Path of the Abyss
- December 21, 2023
- Suzuki Suzuzou
Get on Steam"Path of the Abyss" is an immersive action RPG that follows the journey of a chosen hero fighting against the forces of darkness to save the world from destruction. Players will explore vast landscapes, engage in strategic combat, and develop their character's skills and abilities to become a powerful force. With a rich and compelling storyline and endless customization options, it offers a unique and thrilling gaming experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Path of the Abyss features a unique and engaging real-time combat system that utilizes a 3x3 grid for skill placement, allowing for strategic gameplay and skill synergies.
- The game boasts beautiful art, an impressive soundtrack, and a wealth of character customization options, making it a visually and audibly appealing experience.
- Despite being in early access, the game offers a significant amount of content and depth, with mechanics that encourage exploration and experimentation in character builds.
- The English translation is currently machine translated, which can lead to confusion with some skill descriptions and puzzle elements, making it less accessible for non-Japanese speakers.
- Some boss fights may feel unbalanced, requiring specific team compositions to succeed, which can lead to frustration for players unfamiliar with the mechanics.
- The game can be overwhelming at first due to its complex systems and mechanics, which may deter newcomers to the dungeon crawler genre.
- music12 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its exceptional quality, with many reviewers highlighting the powerful and addictive soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Coupled with beautiful art and engaging gameplay, the original score is considered a standout feature, reminiscent of classic works in the genre. Overall, the music significantly contributes to the game's aesthetic and immersive dungeon-crawling atmosphere.
“Coupled with a beautiful art style and some absolute bangers in the OST, this results in a wonderful dungeon crawling experience.”
“The combat system is fun and highly strategic, the dungeons are all cool and fun to explore, the art is gorgeous, and the music is some of the best FM synth work I've heard outside of Yuzo Koshiro's work on Etrian Odyssey.”
“The soundtrack is absurdly powerful.”
“As a fan of Etrian Odyssey and many other wizardry-likes, its presentation, music, and build variety tickled all the things I love about the genre.”
“Also, just my two cents, but this entire game's OST is utterly worth the price of admission alone.”
- gameplay11 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its depth and variety, offering a blend of accessible pick-up-and-play mechanics alongside intricate systems like mana pollution. Players enjoy the engaging combat, solid dungeon design, and the nostalgic yet modern feel reminiscent of classic dungeon RPGs. Despite some concerns about the machine-translated text, the overall experience is described as smooth and captivating, with a strong emphasis on party optimization and strategic gameplay.
“Tons of mechanics to delve into; I'm quite surprised how much fun I am having from a small game like this.”
“It's great for deck pick-up-and-play gameplay but has deep gameplay at the same time.”
“Lots of fun with a great combat system, solid dungeons, and some awesome mechanics.”
“The game gets out of control once you get a grip on the mana pollution mechanics.”
“The game follows the typical story beats you'd expect of a gameplay-focused dungeon RPG; you create a party of novice wannabe heroes and need to make a name for yourselves by conquering the dungeons in the main towns' surrounding area.”
“Also important to note, the English client is currently purely machine-translated text, but I haven't tested how playable it is, so your mileage may vary.”
- graphics7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are praised for their unique dithered monochrome look and charming hand-drawn art style, reminiscent of comic books and manga. This aesthetic, combined with a strong soundtrack, enhances the overall dungeon-crawling experience, despite some imperfections noted during its early-access phase. Overall, the visuals are considered a standout feature, contributing to the game's appeal.
“Aesthetically, I dig the Obra Dinn-esque dithered monochrome look.”
“Coupled with a beautiful art style and some absolute bangers in the OST, this results in a wonderful dungeon crawling experience.”
“The art style is cute, almost hand drawn, which gives it a comic book/manga aesthetic; it reminds me of Frieren.”
- story4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The story in this dungeon crawler is fairly standard, following typical tropes of the genre where players create a party of novice heroes to conquer dungeons and build their reputation. While the narrative is serviceable, it lacks depth and is hindered by machine translation issues, making it challenging to fully engage with the plot. Overall, the story is not a standout feature, aligning with the expectations of gameplay-focused dungeon RPGs.
“The game follows the typical story beats you'd expect of a gameplay-focused dungeon RPG; you create a party of novice wannabe heroes and need to make a name for yourselves by conquering the dungeons in the main towns surrounding area.”
“The story isn't too wild due to the nature of dungeon RPGs, but it is serviceable despite the challenges posed by machine translation.”
“Somewhat unique game; unfortunately, like many dungeon crawlers, there is not a whole lot of story.”
“The game follows the typical story beats you'd expect of a gameplay-focused dungeon RPG. You create a party of novice wannabe heroes and need to make a name for yourselves by conquering the dungeons in the main town's surrounding area.”
“Due to the nature of dungeon RPGs, the story isn't too wild, and the machine translation makes it a little difficult to get a full grasp, but it is serviceable.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally enjoy the grinding aspect of the game, finding it engaging and rewarding, though some note it can become tedious and time-consuming due to the extensive loot management involved. However, the steady progression and frequent equipment upgrades help maintain a sense of advancement, making the grinding feel worthwhile.
“It's a fun system, but can get tedious and time-consuming, since in between dungeon dives, you identify up to 100 pieces of loot, compare it to what you've already got equipped, and ponder whether it's worth the trade-off.”
“Everything seems fair and upgrades to equipment trickle in often enough that I feel like I'm moving forward instead of just grinding.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the optimization aspect of the game, noting that the 3x3 grid system encourages experimentation with abilities that can enhance each other, leading to strategic and optimized attack combinations.
“The attacking is interesting; some abilities that you use in the 3x3 grid have bonuses for adjacent abilities, so you end up experimenting with how optimized you can make your attacks.”
“The game encourages strategic thinking, as players must constantly optimize their moves to maximize effectiveness.”
“I love how the optimization mechanics allow for diverse strategies, making each playthrough feel unique and rewarding.”
“The game suffers from severe optimization issues, leading to frustrating performance drops during critical moments.”
“I often find myself waiting for the game to catch up, as the optimization feels rushed and incomplete.”
“The lack of proper optimization makes it difficult to enjoy the gameplay, as lag and stuttering are constant distractions.”
