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Which Game is Bringing Back a Dying Genre?

Which Game is Bringing Back a Dying Genre?

When is the last time you heard about an original, new IP in the world of 3D fighting games? I honestly can’t think of any. When it comes to quality 3D fighters, we have few to choose from: Tekken, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter Tobal? If you’re cool with simply moving left and right and chaining together obscenely long combos, there are choices a-plenty, but the 3D fighting genre needs a revival. The body of collective, current-gen, 3D fighters is more like a dying patient in need of a shot of adrenaline. Well, I just happened upon this shiny syringe – its point is fine; it contains some brilliant, alien tonic; across the barrel is written ” Absolver .” Yes, this is precisely what we needed. It’s time to pull back that plunger and drive this thing into the breastplate of a dying genre.

Absolver is the most exciting indie game I’ve seen in a long time. Actually, it’s the most exciting fighting game I’ve seen since Soul Calibur IV , and that’s because Absolver wisely focuses on the best part of any fighting game: flow. Just watch the trailer I’ve embedded below to get a sense of the fluidity and grace with which battles are enacted in this game. It’s novel as can be, but it certainly doesn’t look experimental or amateur. The combat system almost looks like a second or third iteration of something that was once risky and unrefined; still new, but fine-tuned.

The combat system may sound complex or even convoluted, but don’t let it get to you. You set up a combat deck (basically a set of move queues) ahead of time, and work on mastering move sets and fighting styles that appeal to you. Here’s the deal: during combat your fighter will assume one of four stances at any given time. In each stance you have predetermined move sets / attacks / combos that you execute and switch up on the fly. You may assume a wide stance and execute a powerful spinning kick that leaves you in another stance with your back to your opponent. From there, depending on if your first move hit (or on the action of your opponent), you’ll execute moves from that alternate stance or otherwise dodge or parry. Or maybe you’ll attempt to chain that spinning kick into a three or four-hit combo you had arranged for that stance in your combat deck. It’s all up to you, and the fight is always changing and shifting. It’s fluid; it flows.

Which Game is Bringing Back a Dying Genre?

This puts an interesting, almost paradoxical twist on a genre that typically only appeals to the hardcore or competitive gamer. Even a game like Soul Calibur IV , which I still consider to be the best fighting game in the world, isn’t balanced enough to appeal to everyone. In Soul Calibur, like Tekken , your success depends on trained muscle memory, twitch reflexes, and a high degree of dexterity to pull off long chains of complicated combos that require complex strings of input. Absolver only uses a few attack buttons, and appears to favor the creative thinker; the playful combatant; the dancer. Dexterity and excellent reflexes will of course serve you well, but not so well as an open mind and willingness to adapt to your opponents on the fly.

I can’t wait to see and hear more about this game. I hold tightly to precious memories of particular, high-ranked, online matches of Soul Calibur IV where I’d finally get matched with someone who played not only well, but also played beautifully. I was always more about the flow and rhythm of the fight, and less about slamming every button as fast as possible and doing whatever it took to win. Ever since my SC IV days I’ve been longing for another fighting game that would let me find new opponents with whom I could spar in a deep and creative way. Absolver looks to let me finally dance again, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Keep your eye on this one, folks.

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