[Impressions] Absolver

After playing the first two hours of Absolver I came away impressed with how fun and entertaining the game is. While it seems that it will be a short adventure (at least to complete the story), the time I spent so far and the rest I still have to play seem worthwhile.

The game starts off with character creation (which in this case is reasonably good), followed by a brief introductory cutscene, which then drops you in the open the world, more specifically in the tutorial area. As you explore this first sandbox, tutorials will be shown so that you can gradually learn the basics of combat.

After completing the tutorial, the player arrives at what is effectively the open world, showing the player a willie, that is, a point of interest far off in the distance that will serve as the main objective for the adventure.

As you follow the straight path ahead you reach a temple, a hub that is connected to the main branching paths of the world, where an NPC informs you that in order to become an Absolver you will have to beat a certain powerful enemy. However, in order to even be able to challenge said enemy, several other powerful foes spread across the world stand in your way and all of them must be defeated in order to attempt fighting the last obstacle in your way to become an Absolver. For the effect, this hub has a map in display that shows the general location for these enemies so that you can plan which routes to take first.

On the side of presentation and general feeling while playing, the game is very atmospheric, thanks to the natural-sounding soundtrack, sound effects and rustic environments. Because of this, the game creates a natural-feeling environment with a big focus on the combat since the only sounds that contrast with the sound of waterfalls and birds are the ones produced by punches and kicks.

Gameplay is the main attraction of Absolver, melee combat with martial arts thrown into the mix. Right from the moment you’re creating your character, you’re given a choice between three basic combat styles which, before trying them out, even being shown a preview, didn’t really allow me to make a completely solid choice. However, as I played through the tutorial and learned the basics of combat, the combat felt immediately satisfying and weighty since every single punch and kick you land on your opponent sound like you’re hitting an actual person instead of a meat bag. Combat also relies heavily on skill since there are plenty of combos to take advantage of along with stamina management and even simple skills that, for example, break your enemy’s guard momentarily or allow you to recover some HP. For the combat styles, I still haven’t managed to grasp completely what makes the style I chose unique but, at any rate, apparently it’s possible to unlock all of the combat styles available in a single character so, sooner or later, there’s the chance for me to experiment more with the way I approach combat.

There is also the gear to mention. Right off the bat I got some new gear that immediately made my character feel much cooler (and stronger of course), which in turn made me more invested in the game. The gear has some stats affecting properties, but I prefer to care more for the looks than for the properties. As you defeat bosses and explore the world, you’ll find new gear pieces with varying tiers of rarity (yes there’s color coded loot), which, to me so far, has been completely fine to ignore, even as I focus completely on making my character look cool.

One last thing I want to mention in this Impressions post is one of the biggest aspects to this game: the seamless drop-in drop-out co-op and PVP (Player Versus Player). Throughout the whole world, you can find other players at any time, which means at any given moment a player versus player fight can start, with the possibility of somebody interfering at anytime. From my experience, people were respectful of each other, starting fights only when both parties wanted and, at times where a third player tried to interfere, me and the other person always focused on beating that other player first, before our duel could properly finish. On the note of finishing combat, after combat is over there’s the possibility to revive the fallen player in place, instead of them having to respawn by themselves at the last checkpoint, which helps promoting chivalry and respect in PVP instead of players just being completely disrespectful to each other after beating the other person. On the other hand, there’s always the chance that while fighting a tough enemy (and I mean PVE or Player Versus Environment) another player appears to help you defeat that enemy together.

In conclusion, the time I spent playing Absolver has been very enjoyable and has left me with the desire to play more. Its martial arts-focused combat is an interesting idea and one that is fairly well implemented, along with a world that feels good to explore and always ready to be the setting for a duel between players or a fight between you and game-controlled enemies.

#absolver #ps4 #impressions #2018