There’s a magic to moss ridden temples. Places so exotic and foreign they seem like they could never exist on this Earth but do. I’m sure Harrison Ford running from boulders has something to do with my mysticism of temples, but that’s Steven Spielberg’s fault. Either way, Phantom Abyss, by developer, Team WIBY, and publisher, Devolver Digital, captures the magic of a classic temple adventure and bakes in a game that’s easy to spend time playing.
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but my temple running game experience really only included my brief time of getting high scores on Temple Run on my middle school iPod Touch until I played Phantom Abyss. However, that didn’t help me much. My favorite part of Phantom Abyss was also the detail that rendered my past experience useless; it’s first person. I could also make the argument that putting in the ghosts of fallen players in the temple with you as you try not to die was my favorite too, but it lost by a thin margin.
Phantom Abyss was so easy to pick up and hard to put down. The mazes were difficult to figure out, but the controls standard and intuitive. This puts all your focus on missing the traps, and that’s where you will need it. Phantom Abyss employs all your standard temple adventure traps like spikes that shoot up from the floor or giant rocks falling from the ceiling, but it isn’t far into the game when the supernatural obstacles start. Look out for the falling poison. I died more times in that temple than I care to disclose.
The aesthetic is exactly what you would expect. Simple, classic, and all those other good words that describe a game that was easy on the eyes and didn’t try too hard to be something it isn’t. Phantom Abyss is an arcade game made in a time where arcades are all but gone. Hours of entertainment traversing a series of mind-bending maps in pursuit of a higher score with the thrill of ancient relics and buying blessings from the statues of deities in your path.
To find something that already existed within Phantom Abyss was hard to find. So hard to find that really the only one I have is a feature I would like to see. There’s no way to customize your character, and that takes some of the thrill out of dodging obstacles. Now, I’m well aware that I just talked affectionately about how simple this game is but character customization seems to be something that is really missing in a game that executes the other facets of its experience so well that it left me wanting to make a character I could take through those temple missions to retrieve artifacts with me.
Phantom Abyss is exactly what it needs to be. A delightfully challenging arcade game that feels classic and new simultaneously. A game I will pick up and run a few rounds of beyond today. A game I will wish had just a little more complexity to really make it soar. More than anything, it’s a great way to unwind and kill an afternoon pretending to be your favorite archeologist. Whip and all.
Check Out the Phantom Abyss Steam Early Access Trailer:
Phantom Abyss is available for $24.99 via Steam Early Access.
Related: PHANTOM ABYSS Massive Asynchronous Multiplayer Now on Steam Early Access
My first console was the original Playstation and I would play Twisted Metal every now and then but games didn't hook me until I played the original Halo at my friend's house. As soon as I picked up that controller, I knew I needed an Xbox and I had to have that game. Since those early Halo days, I've branched out and played any game I could find with a great story and memorable characters but Master Chief is still my favorite. @thenotoriousTGT on Twitter
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