Absolum review – Dotemu goes rogue with its newest beat ‘em-up

The creators of Street Of Rage 4 create an entirely original beat ‘em-up, with no ties to previous games and a Hades style roguelike approach.

The 2D scrolling beat ‘em-up has been around for over four decades now and yet it’s barely evolved at all since the days of Kung-Fu Master and Double Dragon. The concept is so basic – walk slowly from left to right while punching everyone you see, with a very small number of moves – that for the longest time it remained dormant, until French publisher revived the genre with the like of Streets Of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and the upcoming Marvel Cosmic Invasion.

All those games have been based on existing licenses but Absolum, by Streets Of Rage 4 developer Guard Crush Games – with Supamonks providing the art and animation – is an original franchise, which gives those involved a great deal more freedom to experiment.

The game looks great, as all Dotemu games tend to, but the twist here is not just four very different playable characters but the fact that this is a roguelike, which makes it not dissimilar to a 2D scrolling version of Hades 2.

You play as the children of Mother Uchawi, a group led by a goddess dedicated to stopping the Sun King. There are four playable characters, representing a distinct class type each. They’re all gifted with the power to resurrect upon death, as Absolum’s campaign tasks you with journeying across the land of Talamh and thwarting Azra before he can rid the world of magic.

If you’ve played games like Hades before, you’ll notice right away how Absolum utilises the live, die repeat mechanic, and how well it works in Absolum’s favour. This includes the incorporation of rituals for stackable power-ups (a favourite roguelite ingredient) and gaining various currencies to spend on buffs between runs. That means that with each new attempt you can take your new powers, and what you’ve learnt, to hopefully get further than before.

Despite these familiar elements, Absolum makes a great effort to stand out on its own. Its four playable characters – Karl, Galandra, Cider, and Brome – each have their own distinct styles to try out, whether you’re going it alone in single-player or local/online co-op.

To ease you into trying out each character you’re only given two at the start – Galandra and Karl – before unlocking the remaining two in different sections of Absolum’s initial eight hour campaign. Those eight are for achieving what’s essentially the first ending, with around 20-25 hours needed for the final conclusion.

The upgrade systems make it more efficient to pick one character as your main and stick with it for most of the story, but the combat is so satisfying and snappy it’s more than worth trying out each one, just for the experience.

For example, Karl is the brawling dwarf with firearm skill attacks; whilst Galandra is the long-reaching swordswoman with stylish, wide strikes at her disposal. Cider is a good time to play, with swift acrobatics and a variety of assassin gadgets and weapons at her disposal, but Brome the frog wizard is a literal case of saving the best for last.

Absolum’s combat makes for a sensory feast of well-animated flurries, quick attacks, dodges, parries, and ultimate moves. That fact is made more obvious as you steadily increase your arsenal of rituals to enhance your capabilities for each run, getting better the further you progress across Talamh’s map and the story as a whole.

As Brome, you become a floating wizard that unlocks devastating magic skills which give you quick strategic control of a battlefield with multiple enemies – including some particularly dazzling area of effect attacks. Brome is great and will likely be the main character for many, especially with how neat it can be to hear him say ‘Wrath Beam!’ before enveloping an entire section of the screen in a green light that damages all in its path.

Tipping the scales on the other side, is how the death-and-resurrection mechanic ties together both Absolum’s gameplay and story in such an interesting way, in tandem with how gorgeous the visuals are. As you progress through the land, you’ll unlock both story elements and side missions, that bear fruit either almost immediately upon death, as you resurrect in Mother’s sanctuary, or as you revisit certain points on the map in the next run.

Difficulty spikes in combat, when playing solo, can make continuous runs seem repetitive. However, because each character and their story is usually so interesting, the drive to push on and see what happens next gets stronger over time – whether it be a new story beat or gameplay upgrade that makes the next run easier.

Granted, having so much going on at once can make battles a bit messy, but as you master all the abilities the glorious visual spectacle makes up for it. That said, if repeated deaths end up becoming frustrating, Absolum allows you to tailor the difficulty to your preferences. You’re allowed to adjust both damage received and damage given to enemies; so, you can create your own easy mode to suit the exact preferences of you and your co-op partner.

Online co-op in Absolum was not available at the time of review, but a nice touch, that was still explained in the game, is how the system is designed so that both players only play in the campaign as far as the one who has progressed the least. For instance, if one player has made it 75% through the story, and the other 50%, you’ll only be able to play co-op to the latter; ensuring that no one will be hit with story spoilers if they haven’t seen them yet.

As well as praising Dotemu and Guard Crush for Absolum’s finely-tuned fighting mechanics, with much more involved combos than is normal for the genre, Supamonks also deserves applause for Absolum’s animation. The simple 2D art style really pops off the screen, and that’s not to mention the euphoric soundtrack, that evokes the memory of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings battle scenes – mixed with the whimsy of more traditional old school video game music.

Absolum is at its best as a co-op game, but that doesn’t stop the core experience from being any less fun for players who want to go it alone. The combat and gameplay loop increasingly gets its hooks into you as playthroughs go on and it’s very accessible for those who aren’t great at beat ‘em-ups, thanks to its adjustable difficulty options.

The ending of the campaign won’t set the world on fire, as it’s a rather predictable story, but it’s the gameplay and visuals that will have you coming back for more, death after death. Absolum is one of the best new beat ’em-ups in years and shows just what Dotemu and their partners can do when not tied to an existing franchise.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC
Price: £22.49
Publisher: Dotemu
Developers: Guard Crush Games and Supamonks
Release date: 9th October 2025
Age Rating: 12

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