Absolver from SloClap and Devolver Digital is a game on PlayStation 4 that you should check out. Find out why in our Absolver review!

 

Once I started the game I found a nice cliff with an incredible view from afar, which instantly grabbed my attention. The graphics are great with lots of beautiful colors and some cel shading techniques that come together to give us a solid 3D release. You can play the game in two ways: either offline or online by inviting other players to join you. I was definitely happy to see an offline option since, while I do like online games, those that are online-only are not something I can play all the time.

The aim of the game is to be the best fighter there is, so you’ll end up battling against everyone who decides to stand in your way. You start the game as a Prospect and you must defeat a series of bosses in order to become an Absolver. That’s pretty much all there is as far as the game’s story is concerned, and you’ll end up learning more about what is going on from the NPC – I would definitely have liked to see more of a story for this one, but it’s not a deal-breaker since the gameplay more than makes up for it.

You can customize your character and pick a class from the three available options. The fighting component is very good and you can choose difference stances with the R1 button and right stick to give you different attacks for your arsenal – there is no button mashing in this one! You need to set up combos to stay on top of your opponent while you dodge attacks with the L1 button. While all attacks can technically be dodged or blocked, you need to be aware of your stamina meter since doing this a lot will deplete it if you’re not careful. If your stamina does run out you’ll need to wait for it to regenerate.

Defeating your enemies nets you XP and you can use altars to level up your character and increase your stats with the accrued points. A very fun an interesting gameplay mechanic is that if an enemy attacks you with a move you have not learned and you successfully defend against it, you will gain XP for that move and you will eventually get to unlock it. It is certainly a unique way of introducing you to new moves while encouraging you to fight with everyone you meet to see what new moves you can pick up.

The stances I mentioned earlier are important since you can add any new moves you learn into those four slots so that you can have the right set of moves ready to go. You can also equip moves from other classes, but you get bigger bonuses for using the moves from your own class, in order to balance things out. Due to all the potential combinations of moves and loadouts, every opponent you face will have a different set of skills to use against you.

Once you have played the game a bit and leveled up, and if you are feeling confident enough, you can take on the combat trials which can be accessed via the Altars. These are one on one battles, and winning and ranking up will allow you to form your very own school. Once you have your own school other players can access your combat deck and all the moves you have learned. You can also join other schools to learn the combat decks of others and pick up some new moves – unfortunately though you can only join one school at a time.

Absolver is an interesting release on PS4 that definitely picked my interest and kept me coming back for more. The game’s solid gameplay mechanic and unique progression mechanic are very fun to use and will certainly keep you engaged. There are a ton of potential combinations for how each player approaches its loadout, and the way you unlock new moves pushes you to fight new opponents at every chance you get. Go grab Absolver on PlayStation 4!

Disclaimer
This Absolver review is based on a PlayStation 4 review provided by Devolver Digital.