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Abyss Odyssey |OT| A Warlock's Nightmare From Which I Am Trying To Awake

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
This secretly be the game I always wanted but didn't know would ever come in this way.

For far in with Kat solo, died from bosses or weird little guys with hats. Unlocked Ghost Monk, played Local Co-Op, still personally as Kat. Game IS harder in Co-Op, and the enemies are pretty smart. I've seen them dodge, air-dodge-cancel moves to safety, actively dodge trap attempts, and swiftly throw me when I start to turtle. They really force you to know how to play the game.

Unlocked Pincoya, Instantly jumped to playing her as level 1. Ran in, started to abuse her long range to kill shopkeepers, which gives good EXP. Actually got smart at game from Co-Op play knowledge, enabling me to beat those weird challenge stage fights.

SURPRISE! You're at the bottom! Bear Final Boss, with the power of awesome spinny move that hits crazy stuff out of enemies.

----

The varied enemies are fun to control. The have pretty decent movesets! I like the fact they all have their own dodge distances and speeds, a bit different jumps, and own throws. There's more variety than one normally expects in a game that lets you play everyone. It's great to get one of the big guys, and power-about like a grapplers, to the get a character that works something like a rooted cannon of poison spit.

---

The controls take getting used to, but they're not that hard to work with. The game has slow turns... but also has back attacks with good hitboxes. So it works well within it's own features. I'm personally a bit surprised there's no strong melee attacks, just "specials", but it works out well in the end.

Dodge-jump cancelling is endlessly fun.

It would be nice if they did a Muramasa DLC sized expansion for the game down the road and included any PC updates with that. Then we could get some new content for a reasonable price & get caught up with updates, and they wouldn't have to go broke doing it. I'd be down with that.

Seriously, I've bought all the Muramasa stuff and it's been awesome.

Great idea, I wouldn't mind if they did it in this way. I wouldn't have a problem buying 3~5 dollar expansions with more characters and new area designs. This is a game I wouldn't really say needs "sequels"... It just needs to expand around it's own content and ideas.

Ooooh, that looks nice. So is this game like Guardian Heroes?

The combat engine X Beat em up Vibe is similar. But this game has a lot more platforming and item-collecting. You can beat the game in an hour or 2, but you need greater levels in order to absorb the enemies, so you can play as them.

The fact that everything is playable is ALSO a lot like GH. Except you get to play them in story mode.

Interesting game so far. Now I've only played for a few hours and I don't have that much experience but Is it just me or is Pincoya seriously top tier in this game?

The game is kind of funny. I'd say it starts you off with a restrictive character in order to force you to learn the combat systems, and then, as you unlock more, if gives you a wider variety, to keep you from getting frustrated with possible failure.

Playing Pincoya reminds me of playing Don in the Turtles arcade BEUs. You were out of range, still could combo well, and had an easier time dealing... but in a game like this, it's slightly less fun to a degree, if you like getting in to the thick of combat.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I still feel like it is clunky. I can do combos and throw people around intelligently and whatnot, but it just doesn't feel good. It was probably intentional pacing, but it feels all wrong to me. They could have learned a lot more from smash bros and fighting games in terms of flow and persistent control. To me its run-and-fight is even behind SotN, which doesn't even really have a combat system, because all the excessive windups and cooldowns create a disconnect from play. Like a flickering light or stuttering music, interrupted enough and it just isn't enjoyable. It's also really slow paced overall, like most of the time is spent running through barren caverns trying to find the fights just so you don't fall asleep. I think Guacamelee is a good example of similar game design done way better, though it became obnoxious late-game with the different color shields gimmick.

I got the move from that cursed guy and he fought me later but I didn't get to capture him because he was fighting in the black smoke area with a soldier and a buzzsaw and died before I could hit him with magic. :(

Later on I killed a cow with magic but it didn't capture it. Wha? Waste of magic :p A soldier was there so maybe he got the final hit?

Tried to capture Revelation 19 Jesus boss but it only killed him. :(

To me it sounds like for each mask that breaks, the Warlock will have another phase during the final fight. Which explains why he's currently a joke, it's only his first form.
"This isn't even my final form!"
 

vg260

Member
From the dev on Steam:



FUCK. Welp, that was my worst fear when it came to getting the console version. And now I'm too late to get the PC version for $10. *sigh*

This is why I just can't buy a console version of a game that's available on Steam anymore, and why I love Steam. The patching process on consoles is so oppressive. They're already aiming for tomorrow for the first patch. That would take a month or more on consoles.
 

