Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss Reviews
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is not always a perfect title, but it has a very clear idea of what it wants to convey to the player, and it almost always succeeds in an excellent way between setting, puzzles and cosmic horror.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss falls prey to the greatest source of madness: boredom. Bogged down with its litany of technical issues and crashes, its fragile story and bland walking simulator gameplay fail to inspire even a modicum of intrigue. It's not Cthulhu who'll cause your mental degradation, but the endless tedium of trying to reach the finale of this abyss.
If developer Big Bad Wolf can iron out the games bugs and issues, then they have a very strong contender for one of the best Lovecraftian games on the market. Overall, Cthulhu The Cosmic Abyss is a wonderful delve into cosmic insanity and the Cthulhu Mythos and a great foundation to build future adventures of madness upon.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss pulled me in right away with its eerie atmosphere and striking visuals. I loved slowly piecing together the mystery and tackling the brain-teasing puzzles. It’s definitely a game for players who like to take their time and soak in every detail. Still, I have to admit, the pacing sometimes dragged, and I found myself wishing the monsters posed a real threat to shake things up. Even so, I genuinely enjoyed my time with the game. If you’re into Lovecraftian horror and don’t mind a slower, more thoughtful pace, there’s a lot here to appreciate.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss delivers an intriguing investigative horror experience inspired by Lovecraft’s universe. Its oppressive atmosphere and rewarding clue-solving mechanics stand out, even if the lack of real scares and technical issues hold it back.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a game that promises a lot but ultimately fails to deliver on its potential, resulting in an adventure that won’t leave a lasting impression—mainly due to its weak story and character development. That said, the game isn’t all bad, as it incorporates some very creative gameplay ideas, even if these don’t quite manage to shine.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All of this is to say that Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is an interesting AA detective game, with fun investigation mechanics and a gripping premise, but quickly falls apart in the second half of the story. It’s disappointing, because there are occasional sparks of ingenuity in some of the game’s later chapters, and it’s a shame to see the final quality so inconsistent.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss has a ton of potential with its setting, narrative, and investigation mechanics, but buggy save-states and jank make it a frustrating experience.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a game with enormous influences from the cosmic horror genre. It is an entertaining game for fans of this specific subgenre and brings little innovation.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
For those waiting for the next gem in the cosmic horror genre, *Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss* is unfortunately not it.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a disappointing case of a game with an interesting premise being pulled under by technical problems. The investigation elements, occult mystery, and deep-sea setting all had the potential to create something memorable. Sadly, confusing mechanics and serious bugs stop the game from reaching that potential. The game-breaking glitch I encountered makes it impossible to give this a strong recommendation. Once fixes arrive, this may be worth revisiting, especially for players who enjoy slower investigation games. But in its current state, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a game I would wait on.
Of course, this won’t be an issue for everyone, and if you’ve the time to commit to the mystery we think there is something compelling about Cthulhu: Cosmic Abyss. A game that isn’t afraid to let players muddle through it on their own is an idea to be lauded, and here there is a core mystery that will provide a compelling enough reason to continue if you can get into the rhythm of the puzzling.
Despite a minor hiccup with a save issue, the overall polish and responsiveness from the developers leave a strong impression. For players who enjoy narrative- driven investigations with psychological depth, this is a journey well worth taking.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss has a lot to offer for those looking for an immersive, narrative-driven horror thriller. Its gameplay doesn’t demand quick reflexes or wanton destruction, but rather deduction skills and attention to detail. I don’t see everyone being a fan of this title, but for those who are really big into Lovecraft, this is probably exactly what you would want from a game tackling the mythos, one that is all about questions and the unfortunate answers that go with them.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a game built on strong ideas rather than flawless execution. Its puzzle systems and investigative mechanics all show that it wants to make Lovecraftian stories more modern by letting us interact with them and explore them using logic. When everything works, it has a satisfying loop of finding things out and making sense of the world that feels like it was made with love by Big Bad Wolf.
The investigation side of Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is interesting and engaging, with making the player look around the environments thoroughly. Also, offering two paths per section adds great reason to do another go around. It was a shame I couldn’t finish the game due to chapter five becoming a major headache of problems. Some of these were items that spawned back in areas upon reloading the game. Not being able to move further due to damage, and lastly, placing key items in the correct places and not yielding any results. My computer also suffered hard frame drops when doing a sonar pulse in chapter 5. To the point, I would have to wait a few minutes for things to settle, even when my character was standing still. For the story so far, I wouldn’t say the story is all that interesting and kinda feels told around chapter 3, which makes playing later chapters a bit of a slog. So as the game is, I will be giving Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, the Thumb Culture Silver Award. It was okay, just not overly filling they Lovecraftian theme for me.
NACON and Big Bad Wolf bring us a new story based on this cosmic character created by H.P. Lovecraft.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Rather than delivering a consistently smooth experience, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a game that thrives in its investigation systems, atmosphere, and environmental storytelling. At its best, the game makes you feel like you’re actively reconstructing events rather than simply progressing through them. However, the experience is held back by uneven pacing and occasional controller mishaps. The result is a strong but imperfect experience that resonates more as a standout concept than a fully polished execution.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss was an enjoyable experience that will click with some but won’t be for everyone. The atmosphere of the game and the puzzle-solving really clicked with me. Parts of the game require some brainpower to get around, but that is the most engaging part. From a horror perspective, it’s quite tame, so if you’re looking for jump scare action, this might not be your jam. If you’re looking for tense, eerie and an uneasy time with great dialogue, clever puzzles and decent storytelling, then it’s worth a buy. You can pick up a copy for Xbox Series X/S HERE.
Without resorting solely to superficial mythological elements, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss does a decent job of structuring its experience around investigative gameplay while also exploring the thematic dichotomy between a logical approach to often illogical cosmic events. While this may not be particularly original within the genre, finding such a consistent execution is still far from common.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review