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Abyss Odyssey: a quality metroidvania
Game Review | August 11, 2014 5:28 am
Developed by Ace Team, published by Atlus.
1-2 player local coop action-platforming.
Released July 15th, 2014 for Xbox Live Arcade.
Rated T for Teen.
Abyss Odyssey was developed by Ace Team which is an independent studio out of Chile, but the art direction, production values and overall solid gameplay make it easily mistaken for a big budget, major studio title. There are voice-overs, excellent music, and I haven't encountered any bugs/glitches.
The story and characters are interesting but, other than the intro, exposition is never shoved down your throat and instead you discover it by finding and reading scrolls and the back-stories of characters and enemies, as well as brief conversations with friendly soldiers. This will suit both gamers that just want to kill things and those that like to really dig in.
"Shopping" at a merchant is quick & simple.
This game has a great art style & atmosphere but what really makes it tick is the physics-enabled combat and the abyss game-world itself. You start off as a red-haired woman who favors one-handed weapons and agility over brute force. You can find or buy weapons, armor and accessories, and as you level-up you slowly gain access to new moves like a handy slide-kick, and each move has 3 upgrade slots that let you tailor them to your playing style.
The second character is unlocked after you have made some progress and defeated a miniboss; he is a hooded ghost monk that favors slow but powerful attacks with 2-handed swords. The last main character is La Pincoya, an ethereal demi-goddess modeled after a Chilean legend. She wields polearm weapons with great reach, and gains access to powerful abilities as you level her up. This character must be unlocked by donating around 30,000 gold in special rooms that show up as yellow on your abyss map.
This is Pincoya. Mmm, nude demi-goddess.
On top of their base abilities, each main character can also access a special move once their mana bars are full--this lets them unleash a powerful attack that will steal the spirit of a defeated enemy, letting you transform in to them at will to access their attacks and abilities but losing any gear bonuses you have.
The abyss you must traverse contains the same basic map layout, with sections gated off by enemy encounters, bosses, or a few other things I can't mention due to spoilers. The unique aspect of this game is that when your character loses all their HP, you become a generic soldier and must try to recover dropped gear and make your way to an altar to revive the main character you were using. If you die as the soldier, then you must begin all over, keeping character levels and abilities but losing any gear you had. When this happens, the abyss changes each room, making some areas harder, some easier, and relocating altars and other set pieces.
2 players in soldier form.
TL;DR:
+ art style, atmosphere
+ soundtrack
+ enemy variety
+ 3 different main characters plus the ability to play as enemies
+ the map rooms are re-generated each time you die
- the map rooms are re-generated each time you die
- weird difficulty spikes
- unlocking the 3rd main character may take a long time
? why does it take so much gold to unlock La Pincoya
This is the character select screen: Katrien, the ghost monk, and La Pincoya.
Overall I give Abyss Odyssey an 8.5 -- the combat is fun and challenging, and the randomly-generated area contents keep replay value high. It's a well-made action-platforming game with just enough RPG elements to give it depth without becoming unwieldy.
Recommended to fans of Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, the Binding of Isaac, and almost any Rogue-like games.
(Source: SeanPCannon's porn stash)
Rating: 8.5 of 10
Reviewed: Abyss Odyssey
Keywords: Pincoya is my girlfriend, stop looking at her
