- Tested on PC
- No support of ultra wide screens for reasons of fairness, scoring requires.
- Resolution 3440 x 1440.
- Exemplary fluidity: 160 fps constant.
- Code provided by the publisher.
- 0 technical concern on a RTX 5070 Ti.
- Mix of official and home gameplay captures.
- Played about thirty hours in a few days.
With his experience in dusting past cult games, Dotemu finally signed his first original license. After years to look in the mirror, has the French publisher reached the age of maturity? Without this long-term work to resurrect the genre of old-fashioned beat-em-up, Absolute probably never existed. Before him, Guard Crush Games Canadians and Frenchies of Lizardcube could boast of having revived the hype of beats with the frantic return of Street of Rage. Fourth opus worked, although with the retreat still too slit to dare unbutton the shirt, this successful tribute had the effect of a detonator. Returning to grace from stars who fell into disuse, the revivals multiplied. Lizardcube will take off at Sega to develop the friendly Shinobi : Art of Vengeance (2025), while Montreal's Tribute Games attacked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder (2022). Meanwhile, Dotemu probably did not remain indifferent to the success of Dead Cells (2023) and Hades (2020), two arcade games endorsed by critics like players. It was this popular success that certainly pushed the publisher onto the wave of roguelite. Did the student exceed the masters?
A goldsmith's job
Exits urban rixes from Street of Rage 4, Absolute opts for a fantasy of all beauty that we owe to the French animation studio of Supamonks. The game promises to travel through the fantastic world of Talamh, governed by the tyrannical King-Sun Azra, who like any good despot who respects himself, will wait for you at the edge of the globe. Before we hope to beat the iron against the final boss, we will have to survive his army of purple order fanatics. DNA obliges roguelitis, death is only one step among others in tuturing perfection. Habited with the checkpoint to abstain, if you are blue afraid of failure, part of the genre, you have fallen to the wrong place. Absolute is a worthy fight. Signs great, at no time does the player feel caught in default by gameplay mechanics. Just and cruel, Absolute is a push-in-skill led by a master hand and (almost) always legible. We feel the experience gained on the boss rush of Street of Rage 4 that the author of these lines had sanded up to classification S. The quest for the Grale and the feeling that every failure is always just will have pushed not to let go of the controller. 26 hours of play in a handful of days, that's the fruit of my work to get to the end of the game credits. The classic adventure has a fun-mouthed look compared to the more full-bodied endgame, we will come back.
Do not rely on its shimmering colours and cartoonesque contours that seem to be drawn with oily chalk, the enchanting universe ofAbsolute full of traps of all kinds. And yet, as a well-known adage wishes, « easy to play, hard to master », simplicity does not always rhyme with simplism, on the contrary. A simple press of the square button is enough to engage a combo that, well chained, can put enemies under pressure and generate additional damage. Triangle allows the enemies to turn around by projecting them against the walls, a mechanics that can quickly become devastating. We can indeed generate a « clash » when the right key is pressed, that is, at the time of the opposing attack. As is the case, the clash allows « punish » and break his guard. An indispensable technique against battled enemies with shields or other reptiles at high guard. If you're told right away, you can't get to the end of the adventure without mastering its gameplay aspects. All the art of combo lies in the ability to push its advantage by creating its own openings in the melee.
The rituals, the keystone of the gameplay
To this are added random rituals that can be triggered from the moment we have stored enough mana, precious energy that we will reap by beating the sbires of Azra on our way. Some of the guns and dreadful mounts support combos. So far you probably think thatAbsolute is an umpteenth successor of Street of Rage. You could have been right, except that the title of Dotemu seems to have digested all these predecessors while integrating into the stew the substantial marrow of any good roguelite: that which turns ordinary ingredients into refined dishes. Suffice to say that this radically changes the experience; the concern to improve is devilly addictive, so that the marriage of genres seems perfectly natural.