Seyavesh

Member
I still feel like it is clunky. I can do combos and throw people around intelligently and whatnot, but it just doesn't feel good. It was probably intentional pacing, but it feels all wrong to me. They could have learned a lot more from smash bros and fighting games in terms of flow and persistent control. To me its run-and-fight is even behind SotN which doesn't even really have a combat system, because all the excessive windups and cooldowns create a disconnect from play, like a flickering light or stuttering music. Interrupted enough and it just isn't enjoyable. It's also really slow paced overall, like most of the time is spent running through barren caverns trying to find the fights just so you don't fall asleep. I think Guacamelee is a good example of similar game design done way better, though it became obnoxious late-game with the different color shields gimmick.

yep. the pacing is really bad in the combat. basically there's way too much startup and recovery on moves so it kills whatever cool combat ideas you have and turns everything into really slow segments which is really boring. they should also remove invincibility from enemy knockdown state because it is insanely boring to wait for them to recover. in an action game you should never ever have to wait for shit like that, ever. the lull it creates isn't tense at all, it's mind numbing

i kind of understand what they were going for with like a 'deliberate pace/combat' kinda deal but having fewer enemies and slower attacks doesn't mean combat is more deliberate, it means everything is moving at a slower speed which usually has different breaking points of acceptability for players.
 

Strider

Member
I officially hate all of you "the Warlock is too easy" people. I've fought him 4 times and died 4 times :(

Gonna go cry and take a nap now.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
in an action game you should never ever have to wait for shit like that, ever. the lull it creates isn't tense at all, it's mind numbing

i kind of understand what they were going for with like a 'deliberate pace/combat' kinda deal but having fewer enemies and slower attacks doesn't mean combat is more deliberate, it means everything is moving at a slower speed which usually has different breaking points of acceptability for players.
This is exactly it. And I think it is compounded by anyone ever mentioning fighting games in the same breath as this game. Fighting games are running at a pace of like at least 12 things a second. They are very deliberate AND fast. Cancels may seem like a fighter-y thing to do, but in fighting games cancels weren't just about increasing options in the system, they were about increasing pace. Same for move buffering which goes right along with cancels. This has so much waiting involved, both to do what you have in mind for your character and for the enemies to get up or make up their mind about what to do.

Not to mention that it is so boring to watch them lay on the ground that you are mindful about what attacks to do not because of potential offensive advantage, but because you are trying to not knock them down so that the fight is more interesting. It's pretty bad when a player is limiting their own options just to be less bored, but that is certainly what I found myself doing. I may even stop setting camps because having 2-3 soldier bros helping me juggle the shit out of enemies is boring as hell. Someone in here said when you're level 40 they die pretty fast and it's more like a beat-em-up or maybe Castlevania? No thanks, the world is too boring for that.

It's not that I want them to make it more hard, per se, but I'd want them to make it more engaging. Challenge in itself does not make something fun, but I fear that's what they'll go for since it seems to be the mindset of nearly every roguelike I've ever played.
 

jtenma

Banned
This is exactly it. And I think it is compounded by anyone ever mentioning fighting games in the same breath as this game. Fighting games are running at a pace of like at least 12 things a second. They are very deliberate AND fast. Cancels may seem like a fighter-y thing to do, but in fighting games cancels weren't just about increasing options in the system, they were about increasing pace. Same for move buffering which goes right along with cancels. This has so much waiting involved, both to do what you have in mind for your character and for the enemies to get up or make up their mind about what to do.

Not to mention that it is so boring to watch them lay on the ground that you are mindful about what attacks to do not because of potential offensive advantage, but because you are trying to not knock them down so that the fight is more interesting. It's pretty bad when a player is limiting their own options just to be less bored, but that is certainly what I found myself doing. I may even stop setting camps because having 2-3 soldier bros helping me juggle the shit out of enemies is boring as hell. Someone in here said when you're level 40 they die pretty fast and it's more like a beat-em-up or maybe Castlevania? No thanks, the world is too boring for that.

It's not that I want them to make it more hard, per se, but I'd want them to make it more engaging. Challenge in itself does not make something fun, but I fear that's what they'll go for since it seems to be the mindset of nearly every roguelike I've ever played.

