End of Abyss Reviews
End of Abyss is an experience for horror game fans who value exploration and discovery. The mix of survival horror with Metroidvania elements allows the facility to play an important role in the adventure, while the art direction and creature design help build a dark atmosphere.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
For all its ups and downs, End of Abyss rewards patient players willing to push through the laborious exploration and combat to enjoy the excellent visuals—immersing themselves in darkness punctuated by beautiful nuances of light. It isn't necessarily a high-difficulty title, but the complex map makes navigation challenging, and the combat is more exhausting than punishing. As such, it is recommended for dedicated fans of survival horror and Metroidvanias, as well as those drawn to the prospect of exploring the decaying remains of a massive, mysterious underground facility.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
End of Abyss is an atmospheric and unsettling sci-fi adventure that excels through exploration, environmental mystery, and a compelling sense of discovery.
End of Abyss is an adventure that is both difficult and satisfying, combining stunning graphics with some rather unpleasant visuals and offering a carefully designed exploration facility.
It’s hard not to be frustrated with End of Abyss because of how it constantly gets in its own way.
Though most expect it to be endless, the end of End of Abyss is its best part, and the journey to get there is a rough one to start. Though it gets better and more fun as players progress, it will take all of their patience to get past the initial onslaught of RE-style resource scarcities, twin-stick controls amid 3D isometric views, and repetitive encounters. It’s a fun game with some of the best vibes I’ve ever seen among Metroidvanias, even if barely a word is ever spoken through its moderately long run; but as an overall experience? Definitely a destination over the journey type of deal.
End of Abyss is a partially missed opportunity. Section 9 successfully captures Tarsier’s artistic legacy with a captivating world and atmospheric horror, but the gameplay falls short. Poorly balanced difficulty, bullet-sponge enemies, and tedious backtracking drag down the experience. While these flaws hold it back from greatness, its strong identity makes it a journey worth taking for those willing to compromise.
Review in Italian | Read full review
In End of Abyss, you get a convincing sci-fi horror world, a substantial exploration structure, useful upgrades, optional areas, and combat that becomes more manageable as Cel grows stronger. You also get unreliable map data, repeated enemy encounters, uneven boss difficulty, and technical issues that can disrupt progression.
End of Abyss tries to balance a lot, from sci-fi survival horror with souls-like metroidvania exploration. But it buckles under its own weight.
There’s a wonderful ‘vibe’ that just clicks for me that I really gelled with, even if a few technical hiccups kept getting in the way of my overall enjoyment. If you’re a fan of atmospheric exploration and survival horror-inspired Metroidvanias, End of Abyss is worth venturing into the dark for.
Overall, I enjoyed the nearly 13 hours it took to reach the first ending of End of Abyss. However, those hours were marred by glitches: trophies failing to unlock (including the normal ending and final boss achievements), doors locking me out of resources needed for upgrades, and more. The game clearly needs more polish. After a few updates, End of Abyss will be a fantastic experience that definitely deserves your attention.
Metroid, but more specifically Super Metroid captured the perfect harmony of isolation, exploration, platforming, combat and atmosphere. Although I can’t go back in time to experience generational games like this again for the first time, I can play End of Abyss, which is the closest that any game has come to encapsulating everything that made those experiences special, but in it’s own unique and twisted way. Even though there's some minor flaws and fails to fully realize some of its ideas, there's still plenty to love about this 3D sci-fi, horror metroidvania. It’s not the next Metroid, it’s the first End of Abyss and that’s exciting.
End of Abyss is an interesting game, with a good central idea and enough personality to find its audience, especially among players who enjoy exploration, resource management, and experiences that aren't afraid of a challenge. I just don't recommend starting a session after a heavy lunch on a workday. The abyss has no regard for the salaried worker.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review