Absolum Feels Like A Fantasy Streets Of Rage 4

Beat 'em ups are one of those genres that's always better with friends, to the point that many of them arguably don't stand up well when played solo. Despite that, Absolum slaps in single-player, which is always nice, and it's even better with someone else in co-op. It's also a roguelike, which adds some much-needed replayability, an area in which beat 'em ups can sometimes flounder, at least outside the sheer lizard brain of hitting things.

Absolum has you playing one of several heroes fighting to save an old god and take down a being called Azra, who has imprisoned that deity's power. That's not only weakened them, but stops them from giving birth as well. From a premise standpoint, this is kind of incredible, and a considerable change of pace from the standard “you have to fight the bad thing because it's bad”, which is a trope most beat 'em ups fall into. Sure, the end result is still violence, but at least the reason for all the punching is different this time.

The cast of characters is really strong; you only begin the game with access to two of them, but can unlock more as you go by meeting them. One of the options is a frog wizard who surfs on his staff when he runs, and if that's not peak design, then I don't think anything is. Combat itself starts off with your basic attack, a heavy attack, and a special move. You charge the special by hitting things and generating mana, but that's just the beat 'em up side of things.

Playing into the roguelike mechanics, you get new abilities and different currencies as you play. These can be augmentations to your attacks, a complete change of attacks, new moves entirely, or passive buffs. It's an impressive mix of options, and you can stack a lot of them as much as you want. My first successful run had each basic attack I did not only set fire to the enemies, but also slowly generated a whirlwind as well. It means I can focus on smashing through my incredibly cool punching combo, and then dash as needed.

Oh, your dash is also your parry button, which works really well. You don't have to worry about when you're dodging or parrying, you just have to time things right and you'll be safe. Absolum's accessibility options are good too. Damage can be turned up for the player and down for the enemies, which can make one player functionally immortal if you want to. That's great if you just want to enjoy the story or if one of the players isn't able to dodge well for whatever reason.

Absolum is also a roguelike that wants you to be successful multiple times to experience the full story. It means you've got even more reasons to jump back in, and there are plenty of little meta-progression things to unlock, like making the augments even stronger, unlocking new attacks for different characters, and more. It's a solid beat 'em up, a really good roguelike, and it all looks stunning to boot. That's out today on Steam.