Everything youve just said-- EVERYTHING.. so valid.

I agree with it all. Shame, it is an otherwise uniquely designed game. But it is like it takes 3 steps forward and 10 steps backward with every game mechanic it has introduced to you.

*There is coop, but you cant fight together or you will hurt or stun-lock each other. Why is friendly fire even in this game? Dont we have an arena for PvP? Why?

*There is randomly generated loot, but it doesnt always go to your character. If you play Kat (solo), you will still find weapons you cant even use. Why?

*Combat is combo heavy like a fighing game, but it doesn't flow like one. Stiff, tank-like turn around. Why?

*Platforming is solid. Tell me why is it when I am under a ledge and try to jump up to grab it, my character wont automatically turn around to do so. No, you have to land, (slowly) turn yourself around like a tank, and then jump up (again). No turning in mid air. Why?
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
The turning seems like it's trying to do some kind of Metroid facing-lock thing, even though this game almost never needs it and simply maintaining direction from dodge/roll would sufficiently serve the same purpose while increasing pace and movement options aside from it. However, I don't think turning is its major issue. Onimusha was 3D yet it had a very similar combat concept being slower paced and deliberate with fairly hefty windups and cooldowns and some thoughtful combing and dodges and counters, yet it was far better than this even in just the first game. Of course, later on with each each addition it became absolutely incredible, and I don't expect Dawn of Dreams level gameplay from something like this, but it does demonstrate how well thoughtful combat can play out if all you're interested in is eliminating mashing.

*There is coop, but you cant fight together or you will hurt or stun-lock each other. Why is friendly fire even in this game? Dont we have an arena for PvP? Why?
They said it is because when two players can attack attack attack, it's too easy to overwhelm the AI. I say just give the AI more tools to handle it, like roll-outs into block or attack, blocking breakouts (like critical counters except while blocking, botched timing gives the other a parry), some invincibility frames during stand-up, pop-up attacks, etc. Fighting games have covered these ideas very extensively.

*There is randomly generated loot, but it doesnt always go to your character. If you play Kat (solo), you will still find weapons you cant even use. Why?
Yeah, pretty much no excuse for this. I get that they aren't making it a loot game, but if you cant hold on to it or switch to another character that can use it, why is it there at all? Either let us be able to grab a weapon to pass on one game forward, or switch character within one game. Problem of superficiality solved.

*Platforming is solid.
I straight up disagree with this one. Not that the controls are wonked (well, at least not for all characters), but that there is anything ineresting happening here in terms of platforming level design. It is extreeemely bland. And so if it's going to be a boring place to explore, that shifts focus on other things, like the combat and loot. But wait, those are also lacking, so uh... progression? Well okay, but I beat warlock twice and it seems like it could take 8 or so times to destroy the mask? Do I want to run through this that many times? I guess there are some special rooms on alternate paths, but violin bro and even the mid-boss were fairly bland because you're just slapping them around like any other enemy with the boring combat system.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
I beat this game (more than once, even!) which is weird to me. I feel like I haven't beaten a game in years, which I know is not true.

I really enjoyed it though I do wish you could attack enemies on the ground and the combat were sped up a bit.

I enjoy playing as the monk the most as his slow attack style was what got me to stop mashing and start figuring out what was really going on.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Also the rapier guy is incredible fast and can do an incredible amount of damage. He appears to be incredibly good as well.

You mean the one wearing a sombrero? Yeah he's op.

Holy shit, I just learned something about the floating enemy.
It's the Warlock
 
"The turning seems like it's trying to do some kind of Metroid facing-lock thing, even though this game almost never needs it and simply maintaining direction from dodge/roll would sufficiently serve the same purpose while increasing pace and movement options aside from it."


The turn rate is there so you can jump while maintaining your facing and do a backwards air attack.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
I actually like using The Jackal more than any of the main characters :p

He's so damn fast. His attacks have decent range too, definitely one I'd use if I ever played VS.

Also, turns out I was right about Mr. Warlock

The mask (number 1) of the Warlock will be gone and you will see his new mask. The enemy warlock will have an extra phase, so you won't lose the opportunity to see him in his current form.

So he's a pushover on purpose. Ace team why are you so creative?? Imagine if Dark Souls had community goals like that. Part of me wishes you could invade people in AO as well, we already got red phantoms in the mini bosses.
 

