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Title: Absolum is awesome and I can't wait to play it on October 9

Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2025 18:00:37 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/absolum-is-aw...

Absolum, the fantasy beat-'em-up from the team behind Streets of Rage 4 will
arrive on October 9, Dotemu shared today. Ahead of the announcement, the
publisher hosted a new preview of the game, giving the gaming press a chance
to check out a new playable character and zone (more on those in a moment).

I didn't get a chance to play Absolum when it was first announced back in
March, so going into this latest demo I didn't know what to expect. Now,
after playing Absolum through most of the weekend, I can't wait for the final
version in October. In fact, I think it might end up being a surprise game of
the year contender for a lot of people. I've never been a fan of beat-'em-
ups; most haven't had enough depth to keep me interested. Absolum solves that
issue by smartly borrowing from modern roguelikes, with Supergiant's Hades
standing as an obvious influence.

Each run in Absolum starts with you selecting a "Ritual" for your character.
Like Boons in Hades, these modify your character's abilities with special
properties. For example, one Ritual I encountered in my second playthrough
caused throwable rose daggers to spawn whenever I timed a dodge perfectly. In
turn, these allowed me to quickly dispatch dangerous enemies at a distance.
The further into a run you get, the more likely you are to encounter
additional Rituals. And, once again borrowing from Hades and its idea of Duo
Boons, some Rituals are designed to synergize with one another. Combined with
the game's Arcana system, which allows you to select up to two special
attacks for your character, there's great combat variety in Absolum.

Dotemu

In fact, it never feels like you're simply button mashing. Combat is very
Souls-like in that there are many different enemies for the player to take
on, and each one requires its own approach. What's more, dodging attacks is
often more important than dishing out damage. Healing items in Absolum are
few and far between, but to balance this, the game gives you a few different
ways to avoid getting hurt. You can either side step away from an attack,
dash directly into an enemy to block them or use your character's Skill
attack to perform what the game calls a "Clash." If timed correctly, all
three options allow you to punish an enemy for trying to get the jump on you.
Of the three, however, Clashes ΓÇö acting as Absolum's version of a parry ΓÇö
are the hardest to pull off, but can turn a boss fight in your favor,
allowing you to deflect an attack that would have otherwise been devastating.

With this preview, Dotemu let everyone try the game's full roster of four
characters. Over the five hours I played the demo, I had the most fun with
Galandra, a necromantic warrior with a sword on her back that would be big
enough even for Guts. Each character feels distinct from their counterparts.
Brome, for instance, who wasn't in the recent Steam Next Fest demo Dotemu
released, is the game's only mage-like character. His playstyle centers
around zoning your enemies with beams of power. Oh, and did I mention that
he's a frog? Meanwhile, the new zone, Jaroba, did a great job of mixing
things up just as I was getting used to ebb and flow of Absolum's combat.
Enemies here employ much more devious attacks that are harder to dodge and
counter.

If rougelike fans didn't have Hades 2 to look forward to this year, I think
Absolum would easily be in the running for one of the best indie releases of
2025. As it stands, the game has tough competition, but if you're a fan of
challenging and mechanically complex but fun combat systems, I think you owe
it to yourself to check out Absolum come October when it arrives on Steam,
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PS5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/absolum-is-aw...
on-october-9-180037272.html?src=rss

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