[Gamescom 2017] Absolver - Hands On

Gamescom in Cologne ended a short time ago and we at Resources4Gaming were able to try absolver, new RPG adventure developed by SloClap with elements of multiplayer that leads players to fight each other in a battlefield, all this with mechanics that in some ways wink at For Honor. As soon as the developer started the demo, our character was for a moment in the middle of the most bleak darkness. Usually these, basically, are already excellent promises, but going to discover the various dynamics gradually, we can say that we found ourselves in front of a work that, in addition to a great gameplay, also has an art direction in some ways astounding.

Everybody was kung fu fighting

absolver will make you take on the role of a Prospect, who will have to prove his warrior skills to be able to join a group of elite soldiers called, precisely, Absolvers. Despite this small premise, which we will elaborate on later, the plot does not seem to carry much weight within the production, since the real focus of the game is the gameplay that mixes the fighting style of a Dark Souls with the martial arts of a real fighting game. The clashes, in fact, will almost always be resolved with bare hands, except when you find swords or other objects that will deteriorate over time. At the beginning you will have few commands available but, as you advance, you will unlock moves and slots that will increase the combact system, so as to create unpredictable combinations and combos. The attacks that you will get during the adventure can be exchanged, reversed and so on and so forth, so as to have a total customization of your character. Each move will be assigned to the appropriate button, thus giving life to potentially infinite combos due to their diversity. From what we have seen, the attacks are so many, and the developers have assured us that in the full game they will be even more numerous, so as to give even more flavor to the online PvP challenges.

Obviously you will have to be careful not to consume so much stamina, as you will not only have to attack but also defend yourself. Each move of the moveset can be chained and, thanks to the possibility of carrying out special actions, you can stop and resume the combo as you wish. As you level up, and therefore also in practicality, you will be able to ring series of increasingly complex and devastating shots, so as to make your every single action unpredictable. Although it seems, at least in appearance, complex and articulated, trust that in reality it is quite simple and intuitive; after the first few minutes you will have already acquired a lot of familiarity with the controls. To outline all this, you will be pleased to know that there are more fighting styles, to which you will also have to add various types of sidearms. In the videogame you will not limit yourself only to attack, but also to defend yourself: in addition to the directional parade, always in For Honor style to be clear, feints and parries will even be available. So watch out for the stamina that, as in the Souls, once exhausted will leave you at the mercy of your enemies. The end result is one of the deepest gameplay in circulation, which leave the player great freedom while also giving a strong sense of fulfillment at the end of the battle.

Nice to play, nice to look at

After spending abundant words on the gameplay, the real beating heart of the production, it is right to focus on another aspect that struck us most, the art direction. The game world is an untouched nature, made up of dense forests, mountainous villages and large abandoned temples. All of this just mentioned is connected perfectly by a really well thought out level design of the map. The game is set in a ruined world called Adal, now ruled by the authority of the Guides. The inhabitants of the planet are called Prospects, a kind of humans who wear a mask. The purpose of these beings is to discover the origins of everything, thus trying to become Absolvers, a sort of transcended men to a more spiritual state.. All that transpires from the game is a silent and dramatic atmosphere, hidden by that mantle of bright colors in which it dresses. The result is a mix of sensations that will make you truly experience a journey, thus giving an even greater sense of immersion.

For obvious reasons about certain things it is obvious to wink at the Souls, but do not worry that the videogame has a soul of its own which, if discovered, will surely succeed in thrilling many users. However, one thing that made us turn up our noses is the lack of differentiation of the enemies: in addition to noticing a similarity in all the opponents, what surprised us was to see a mini boss who, as the only change compared to the other characters, had only the color of the dress. The frame rate in any case during the test seemed stable even in the most chaotic moments, with a control system that immediately responds to the needs of the player and that can be easily mastered.

absolver therefore he won us over, thanks to his graphic style and his articulated and varied combact system. We are probably in front of a small pearl that all Souls Like lovers cannot fail to take into consideration. We hope that the final version of the game will live up to the expectations created. Let yourself be lulled by the lightness of the tones, the icy silence of the scenarios and the journey you are about to embark on. The title is an adventure to be experienced to the sound of punches and kicks, filling every obstacle that stands in your way to become an Absolvers. The narration of the plot in a minimal way will help you to focus solely on the gameplay, thus giving life to a unique and unpredictable fighting style.