Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition Review – PlayStation 4

Abyss Odyssey was originally released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in the summer of 2014, but has recently been re-released for the PlayStation 4 under the title of Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition, which introduces competitive multiplayer alongside new enemy types and new bosses. The original release received mixed reviews, and didn’t gather much of a following, but does a re-release on current gen mean that Abyss Odyssey deserves another chance.

Though Abyss Odyssey plays as a procedurally generated side-scroller, there is an over-arching storyline that gives you incentive to make your way through the various areas of the game. The general premise is that a Warlock, deeply depressed by the passing of his loved one, has cast himself into a deep sleep, unknowingly creating a dangerous dream world which has allowed monsters to emerge into the city of Santiago, Chile, in 1890. You quickly learn that the character you first play as, Katrien, is a similar projection of the Warlock’s subconsciousness, and that you must make your way down through the depths of the undercity to defeat the Warlock and bring an end to his dreaming.

Each time that you enter The Abyss, which is the name given to the area under Santiago, you’ll find that the layout has changed, in terms of both geography and difficulty. One thing that doesn’t change, however, is the beauty of the place, with glittering caverns, snowy caves and ancient temples all looking as if they’ve come from an early 20th Century oil painting. Environments, color schemes and even enemy models are all varied, and I promise that there are enemy designs here that you likely won’t find in any other game. This is largely down to Abyss Odyssey’s basis in Chilean lore and mythology, which is explained by the pages of the Warlock’s journal that get dropped by certain enemies. The journal not only gives context to the enemies that you’re fighting but explains how and why the Warlock is how he is, and how his dream world came to be.

One of the most unique aspects of Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition is its combat. Though each character has a particular weapon-type preference, and combat plays out on a 2D plane, you’ll find that fighting enemies feels more like a regular fighting game than your typical platforming title. This includes such fighting staples as blocks, parries and dodges, as well as special meters and a requirement for timing attacks accurately, rather than button mashing and hoping for the best. Once you become familiar with the timing of blocks and dodges, as well as the reach and timing of your character’s attacks, you’ll find yourself to be much more effective in combat, which isn’t something usually needed to take into consideration when playing a 2D side-scroller.

Thankfully, even though Abyss Odyssey is difficult, the death of your character isn’t the end, and you’re in fact given a chance to revive them, in the form of a regular foot soldier. These anonymous members of the army will often come to your aid in combat throughout the regular course of the game, but once your main character runs out of health, you take temporary control of these much weaker avatars in the hopes of finding an altar. At an altar your main character can be revived, and any dropped equipment can be returned to them, providing that the soldier remembered to pick it up. These altars can also be used as checkpoints should the soldier also perish under your control, saving you a trip to the surface.

If a soldier does follow your main character into the afterlife, you get treated to one of the more beautiful sections of the game, which takes the form of a character select/level select screen. Different characters with varying abilities and weapon preferences are unlocked as you play through the game, and you can select between them before returning to the world. Similarly, three different areas of the surface are unlocked as you progress, which provide you with a form of shortcut when returning to The Abyss. Maps at the surface and in each region outline the difficulty of each path available to you, meaning that you’re able to plan out a path of least resistance in advance, giving you the best chance to make it to the bottom of the map where the Warlock resides.

Each particular region on the map takes a matter of minutes to traverse, but when you take into account the number of regions required to be beaten before reaching the bottom of the map, as well as checkpoints returned to upon death, and the strong chance that you won’t make it to the bottom at all, Abyss Odyssey can be responsible for taking up a sizeable chance of your evening if you let it. This is added to by a definite feeling of taking just one more go when you die, as the short length of each section and the fact that the map changes each time you enter it keeps the experience feeling fresh. Being able to unlock extra characters and level them up also helps, as you feel a sense of progression through this, with each subsequent character feeling stronger than the one before.

Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition is a strange beast, in that I can’t exactly say that I especially enjoyed my time with it, but I found that I often couldn’t put the controller down while playing it. It’s not a bad game, by any means, but looking back on my time with it, it feels fairly anonymous. The story, or what little there is, is minimal and average, and the environments, while pretty, aren’t especially memorable. It’s a title that I would say is worth checking out if you’re interested in the genre, but it isn’t a title that I’d suggest you rush out a buy. You could do a lot worse than Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition, but you aren’t missing much if you let it pass you by.

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Author: Jack Moulder
Born in England but currently living in Toronto, Canada, Jack's been gaming as long as he can remember, which just happens to coincide with his 6th birthday, where he received an original Gameboy and a copy of Tetris, which his parents immediately 'borrowed' and proceeded to rack up all the high scores that Jack's feeble 6-year-old fingers couldn't accomplish. A lover of sports games, RPGs and shooters, Jack's up for playing pretty much anything, so long as it doesn't kick his ass too frequently. He has a delicate temperament.

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