Tokubetsu

Member
Kinda strange they give you Kat first. I think she's the hardest character to use. You can abuse range and knockback with Pincoya & Monk. They're way easier to use.\

Holy shit, I just learned something about the floating enemy.
It's the Warlock

Knew something was going on there. Really annoying when he shows up during a boss or during a fight with 3 dudes.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
The turn rate is there so you can jump while maintaining your facing and do a backwards air attack.
Never needed. Maybe useful for vs mode, I guess? Could be better as a button like in Metroid. Orrrrr you could just do like in Smash Bros and let people attack behind them/in the direction opposite they are jumping by simply pushing the stick in that direction. It's an extra directional input, yeah, but it ends up more intuitive, faster paced, gives the player more options, ends up less complicated yet more complex on the whole.

Even side from that, I thought they main reason of maintaining your facing direction in Smash Bros was because you might be jumping away from an enemy but pick up an item and want to use it on them without waiting for the turn-around? I guess that is technically here with the projectile specials, but that kind of purpose almost made null by the windup time.
 
"Never needed. Maybe useful for vs mode, I guess? Could be better as a button like in Metroid. Orrrrr you could just do like in Smash Bros and let people attack behind them/in the direction opposite they are jumping by simply pushing the stick in that direction. It's an extra directional input, yeah, but it ends up more intuitive, faster paced, gives the player more options, ends up less complicated yet more complex on the whole."


It works the exact same way as Smash Bros. It's the same way jumps work in Smash Bros. Perhaps they can tweak the turning speed a bit more, but the mechanic is pretty much identical.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
The jumping maybe, but not the attacking. I don't remember once needing to attack behind me and instead attacking in my facing direction in Smash Bros, but that sort is thing is definitely something I had to adjust for in this game. I think that is the reason why people have a problem with it, aside from not grabbing ledges when they expected to. And it's not just an issue in terms of offensive options but when you accept it and play by it, the pace is just slower and things are less interesting because of the removed options.

Don't get my criticisms wrong, I'm not just trying to trash on the game. I just see how the game could be A LOT better than it is. The potential is definitely there and other fighting games have made such breakthroughs from their initial concepts. The whole genre of fighting games became what it is through such steps of improvement. This could be patched into a real beauty, but for now it's pretty damn rough, and all the lessons it needs to learn have been observed in dozens of games already between fighters/beat-em-ups/brawlers/action platformers.
 
I'm not saying that your criticisms aren't valid, even if I don't entirely agree with them. There's definitely some things they could do to improve the feel of the game overall.


"The jumping maybe, but not the attacking. I don't remember once needing to attack behind me and instead attacking in my facing direction in Smash Bros, but that sort is thing is definitely something I had to adjust for in this game."

There's a specific air attack in Smash Bros that you do by holding the stick in the opposite direction you're facing while in the air. The backwards air attacks in Abyss Odyssey hit behind your character, just like in Smash.
 
Mmmm, that down+jump button extra height. Feels great landing an extended double jump without needing the dodge.

Really wish I had an option to turn off the enemy healthbars, though. Turned the HUD off via the config files but it turned itself back on mid gameplay. :p
 

Oublieux

Member
Hunkered down and played this game for about 40 minutes. Brief impressions:

  • Art direction and aesthetics are absolutely wonderful.
  • Voice acting is average.
  • Combat is identical to Smash Brothers, but intentionally slower paced.

The most essential aspect of the game is obviously combat. Abyss Odyssey's combat seems to be deliberately paced. In fact, I think this was done purposely so that timing and landing hits on enemies is a more strategic affair. I felt as if this was a "Dark Souls-lite" when it came to battling enemies. I need to play more before making final judgments, but I actually like it for what it is so far despite its flaws.
 
  • Art direction and aesthetics are absolutely wonderful.
    [*]Voice acting is average.
  • Combat is identical to Smash Brothers, but intentionally slower paced.

I wonder whether it's possible to get the Chilean VA option for the English version of the game. (if one exists, of course)
 
so has anyone figure out how to get resolutions higher than 1080p for this?

Manually edit the SystemSettings.ini file located at
Code:
C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\My Games\AbyssOdyssey\AOGame\Config

Change the following lines in the file to your desired horizontal and vertical resolution (e.g. for 2560x1440):-
Code:
ResX=2560
ResY=1440
 

gabbo

Member
Hunkered down and played this game for about 40 minutes. Brief impressions:

  • Art direction and aesthetics are absolutely wonderful.
  • Voice acting is average.
  • Combat is identical to Smash Brothers, but intentionally slower paced.

