ABYSSAL BLADE

Update, 24 Nov 25: utilized integrated GPU setting at launch, rather than Vulkan. Seems to be working fine now. Update, 29 October 25: the last three (3) times i've attempted to play, controller connectivity has been so spotty as to be unplayable. We're not talking just a few dropped inputs: even at the main menu with a controller connected, the selection indicator will move of its accord and generally not respond to confirmation inputs (from the controller). If i can get in to the actual game, the character stutter steps during movement, stops attacking even while the button is still pressed, and often refuses to dash. keyboard inputs are fine, though i'm not looking to play this kind of game with a keyboard. Controller works as expected with other games (Crypt of the Necrodancer, Ravenswatch, Kill Knight Demo, etc). unclear what's changed in the last 5-ish days. original review below Yes. * This is a great game that pulls no punches where difficulty is concerned. Rather than focus on what works well (and there’s plenty of that), let’s cover what doesn’t work well. Firstly, for all my fellow pedants out there, “Abyssal Blade” is NOT a souls-like… unless the only qualifier for ‘souls-like’ is that the game is fantastically tough (and fair enough). “Abyssal Blade” does not let the player change any part of their kit; thus, the nature of every interaction will only change when the mechanics for any given encounter change. Players will never have new skills or equipment to experiment with or refine an approach; the maneuvers they have at the game’s outset are the exact same ones they’ll have at the game’s end. No more, no less. To be clear, I have no objection to this manner of play. In fact, I see this manner of play as a requisite for the deterministic nature of the game, which very much promotes (and successfully realizes) ‘victory is determined by player skill/ability’. This is a philosophy I not only agree with but fully condone for games in general, ESPECIALLY games of this sort. But to attach the ‘souls-like’ descriptor to it implies the presence of a system of mechanics, or interaction, or agency that simply isn’t available (and would likely be unwelcome even if it were available). Secondly, as far as capturing the spirit of raiding is concerned… The game captures much of the feeling of moment to moment play during raid encounters, as well as maintaining the feeling of taking part in an epic battle that feels overwhelming at the outset. The sense of learning the encounter from a progression standpoint is also preserved, as is the urgency of each decision about when and how to stop or resume attacking. What doesn’t land as well is the notion that only flawless execution wins the day. While my raid days are over a decade behind me, I can think of only a handful of encounters where the team achieved its first victory in any new encounter without making a single mistake. That first kill almost always involved a battle rez or last minute reposition or in some other way having to scrub the plan, in part or in whole, and react to the situation on the ground rather than the practiced/anticipated staging. In fact, it seems fair to say that some part of the recipe for success in raiding, at least for the early encounters in a new area/sequence, is determined by the team’s ability to recover from their mistakes. You see where I’m going with this. One hit point doesn’t capture the raid experience*. It’s a punitive measure for people with bad memories, or those overly reliant on twitch, or those who want to brute force a fight without sufficient understanding/knowledge. Memory is important for raiding (and gaming) in general, so it’s fine to require that attribute for success. Twitch is important for those split-second decisions to feel appropriately weighty. Brute force can be what permits a raider to power through the last few moments of the encounter, thus snatching victory before an enrage timer spells doom for all involved. Yes, “Abyssal Blade” is a solo experience, so part of the point is to require the player to overcome those short comings since there’s no one else there to remind you to do the safety dance. There’s no one to get you up because you zigged when you should have zagged. There are no heals for choosing to stand in bad stuff because you know you can power through the bosses last .1% health. The one hit point approach is fine for a single player game (and works well for this game in particular), but for something designed to capture the feel of raiding in an MMO, not so much. Sure, we all strive for flawless execution every time: that’s the ideal. It is so seldom the reality for those kinds of encounters that even the people who design the fights build in some room for error. For good or ill, a multi-hit point/reset system may have been more on brand. For example, one HP per boss in the run. Five bosses equal five 5 HP; this approach has the advantage of being easily upgradable in the event there’s DLC. If the idea was to lean more heavily on single player action game mechanics, three HP per boss. In both examples, once a player exhausted their last life, they’d have to start back at square one (i.e., begin with Denial all over again). Odd aside: I noticed some input drops on controller during the Denial fight. Probably less than 1%, but noticeable. No such occurrences on Anger thus far. All that having been said, “Abyssal Blade” is where it’s at if what you want is: pixel-art boasting impressive imagery and (mostly) the right kind of technical difficulty; byte (ha!) sized encounters that run 3-5 minutes when successful but will require many attempts to achieve that success (i.e., a ‘just one more run’ mindset while learning the encounters); a solid soundtrack; eminently enjoyable (for certain definitions of ‘enjoyable’) games for eminently low amounts of money ($4.99 US at time of review). Two thumbs up, another 8/10. edit: because of course there will be. added update(s) about controller connectivity issues

It's fun and easy to pick up. I expected to be annoying by dying toward the end of bosses while trying to learn their attacks, but that wasn't the case. It also runs well and is visually pleasing. The only downside is that there's only 5 bosses, but they're good fights.

Fun bosses,

MMO raid mechanics but I don't need friends? That's all I needed to hear.

Cool Fights, Cool soundtrack, The player could use some more attack variety, but other than that and for the price, very nice game. The feeling of progressing through the mechanics is awesome, never had a FF/WoW prog experience in a singleplayer game, wish more games had bosses with cool raid mechanics like that! :)

Stunning game. Absolutely stunning game. Single Player MMO Raid Boss fighter with tight controls, great mechanics, and a great soundtrack. Could not recommend this enough.

Prog :]

Great game, still can't get pass boss no. 2 but that's 👍

It's like Final Fantasy XIV's Savage and Ultimate raids, but you only have yourself to blame. It's very inexpensive and doesn't require you to deal with the copious amounts of convoluted systems or the social drama of playing an MMO at high levels. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves the feeling of learning and improving, as you'll have a lot to learn while beating your head against the wall for hundreds of attempts (Insert overdone Dark Souls comparison here [But it does actually feel a bit souls-y, what with the simplified movesets and general vibe]).

Incredible game and well worth the price.