Absolver Review — IGN
AbsolverAbsolver: Downfall
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By Leif Johnson
Updated: Jun 25, 2022 8:03 am
Posted: Aug 29, 2017 1:00 pm
The second I traded blows with Jinn Mesca, so-called Prime Disciple of the Golden Bottle, I knew I wanted to be like him. Absolver’s «drunken master» warded off my blows and landed his own while swaying like a man fresh off a bender, punching me lightly even when I thought I’d successfully dodged. I returned to Jinn several times at his perch beneath a large tree until I’d learned all his moves and, in time, could beat him at his own game. I became the drunken master, and if Jinn had been a player instead of an NPC, I know I could have taught him a few moves myself. This master/apprentice relationship makes each fight in this action-roleplaying game a learning experience, and the idea meshes well with the surreal martial arts vibe woven throughout Absolver.
These punchy battles unfold in the lost province of Adal, a stunning landscape that’s long ago fallen into ruin, where a Babel-like tower looms over surrounding plains that look like a watercolor painting come to life. It’s not a large open world, but it’s a varied one with multiple biomes, and it’s big enough that I sometimes got lost in the absence of a minimap. It’s a little dreary at times, and that’s not just because of the ruin. Celebrated composer Austin Wintory (best known for his work on Journey) may be responsible for the music, but his powers are used all too sparingly for this saga of fisticuffs and kung fu, with the minutes between fights largely passing in eerie silence.
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As to what, exactly, you’re «absolving?” Absolver is unfortunately as unclear on that point as it is on the specifics of the fascinating calamity that befell the land. Its spartan single-player campaign, which involves unlocking some doors, beating a few instanced one-on-one bosses and assorted mini ones in the open world, never really gives you much of a hint. You know only that you’ve been selected to venture into the ruins to beat up fellow «prospects,» all of whom, like you, cover their faces with hockey-style masks that conceal emotions (and likely save some facial animation costs).
When it ends after a brief four or five hours you’re simply told to wait until you’re needed again, which sounds like the placeholder text you might see at the end of a demo.
Absolver is about the finesse of melee combat.But while it lasts, the campaign provides a training ground for Absolver’s wonderful combat. It’s so fluid and beautiful in action, punctuated by the satisfying sounds of cracks and thwaps as each blow hits its mark. If For Honor is all about the brutality of melee fighting, Absolver is about its finesse.
Nothing sets it apart from its competition as much as its customization. Absolver is the Pokemon of fighting games, relying on an addictive «gotta catch ’em all» approach to learning new moves rather than memorizing complicated finger acrobatics as you might in Street Fighter V or For Honor.
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The meta is complex, but, with some trial and error, it makes sense in action. (I had to restart a few times before I got it.) There are «classes» of a sort, in that you can choose between three out of four schools at the character creation screen.
Windfall, my initial favorite school, is about evading every time you nudge a gamepad’s left thumbstick just as a blow is about to land. Kahlt is tanky, focused on absorbing enemy attacks, while Forsaken emphasizes parrying. Stagger is the fourth, fully unlockable only by learning from «drunken master» Jinn Mesca.
While Absolver never really locks you into any of these styles, every move you pick up will complement a specific school. Windfall, for example, is all about quick jabs, while Kahlt focuses on devastating slams that crush your enemies’ stamina bars. Consider the styles the canvas on which you paint, drawing from a vivid and violent palette of moves you learn from foes.
You can learn an opponent’s individual moves by blocking them.Meet an NPC or player in combat, and you can learn their individual moves by blocking them (which causes no damage, at least from bare fists) or evading them with your style’s special defensive ability. As you do, a progress bar for learning a move creeps up until you unlock it.
The system rewards skill, but also presents a risk in that you’ll lose all progress toward a move learned during a fight if you’re defeated.