After each consequent confrontation, the player has the choice between two or even three rituals with radically different effects. A simple pressure of one of the triggers will trigger the ritual after being relieved of a mana bar. It's simple, in almost thirty hours of play, I never felt like I was dealing with the same situations. The effects of rituals overlap and multiply as improvements are made. With seven families of rituals in total, the game plays the map of abundance. Between necromantic invocations that convert enemies to our cause, spark chains that electrify gameplay, bronc rituals that invoke turrets and allow to return thorns, combo ends that end up with a tsunami or cyclone and pass by, Absolute shines by the richness of his evanescent gameplay styles. In each part, new approach.
None of the rituals seem to have been left to chance, each of them having its own assets depending on the situation. Winning a boss also allows unlocking « inspirations » specific to each character. In order to preserve the player's attractiveness, the developers have also integrated a kind of local currency that will be won by the sweat of our forehead and that allows us to strengthen the passive and offensive skills of our protagonist. Failure in failure, progress is made and permanent bonuses allow each time to give the small boost needed to immediately restart a game. At each side, we also collect a precious currency that can be used exclusively in the cross-crude butterflies during our journey. It will also be an opportunity to recruit mercenaries. Sometimes a corneal dilemne when the purse is almost empty and you have to make wise choices before the local boss.
Still standing
Devilly addictive, gamedesign always leaves in appetite. Like a boxer who gets up in the sixth round, the jaw is fluttering but with the eye of the tiger of the one who wants to triumph even if he sacrifices a few ribs in the ring, the player asks for mandals to better learn the flaws of the enemy. The first bosses who gave us a twist became an apericubes that were swallowed without brows; On the other hand, the paths that we thought were known know how to reveal new and ever more tougher branches and enemies. The difficulty curve follows that of « splendor » the player. The higher the level, the more the game allows itself to measure its difficulty upwards. In this case, high-profile enemies cannot be put under pressure, and it is therefore imperative that we master the skids, parades and clash mechanics to fight back. A sometimes risky challenge when we ourselves are tested by hordes of various enemies.
By means of castagna, we read more and more the patterns of the enemies and what seemed impossible at first glance becomes a child's play. If one does not misunderstand, like any child's play, there is a part of vice in the case. A well-engaged run can sometimes turn in vinegar as if the game had integrated that we had broken a gameplay mechanics. I regret to have discovered that we could use our mounts sparingly to reserve them against the bosses who are then dispatched in seconds. In order to add harissa to the couscous, Absolute Then throws us in the face of the large grain meal: two battleships resistant to pressure in the middle of a happy brothel come to put sticks in the wheels. « Take this and show me if you really digested the entrance before going to the main dish. » seems to brag Absolute. To get to dessert, you'll need to know how to spread your fork. Perched in its turn, Azra deserves to be and no alternative route between the four different biomes of the game will make it easier for you. Note in passing that the developers have added a hidden portal to Yeldrim, as a door to hell in the heart of darkness. After having been badly corrected, the ego was stunned by the beating, I did not (yet) set my feet back (revenge is a dish that eats cold).
The four Musketeers
At the heart of the gameplay dAbsolute, there are also four playable characters with radically different abilities: therapist Galandra with the sharp combos, the dwarf Karl who prefers the foran potatoes to the d'estocs blows, the Cider who volutes between the enemies to better hit them in the back and Brome, the Mage frog hermaphrodite which sends fearsome spells. If we start with Galandra and Karl of choice, we unlock the other characters by browsing the world of Talamh. A few quests give us access to precious crystals that will be used to strengthen our statistics and that will later allow to revive random rituals, which may eventually unbalance the initial bias and unlikely marriages of contrary rituals that are an integral part of the experience.
If the scenario is shown as a bit, the lore d-Absolum remains voluntarily disturbed. Generous in his approach, Absolute never cease to surprise the player with new plugs that open as the games open. Let's say from the start, it's not the story ofAbsolute who will push you to the end of the adventure. That said, the game enjoys an excellent English-language dubbing and the few brief descriptions of the landscapes reinforces adherence to this fantastic universe. Without equalizing the environmental narrative of Dark Souls or Hollow Knight, far from necessary, Absolute he knew how to forge his own identity that does not remind anyone else.