The most essential aspect of the game is obviously combat. Abyss Odyssey's combat seems to be deliberately paced. In fact, I think this was done purposely so that timing and landing hits on enemies is a more strategic affair. I felt as if this was a "Dark Souls-lite" when it came to battling enemies. I need to play more before making final judgments, but I actually like it for what it is so far despite its flaws.

Dang, ACE tend to nail this part of their games (imo).
But it's good to hear they got everything else down.
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Really curious to see what Nightmare mode entails. They should call normal "Dream Mode" instead of Normal

Absurd Difficulty. They say its for the hardcore players that found the game easy.

I expect no Camp Tokens and enemies doing 15%-25% more damage.
 
Manually edit the SystemSettings.ini file located at
Code:
C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\My Games\AbyssOdyssey\AOGame\Config
Change the following lines in the file to your desired horizontal and vertical resolution (e.g. for 2560x1440):-
Code:
ResX=2560
ResY=1440


ty. was looking in the wrong folders lol
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Im liking this approach of the patching those things that can be patched easily first instead of making us wait lots of times for a big patch.
 

KenOD

a kinder, gentler sort of Scrooge
Minus some issues with controls, such as how grabbing ledges work, and the occasional slow down of frame rate, I must say this has been quite the fun game. I'm glad I bit the bullet and got it in a trade.

This however sold me on it.

 

TunaUppercut

Neo Member
From the short amount of time of playing this game. I'm no expert and I have much to learn. But the top five characters are probably Jackal, Pincoya, Sea Queen, Skeleton Warrior and Katrien.
 

KenOD

a kinder, gentler sort of Scrooge
One issue playing with large characters such as the tree golem, it's very easy to clip through the ground due to certain enemy attacks. Hasn't gotten me stuck or anything as another attack will pop me back up or transforming, but a bit of an annoyance there.
 
Manually edit the SystemSettings.ini file located at
Code:
C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\My Games\AbyssOdyssey\AOGame\Config

Change the following lines in the file to your desired horizontal and vertical resolution (e.g. for 2560x1440):-
Code:
ResX=2560
ResY=1440

I did that, and it crushes the blacks. But thats why you have brightness settings for. Good looks.
-EDIT-
You can turn on dynamic shadows on as well in the other folder too.
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
I just captured the Merchant. LOL
KuGsj.gif
 

Seyavesh

Member
it seems pretty clear the design reason behind the massive startup and recovery on attacks is because you can play as any enemy btw

however it reduces the combat to either hit and run or block and wait for recovery, both of which are not active engagement activities which should be the primary form of combat in a co-operative/single player 2d/platforming action game.

the two main executions to this rule are the fire mummy who has megafast startup on his neutral attack, trivializing every fight because you can basically stand there and mash enemies to death on their startup and the jackal who is basically just the best character period in every way (including look)
 

Great Guy

Member
Finished a playthrough tonight, looks and sounds gorgeous. Definitely wish I did a bit of reading before buying though, because the controls are not my forte. I basically just button mashed my way through. After finished Strider on ps4 the other day, this game's combat felt like i was wading through tar.

I did encounter a bug after having my soldier rez Katrien, she was unable to run left or right! So i just made my way through the level by jumping and dodging in the direction i wanted to go. I eventually died, and this fixed the issue. Was kind of fun improvising with limited movement for the 1.5 levels I completed before dying.

Overall, I can say i've definitely spent 10dollars/3 hours on much worse things than Abyss Odyssey, and I'm pretty sure i'll pick it back up in a few days after a patch to try the Monk and Pincoya.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
The game crashes when alt-tabing. I did so after encountering Paganini for the first time before I fought him, so that sucks


Never needed. Maybe useful for vs mode, I guess? Could be better as a button like in Metroid. Orrrrr you could just do like in Smash Bros and let people attack behind them/in the direction opposite they are jumping by simply pushing the stick in that direction. It's an extra directional input, yeah, but it ends up more intuitive, faster paced, gives the player more options, ends up less complicated yet more complex on the whole.

You can already do that. Try pushing the right stick in any direction while jumping.
 
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