Warriors: Abyss

Koei Tecmo has recently developed a taste for showcase shadow drops. At the Xbox Developer Direct, the company announced Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and released it immediately. At the most recent State of Play, it was Warriors: Abyss, a new take on the Warriors franchise and its 1 vs. 1,000 action.

Warriors: Abyss is a fresh take on the Warriors franchise from Koei Temco. It's a roguelite hack 'n' slash action game that combines the feel of 1 vs. 1,000 action with roguelite elements such as randomly generated stages and items for variety in playthroughs, and a fairly sophisticated progression metagame. In the game, players control a hero summoned to Hell by Enma, the King of the Underworld, to defeat the devilish Gouma. Players will plunge into the abyss to try and reach the fourth level of Hell, fighting their way through hordes of enemies and recruiting the souls of past heroes to their team.

In between battles, which are short at the start and get longer as you progress, players can upgrade and customise their character with typical roguelite upgrades. They can then choose a new route with a specific power-up reward, choose a new ally to join them, get some currency or change their formation with allies. One path may be dangerous with better rewards, while another may be safer with regenerative items. After a few fixed stages, the player will face the boss of the area. There are currently four main areas in the game. What is relatively easy in the beginning becomes increasingly difficult as the player descends. Despite playing as a single Warrior, it is possible to recruit up to six additional heroes to assist in battle using the 'Summon Heroes' action (which are essentially combo attacks, that are unleashed with normal and heavy attacks), dealing massive damage to enemies and strengthening the team through each hero's unique abilities - and each ally also provides stat boosts. In addition, all heroes can attack together in a formation attack, which can be modified. This is another rarely used ultimate attack.

It may look like a Survivor-like game, but Warriors: Abyss is not. It does have some elements of that game, but it is much more of a classic hack 'n' slash action game (maybe like Hades), as you perform the actions yourself, such as light and heavy attacks, as well as the massive Musou actions. Musou actions literally knock enemies against the screen. Handling is good and precise. Attacks feel powerful and impactful. At the same time, players have to avoid attacks that are telegraphed on the ground, which is not so easy with all the enemies, incoming attacks and especially boss fights. With each defeat, players return to Enma's palace, where they choose a hero and start all over again. With a resource called Karma Ember, new skills respective warriors/heroes can be unlocked in a huge skill tree, which also affects the player's basic stats. So you get stronger after every defeat, provided you collect enough XP and other stuff in the battles. Even if the whole unlocking process is a bit grindy, and especially at the beginning the sheer number of warriors can seem a bit overwhelming, especially as the interface is a bit clunky.

The last three months have been very busy for Koei Tecmo. December 2024 saw the release of Fairy Tail 2, followed by Dynasty Warriors: Origins in January 2025, which was the company's second best launch on Steam with almost 70,000 CCU. The game has now sold over a million copies worldwide across all platforms. Just a week later, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black launched the Definitive Edition of Ninja Gaiden 2 - and Ninja Gaiden 4 was announced for release in 2025. This was followed by Warriors: Abyss. All of these titles were developed in-house by Koei Tecmo or Omega Force. Two more titles are scheduled for release in March: the PC version of Rise of the Ronin and Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land.

Warriors: Abyss is available digitally on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. It also plays well on the Steam Deck. The Nintendo Switch version was released one day later on 14 February 2025 on the Nintendo eShop. The game features Japanese voices and text in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. In addition to the Standard Edition (€24.99), there is a Deluxe Edition (€39.99), which includes the Legendary Costume Set with 57 characters and 3,000 Karma Embers that can be used to unlock heroes in the Hall of Bonded Souls. There is also the Hack'n'Dash Ultimate Edition for €79.99. This includes the base game, 200 costumes from the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series and 5,000 Karma Embers. Those who purchase the game before 14 March 2025 will receive the "Dynasty Warriors Classic Classic Costume Set" as an early purchase bonus. New characters will be available for free after launch. The first update will include heroes from the Jin Kingdom of the Dynasty Warriors series, while future updates may include characters from outside the Warriors series.