Enter the Abyss

As its name suggests, Phantom Abyss is a game with a slightly macabre theme. It tells the story of a temple in which ghosts have become trapped and need to find their way out as quickly as possible.

The curious thing is that, when you enter the game, you come across these ghosts, giving the impression that you're the only living being there. It's bizarre how this has been portrayed, given that it's an asynchronous multiplayer game, which means that each player takes their route in their own time, not in sync with others.

This means that we see these players all the time, only in ghost form. We can see which paths they take, how they get through a puzzle, and even how they make mistakes so that we can take them as an example and complete the stages more easily.

Thus, by going through the puzzles, we can discover more of the story, little by little. Each time we go through a stage, we get chests and keys that open doors to the next floors, and some altars tell us the story of that temple, with figures that are important to the narrative.



Blessed

It's only in this way, and through the clues we can access, that the game's story continues. It's interesting to know what it's all about, but as time goes by, there are so many difficulties that this question ends up taking a back seat.

I'd say the difficulty of this title is average. In the beginning, everything is easier because it serves to show you the controls and a little of what you'll see later on. As you progress through the levels, everything becomes more difficult.

When you use the first key, which opens up the second floor of the temple, you have to choose one of the pillars to access. Each pillar gives you a different upgrade, either for your first weapon (a whip with a thousand and one uses) or for your character, and your goal is to get through this new and winding stage.



The big difficulty for me was not worrying about the life points I had. I knew I had a new skill (as if it were a bonus for choosing this path), but even with it, it was very difficult to get past the traps.

For example, my first choice was the double jump, but the path I followed had traps even in the ceiling. Think of a trap that only activates when you pass close to it, but when you jump, it sticks a thorn that kills your character on the spot. That was the level of difficulty I had at the start.

The other levels, with different pillars, also follow this rhythm. But it's like any platform game; once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier to get past these ambushes.

In the middle of these stages, there were also ghost NPCs who got stuck in the temple and couldn't find their way out. The funny thing is that they seem to be aware of this and talk to you as if they hadn't died but were lost.



I found it rather comforting, considering that I died and became a ghost among so many others. And by the way, it's very difficult not to die so many times. Whether it's because you slipped or fell into one of the traps, Phantom Abyss is going to be one of those games where you die a lot to get through the most difficult paths.

Not that this is a bad thing, because the game has automatic saves in strategic places. It's not like it's one of those titles where you die over and over again because you can't get past a single stage, and you can't use so many skills and tricks to make the process easier.

As a result, there are various ways to help you get through. You can make treasure offerings to obtain various skills during your journey (which works like a blessing from the gods), but to do this, you'll need to collect gold from chests and vases that are scattered throughout the corridors. This will give you options such as double jump, healing, sliding, damage shield, gliding jump, and many others.



The weapon we have, however, is a whip. As you progress, you can evolve it to suit your needs. At first, you can deal damage and use it to grab walls (like a grappling hook) and climb up them with its help.

You can also unlock new whips, which contain a "little blessing" and a "little curse," which can make the whole process more difficult. Even if there's an element that makes it easier, there's an element that gets in the way and can make you think twice before using it. Phantom Abyss gives you plenty of adventure and challenges, with several levels to get through and take a chance on. It's a great title for those looking for a good platform game, for those moments when you want to be stimulated and have fun.

Phantom Adventurer

Phantom Abyss has a characteristic art style that many of Devolver's games have. Something that tries to be cheerful and stimulating even though it's not a game about that, just to focus on the adventure genre that is very present.

As much as it's a title that focuses on puzzles, this factor draws a lot of attention. It's like Gunbrella, which has a more macabre setting but is extremely colorful and visual, showing that even in this "end of the world" atmosphere, that may not be the main focus, but it's what we'll see most of the time in front of the screen.

As a result, this work uses a lot of color and detail to build the game's art. It seems that nothing here is used as a background but rather a complete set of art, which can be useful for getting to the next level.



The sound and video graphics impressed me a lot overall. The player's camera moves differently, making it seem like we're desperate and in a hurry, since it's a swift movement.

The sounds in the background of the abilities, the characters, and everything around you are good and very clear, with only a little noise when you access the altars, as if you were on a call and the signal was gradually cutting out (that typical hissing noise). I don't know if it was something proposed by the developers because they were at specific moments, but if so, I didn't understand what the point was because the gods themselves have lines, and they were clearly expressed.

Likewise, the game's atmosphere was well worked out, and the choice of art, sounds, and animations was very good. I enjoyed playing the game, and it was a lot of fun. I think that because they chose this setting well, I was able to include myself in that place and pursue the real objective of the game.

Bearing in mind that the game requires a minimum of 8 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5-4670 processor, and a GTX 660 graphics card, and I played on a PC with 16 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5-9400F processor, and a GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, I didn't experience any bugs or glitches, and the game ran perfectly.

Special thanks to Devolver Digital team for sending us an key for content creation.