Dotemu announces Absolum, a new roguelite beat-em-up made by the Streets of Rage 4 devs
Dotemu and Guard Crush revitalized Sega's Streets of Rage franchise with a fourth installment in 2020. The well-received arcade beat-em-up proved successful, selling over 2.5 million copies by 2021. It even received a DLC expansion, Mr.X Nightmare, in 2021.
Besides Streets of Rage, Dotemu also published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge in 2022, another well-received beat-em-up that saw two DLC expansions - Dimension Shellshock and Radical Reptiles, that proved to be just as popular. Now the team is ready to flex its brawling chops again.
Dotemu and Guard Crush have teamed up with French animation studio Supamonks to cook up a gorgeous new dark fantasy beat-em-up with roguelite elements. Unlike their previous efforts, Absolum is a completely new IP that borrows elements from the genre, mixed with some roguelite goodness.
Described as a "Rogue ‘em Up," the game takes you to the lands of Talmah, an original dark fantasy world that has been ravaged by the effects of a cataclysm caused by wizards. This causes the common folk to distrust magic, allowing a tyrannical sun king to enslave the wizards and conquer the realms.
A high enchantress leads a small group of rebels against the king's unyielding forces to take down his evil regime. You play as one of four outcasts - Galandra, a necromancer with a big sword, Karl, the last free dwarf of Talmah who uses fists and a blunderbuss, Brome, a prodigal wizard and Cider, a nimble skirmisher.
From the previews, the game looks stunning with high-quality 2D animation and art, meshing with frantic action. The devs say that there are multiple paths to take and new random encounters each time you start over.
Like Streets of Rage 4, there are combo chains that allow you to link moves and magical abilities. You can even find and use rare items to give you an advantage. It's a combat system that "demands skill and timing," pushing players to experiment and strategize with each run.
The soundtrack has been composed by Gareth Coker (Ori series, Halo Infinite, Prince of Persia), and also includes collaborations with Yuka Kitamura (Dark Souls, Elden Ring), Mick Gordon (Doom Eternal, Atomic Heart), and more.
There is no release date for the game yet but it is expected to launch in late 2025.
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