OST in tune
Behind this feeling that no detail was left to chance, Dotemu also gave remarkable care to the title's OST. Gareth Coker was surrounded by the best contemporary composers for the themes of the bosses, making himAbsolute a musical journey of crazy wealth. The few leads that illustrate this article should convince you. Mike Gordon (Doom Eternal) which probably had carte blanche for the theme of the king of the dead, a delight where the guitar riffs ignited during this first peak of difficulty which one might not forget. As if this was not enough, there are also artists Yuka Kitamura (Elden Ring) and Motoi Sakuraba (Dark Souls) for bewitching Gothic scores.
The soundtrack adapts to the four distinct and rare biomes are games that handle so many registers with such ease. Proof of this, Dotemu put the small dishes in the big ones using an orchestra of 65 musicians. Making an OST from stringed instruments to electric guitars is the fully successful bet ofAbsolute. Too often neglected in the games of this calibre, however, the OST is the cement of an overflight action. You have to live your moments when you let yourself be intoxicated by rope instruments. Hitting the enemy as a bubbling choir begins to dictate tempo also makes its small effect. The heart simmers and the player sees the light at the end of the tunnel. « Resist » We blow the game, « You're close to victory. ». And that's little to say: the slightest hesitation and a well-engaged combo can turn into a carabinate blur. A painful memory of having failed in front of the final boss who had only one pixel of life left. It's the law of the jungle. In order not to remain the prey, one must accept its predatory condition.
Onion Endgame
Once the main quest is finished, the game offers the same adventure doped with amphetamines. Some areas are corrupt, understand that they are infested with tough enemies and sometimes even two bosses together, which is also escorted by monsters who continually exit spatiotemporal portals. Indicated on the map, these areas with a muscular challenge can be avoided by choosing a safer path. However, even after about 30 hours, the difficulty curve seems to be trying to adapt to the player's progress. When the situation becomes unmanageable, it remains the possibility of using a power star to generate a devastating and unique superpower for each character.
Developers have (for once) understood that it is imperative to limit usage in order not to distort the gameplay. The stars of power are rare and we will not be able to have more than three, which happened only a few times over about thirty hours. After defeating Azra, the game offers you to challenge Absolute At the very end of the game. And since the challenge is worth it, the bulldozer will not hesitate to kill you instantly in the first seconds of combat. Hardly disguised goal: defeat the game without extra life! Nevertheless, one will never stop saying it again, the difficulty ofAbsolute is high but perfectly supermontable for those who will want to try to understand the workings of the gamedesign rather than hammer the buttons of the controller.
Also remains the possibility to form a duo in local and even online to travel the adventure with reinforcements. The game adapts its difficulty and you will have to be used to the genre in order not to lose the thread. What we gain in support, we lose it mechanically in readability, especially with the rituals of necromancers that can generate a joyful bazaar. Playing two is also sending enemies like ping pong balls, enough to multiply the effects of seizures and projections.
Alone or supported by a partner, Absolute is a treat of every moment. We are pleased that Dotemu has been able to support a new license rather than revisiting an old one again. The French developers sign an excellent roguelite that will make date. The gameplay is a candy, the animations are of all beauty and the artistic direction graphic and sound reinforces the feeling of adventure. With Absolum, Guard Crush Games is no longer just one of the developers who has understood the basics of the genre. The studio can now play in the courtyard of the greats, where it no longer only pays homage to the masters. Developers now belong to a small insider circle that is heading towards new playful horizons. There is no doubt that one will not fail to watch carefully the upcoming releases of Dotemu, publisher in the run to dethrone his rival Devolver, somewhat in a loss of speed since his entry on the stock exchange.
For
- Beautiful artistic direction
- Top animations
- Additive gameplay
- Sandbox side of rituals
- Balanced roguelite
- Variety of characters
- Various besties and bosses
- Sublime OST
- Excellent dubbing
- Playable in coop
- Online and Local
- Finally a new license
- Difficultly measured
- Important replayability
Against
- Rare loss of readability in co-op
- Opaque Scoring System
- Map button wrongly placed
- Mounts a little cheated
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