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Once unlocked, you can arrange these moves in a «combat deck,» as Absolver calls it, with the individual moves represented as cards of sorts. You then mix and match the moves into combat strings of up to three successive moves, with each string being paired to four separate stances based on your position in relation to your foe. Set up your deck carefully, letting one stance flow naturally in another, and you can launch into a brutal ballet where you pummel your opponent through all 12 moves by merely tapping a single button. (It’s not an automatic win – if your enemy’s competent, they’ll figure how to break through this.) Nor is that the end of it. You can still catch your opponent off guard with single alternative attacks for each stance, and you can change stances as needed with a squeeze of the right trigger. Lootable gear figures in, too, with lighter gear allowing more speed for styles like Windfall and heavy gear providing resistances for Kahlt.
Further customization comes in the form of the abilities you map to the D-pad, which let you slow down your enemies, heal, or summon weapons that break and disappear after using them for a bit.
There’s a risk to using weapons.Weapons (mainly swords and fist weapons are available at launch) require an entirely separate combat deck that activates when you pick one up or summon one with «shards» earned by taking or dodging enough hits. It’s a great system, in part because there’s a risk to using weapons. Take too many hits and you could drop your mighty sword, leaving your opponent to pick it up and slice you with it – provided they’ve got a decent weapon combat deck of their own.
There’s a good chance they won’t have one, at least in the earlier portion of Absolver’s 60 levels. In practice, unfortunately, the learn-by-blocking system slows down the fast pace implied by the martial arts aesthetic. When I tried running through Absolver speedily, living a Jackie Chan fantasy by kicking constant butt, I found myself getting crushed as I leveled when enemies started hitting me with harder skills.
So it’s best to plod along at first, learning every move you can. Against NPCs, just blocking and dodging, this takes forever. I probably sparred with Jinn Mesca for over an hour. It was dull, frankly. And swords take even more time since weapons break easily, thus severely limiting the chances you have to learn the associated moves.
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Absolver heavily encourages fighting players rather than NPCs.It doesn’t have to be this painful. Picking up new moves happens much faster when you learn them from another player, either through duels with people you encounter in the open-world zones (which are limited to three players each) or in the 1v1 arenas. Absolver thus heavily encourages fighting against players rather than NPCs, and its success likely depends on securing a dedicated player base. These are quiet alliances, though, with our masked heroes’ communications being limited by a set of emotes as in Dark Souls, a decision that nixes toxic chat but also pushes the already dreary ambience to even sadder extremes.
Make a friend, as I did, and they may be willing to teach you their moves and invite you to join their own «school,» which they can create after playing through many arena matches. Social play also makes miniboss fights in the open world more exciting, as grouped players can pick off NPCs that are accidentally pulled into the fray while trying to avoid punching each other with friendly fire.
For that matter, I’ve yet to tire of the three-round 1v1 arena matches which, especially after I’d learned many skills, feel more dynamic and unpredictable than matches in many other fighting games. I felt I was playing as a person, not a class or a build. And, of course, random fights with other players in the world are always thrilling, and the population limit so far appears to keep players from griefing excessively. I do wonder, though, how much that’ll change once Absolver gains a wider audience.
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And that’s why I wish there were more to Absolver. Its combat is fun, but it still feels like a work in progress.
The nebulous story, such as it is, ends as abruptly as a punch. I finished at level 36, well below the level cap of 60. I was first attracted to Absolver by concept art showing a fighter with a bo staff, but no such weapon currently exists in the game. You can’t even respec your attribute points, and I worry that oversight has severely handicapped my fighter as I now know – too late – which stats work best with my fighting style. Plans are allegedly in the works for a 3v3 arena, but it’s currently not available. And I’m still enduring crashes, particularly when I hop into the Matrix-like training room where you can experiment with combat decks.
The catch? I still couldn’t stop playing. Absolver is one of the most unique and satisfying fighting games I’ve played in a while, and its social aspects and personalized characters keep me coming back for more.
