the benefits of improving certain items, like daggers and proximity sparks, or boosting the capabilities of moves and abilities, or how effective your skeletal summons can be. There is a lot to work towards should you really invest the time here. 

Venturing out into the world allows you to find different paths that all lead to Azra’s tower, setting you up for the duel to stop him and save the land. From beaches to mines, to sewers, and high atop the kingdom, each location is highly detailed, spacious, and constantly changing as you push through the story. In fact, your first clear alters a lot, opening up a whole new area with more bosses and even more secrets to discover. And, as you continue to defeat certain bosses, you'll end up fighting their children, or at least their kin. 

While there is a limit to what you'll experience as you continue to clear runs or die trying, as it will take dozens of runs to increase your character's stats high enough to even see the final boss, let alone survive against them, the variety in your Arcana and the characters themselves do make for a compelling reason to keep going. While it doesn't quite offer as much as something like Hades or its sequel has on offer, it still has a lot going for it in its engaging and captivating gameplay. 

If Absolum suffers on anything, it would be its story, its characters, and the way those things don't necessarily grip you. I couldn't tell you a single supporting character's name off the top of my head or anything more to the story or its world other than that Azra has taken over and forbidden all use of magic. Sure, that makes for a compelling reason to stop him, but while the game does attempt to shine a light on its world and its lore, I simply never retained any of it due to my lack of wanting to know more, or how it was presented to me. Hopefully, the upcoming animated series can change that.

I was also surprised at the lack of any real endgame. Sure, the final run to see its resolution is filled with some new encounters, enemy types, and story, but once you've defeated the big bad, it places you in a moment in the story leading up to that final run instead of applying some narrative reason for wanting to do it all over again.

Absolum, regardless of its somewhat bland world, forgettable story, and lacking cast of supporting characters, has everything else extremely locked down, including a fantastic soundtrack that features the talents of Mick Gordon and many other talented folk. Still, the title's incredibly strong gameplay and eye-catching visuals, along with its co-op nature, make this an absolute easy recommendation on those things alone. Whether local or online, Absolum is a visually stunning Beat’em Up that almost lands that perfect punch. 

Developer - DotEmu, Guard Crush, Supamonks.
Publisher - DotEmu. Released - October 9th, 2025. Available On - PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch. Rated - (E 10+) - Fantasy Violence, Mild, Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco. Platform Reviewed - PlayStation 5.
Review Access - Review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.