One of the simplest ways to explain Phantom Abyss is that it appears like a fever dream you might have after falling asleep with Temple of Doom nonetheless taking part in in your TV.

It’s an action-adventure recreation that, at its finest, makes you are feeling like an explorer encountering thriller and hazard at each flip. Spectral guardians chase you thru temples full of devious traps and secret paths filled with treasure. 

Exploring the sport’s numerous areas in Journey Mode is initially thrilling, however because the expertise drags on – and the quirks of the sport’s random era turn into extra predictable – Phantom Abyss turns into much less like basic Indiana Jones and extra like a by-the-numbers summer season blockbuster. 

Phantom Abyss (PC [reviewed], Xbox Sequence X|S)
Developer: Staff WIBY
Writer: Devolver Digital
Launched: January 25, 2024
MSRP: $19.99

Assembly an historic prisoner…

The story of Phantom Abyss is gentle and unobtrusive, which didn’t hassle me within the slightest. My character awoke within the recreation’s central hub to search out that they, and various different spirits, have turn into trapped inside a fancy of historic temples. 

A large speaking statue requested me to free it from its chains by finishing various challenges in 4 completely different areas. The opposite phantoms all had a unusual line of dialogue or two, however nothing they stated appeared to matter that a lot, so I grabbed my Adventurer’s Whip and dove proper in. 

The primary temple introduces the essential mechanics of the sport. You run, soar, sprint, and slide your approach by means of temples avoiding traps like spike pits and rolling boulders. With a fast flick of your whip, you may grapple your approach up partitions and over chasms. 

Apart from traps, temples additionally comprise chests filled with cash that can be utilized to purchase blessings in your particular person run – boons like quicker motion velocity or the flexibility to briefly sluggish time – and keys that assist unlock everlasting boosts, like extra well being and a quicker whip. When you’ve gotten a fast heat up, you’re thrown straight into Journey Mode. 

Stumbling into secrets and techniques

From the outset you’ll solely have entry to the Ruins, an space with six completely different temples so that you can discover. Every temple comes with its personal set of challenges and pairs you with a novel whip that comes with a built-in blessing. This space additionally introduces you to the three completely different guardians you’ll face all through the sport. These are large spirits that comply with you all through your run whereas spitting poison, taking pictures lasers, or exploding in a fiery rage. Finishing sufficient temples within the Ruins unlocks the Caverns, which then unlocks the Inferno, and eventually the Rift. 

Exploring these areas was simply my favourite a part of the sport. The final structure of all these temples is considerably mounted and clearly designed across the particular whip and guardian you’re paired with, so I knew to count on plenty of platforming in a single temple, or a number of spinning hallways in one other. The particular traps and hidden secrets and techniques inside every room, nonetheless, have been randomly generated, which saved each run shocking and interesting whereas nonetheless letting every temple have its personal distinctive taste. The primary time I regarded up and seen a gap within the ceiling that led to a treasure room I used to be delighted – particularly for the reason that gold there paid for a blessing that obtained me by means of the remainder of the run. 

The Journey Mode areas additionally introduce the sport’s asynchronous multiplayer mechanic. As I made my runs, I may see the phantoms of different gamers additionally journeying by means of the dungeon. More often than not, we have been shifting so quick that I rapidly misplaced observe of the phantoms, however often they got here in helpful. If a phantom unlocks a door earlier than you, for instance, it stays unlocked in your run, too. Typically when going through a very difficult room, I’d spend my time avoiding the guardian whereas letting another person’s phantom fetch the door key for me.

Studying from expertise

As time wore on, I began to really feel like a real seasoned adventurer. I’d collected sufficient keys to energy up my character to an inexpensive diploma, however the growing problem of the temples nonetheless saved me on my toes. Like all recreation with roguelike parts, there have been sure runs the place it appeared like Phantom Abyss was actually stacking the percentages towards me and others the place I discovered simply sufficient treasure and the precise blessings I wanted to eke out a win. Finally, although, each win or loss got here right down to my snap-second response to traps and the preciseness of my whip. 

By the point I reached the Inferno area, the mechanics have been actually clicking with me. I discovered that each new whip energy gave me a satisfying new strategy to sort out the harder temples. Sadly, I additionally began to note fewer and fewer surprises in each run. It turns on the market’s solely a handful of locations the place secret rooms and paths get hidden inside a temple, so whilst the issue of the temples elevated, the thrilling sense of exploration they provided within the earlier areas started to dwindle. 

Operating out of steam

After beating all 4 areas in Journey Mode, which took me about twelve hours, I unlocked two new recreation modes which might be clearly aimed toward giving Phantom Abyss extra of a long-lasting enchantment. 

Each day Mode doubles down on the sport’s asynchronous multiplayer. Each 24 hours the sport generates a brand new temple with its personal set of challenges, and gamers are inspired to race one another for the most effective completion time. Abyss Mode, however, creates a completely randomized dungeon that just one particular person will ever get to discover. You may choose from a handful of various difficulties that decide how lengthy the temples are, and you may carry no matter whip you need into your run.

I used to be excited to take a look at the brand new recreation modes, however after I began making runs I noticed that they actually didn’t supply something new. Journey Mode had already launched the varied tiles, traps, and secrets and techniques I may count on to see within the temples. The brand new recreation modes simply offered me with randomized conglomerations of challenges I’d already seen earlier than, and these totally randomized temples lacked the character of the degrees in Journey Mode. Some Abyss Mode temples have been half a dozen flooring lengthy, however I at all times knew the place I may doubtlessly discover hidden chests and shortcuts alongside the best way. Useful resource gathering was a breeze, so I largely felt like I used to be bouncing off the randomness of the blessings I used to be provided on the finish of every ground.  

That stated, I nonetheless loved the mechanics of constructing runs, however the sense of journey that captured my consideration early within the recreation actually evaporated, satirically, after Journey Mode ended. The Each day and Abyss modes would possibly inspire me to poke my head again into Phantom Abyss now and again after a break, however truthfully, the Journey Mode dungeons would have achieved that on their very own. 

Phantom Abyss has the potential to essentially be one thing unimaginable. The early recreation is an extremely mixture of tense runs and shocking discoveries that may result in your loss of life or a brand new set of blessings. The endgame hook, nonetheless, falls brief as a result of it doesn’t take lengthy till you roughly know precisely what’s lurking round each nook. 

If the tile set was bigger, the randomness of the Each day and Abyss modes may have been sufficient to hook me for dozens of hours, however despite the fact that it misplaced me by the top, I loved the adventures that Phantom Abyss offered.

Phantom Abyss isn’t an ideal limitless temple speedrunner, however for a dozen or so hours, it has an excellent hook. 

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}