Recent reviews by Badger Solomon

Absolver is not a souls-like. It's not a hack and slash, it's not a button masher. The closes thing you could compare Absolver to is For Honour. That being said, I have never played For Honour, so Absolver is entirely new and fresh for me.

From the outside, you see the gameplay as normal beat 'em up gameplay but with some fancy kicks. But, your eyes are drawn down to the bottom of the screen and you notice the ever changing, ever confusing quadrant system. This is where Absolver shines. It isn't just hitting X a few times, then Y and dodge. Each quadrant, (controlled with the analogue stick) can have up to three moves and one alternative move. These can be quick punches, strong kicks, or anywhere in between. Every move is different, and cannot be repeated. Some moves can dodge attacks, for example a low spinning kick can avoid high punches, or an elbow strike can dodge a sword thrust. Each attack having individual aspect and traits makes every action vitally important. You can't just mash buttons, because all of a sudden you're in a different quadrant (because a lot of moves transition you between them) and then you're doing heavy kicks when you're out of stamina. All of a sudden, your guard is gone and your getting smacked in the face. This game is a lot more strategical than it first appears, and can only be experienced to its fullest with trial and error and practice in the online mode.

Online combat is vital to this game. The single player (if you can even call it that - it's really seemless multiplayer) can be completed in about 6 hours. By that point, you should have a decent combat deck, and it's time to jump into multiplayer. The single player is essentially a long tutorial. Only by playing multiplayer can you truly realise how terrible your combat deck is. And that isn't a bad thing, it's far from it in fact. This way you learn how to improve, learning new tactics from your opponents. And, of course, you can learn attacks from your combatant, further increasing combat deck possibilities. In all my hours of his game, I'm still learning, progressing, and getting better in every way possible.

One part of this game that is comparable to Dark Souls is the plot. And by that I mean, there is none, unless you look for it. Weapon and armour descriptions, NPC dialogue and other very minor parts of the game are your entire source for the plot. This might seem like a downside, but of course the game isn't focused on the story aspect. It also leaves so much room for intrigue and theories, I've spent a long time reading and taking part with people discussing lore over the last few days. Like the plot, the music follows suit. Along the lines of the old Tomb Raider games, it's quiet. Eerily quiet. Music only is in this game when it's required. It builds tension and drama. It perfectly fits the gameplay to the point where you don't even notice the subtleness of the soundtrack.

On that topic, the community is amazing. Very few times have I felt like I was being overpowered, assaulted or any such things when playing the game. If someone picks a fight with you in the world and you lose, they almost always revive you, bow, and continue on their merry way.

As for the server issues, I haven't had too many problems. Sometimes I can't connect to the server, and there might be a little bit of input lag but very, very rarely. I can't say anything about the Australian servers, but I believe Sloclap have / are working on a fix to the issues.

In summary, this game has a lot more depth than first appears. Sloclap have done an excellent job making a deep, intricate system of fighting along with a world that sparks community intrigue. I look forward to seeing what they add to the game, whether it's new moves, new weapons or even just a new pair of boots. I recommend this game to anyone who wants a strong, online experience filled with trial and error with an incredible, friendly community to become the best fighter you can.