Absolum is a beautiful, slow-progressing, arcade-ass Roguelite

It’s no surprise that Absolum – the side-scrolling beat-em-up Roguelite – got an animated show greenlit before it even came out. That’s because in a sea of amazing-looking games this year, Absolum may be the most beautiful, and looks like a graphic novel in motion. 

As for what that motion is, it’s a Roguelite version of Golden Axe, any variety of arcade beat-em-up, or – my personal touchstones – TMNT: Turtles in Time and The Simpsons arcade game. But Absolum isn’t based on any existing IP, like most of developer Dotemu’s other games. Instead, Absolum features a lot of moving through zones on a fantasy map and beating the piss out of a variety of fantasy creatures, all while playing as one of the game’s four fantasy protagonists. The use of fantasy there might sound a little derisive, but I assure you, it’s not. 

The world of Absolum is pure fantasy, complete with some of the tropes that will make you feel familiar in its world. But it also leans away from some of those old, white, Eurocentric designs that typically accompany what we think of as fantasy. This more global approach to fantasy manifests in some of the architectural inspiration and the enemies, to be sure, but it’s most prominent in your allies, who are diverse in both skin color and accent.

Your main quest giver and head of your camp, Uchawi the Mother, is a Black, pregnant woman, and acts as the main mechanism for the game’s Roguelite “just one more run” mechanic. There are limited human characters in the game, but for every thin Arthurian knight in your camp, there’s someone who would look out of place in the very white Lord of the Rings, but looks perfectly at home in Absolum. It’s a nice change of pace for a genre that is known for showcasing all kinds of races and cultures, just … hidden in the personalities and origins of non-human characters. 

The game’s art and diversity serve to make the world of Absolum seem bigger than it actually is. Each run of the game consists of only two zones (with a choice between two different islands for the second zone), and a final area – all of which takes about 50-60 minutes for a full run. 

You’ll start in camp, being resurrected by Uchawi after your last failed run, and will need to choose which hero you’d like to play as. Initially, you’ll have Galandra, the great-sword wielding elf and my personal favorite, and Karl, the eye-patch-wearing stereotypical dwarf with a blunderbuss. Eventually you’ll unlock Cider, the prosthetic-wielding rogue, and Brome, the wizard who is also a frog person. 

Each of these heroes brings their own unique moveset, which is mostly used for their heavy attack, and major upgrades you’ll pick up after fighting bosses. But they can all perform Absolum’s “Rituals” – the majority of the mid-run Roguelite upgrades – which fit into a variety of activation slots, like other games such as Hades 2. But while you can apply fire to your main strikes, or build up static electricity with your heavy attacks, it’s the Rituals that activate on the  beat-em-up specific moves that set Absolum apart.