Absolver is a beautiful martial-arts fighting game that allows for an impressive degree of personalized play with its innovative combat deck system, which lets you learn skills from combat with other players and NPCs.
Unfortunately, it only comes with a single PvP arena mode at launch, and its fascinatingly nebulous campaign breaks off early and abruptly. It feels like an early access game with a ton of potential, but it’s not quite there yet.
In This Article
Absolver
Sloclap
Rating
ESRB: Teen
Platforms
PlayStation 4PCXbox One
Absolver Review
good
Absolver introduces a rich and personal combat system in a beautiful world that has yet to reach its potential.
Leif Johnson
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Absolver review — Polygon
Absolver is a game about martial arts, but it also follows many of the philosophies inherent to martial arts — especially the concept of focus.
Developed by Sloclap, a team composed of former Ubisoft Paris developers, Absolver has received early comparisons to recent popular action role-playing games, such as the Dark Souls series. While there’s no denying some shared DNA in Absolver, it also has a feel and a tone that are very much all its own.
That tone is, above all else, focused. Directed. Though ambitious, Absolver doesn’t let itself get caught up in trying to shove in too many details or make things too complicated. It’s about one thing — proving your hand-to-hand skills by beating up other “prospects” — and it does that one thing incredibly well.
Absolver has a feel and a tone that are very much all its own
Sloclap/Devolver Digital
There’s very little plot and almost zero dialogue in Absolver, but here’s the story as I was able to figure it out: You take on the role of a prospect by putting on a bizarre mask that transports you to another world. Once there, your job is to explore the strange ruins of this space and hunt down a number of challenging boss and miniboss encounters.
That’s pretty much it, and as with a great kung-fu flick, I didn’t find myself wanting any more. Here are your targets, go take them down, and if you do, you can fight the final boss.
It’s clean and easy to digest.
Absolver’s combat system is incredibly satisfying and strategic
The plot is just about the only thing in Absolver that’s easy, though. While it only uses two buttons for combat — a primary attack and a more powerful special attack — both of those attack types can be modified by selecting one of four stances. A primary attack in one stance might be a powerful haymaker to the face, while in another it’s a low sweep of the legs. Each attack you perform sets you into a new stance, thus helping to determine the next attack in a regular combo string.
This stance system takes some getting used to, but it’s incredibly satisfying and strategic once you learn it. Each fight in Absolver is a test of will; you’ll be severely punished if you’re impatient in your counterattacks, or if you don’t pay close attention to your opponent’s movements. Even battles against random enemies were a struggle if I didn’t take them seriously. And taking them seriously also provided opportunities to learn new moves and modify my approach between bouts.
Absolver’s complex combat system allows you to put together your own “combat deck” of strung-together moves. Your starting deck is determined by your initial choice between one of three combat styles, but you can unlock dozens more moves as you progress. You unlock these moves the same way you might learn them in real life: by watching other people perform them. The more you see (and successfully defend against) someone performing a flying kick to your face, the closer you are to being able to use that move yourself.
Sloclap/Devolver Digital
This system is a fun way to reward skillful play, but it’s also extremely grindy. There are dozens of individual kicks and punches available to learn in Absolver, but by the end of my nine hours with the game, I had only picked up a few beyond what I started with. If you really want your combat deck to feel different from anybody else’s, you’ll have to put some work into unlocking everything.
It might be worth that time just to compare and contrast with others, though, because Absolver is deeply invested in online play. As long as you’re connected to the game’s servers, each area you enter will automatically populate with other players running around the same zone. I never saw more than three or four players in an area, but even before launch there were enough people checking out the game that I ran into others regularly.
you’ll have to put in some work to unlock everything
How you choose to interact with those other players is up to you, and this is where Absolver is at its most intriguing. For example, the first real player I saw walked up to me and immediately started fighting me. They were clearly more experienced with the game, at a higher level and with better equipment; they made short work of me. Then they revived me on the spot, helping me back up before running off. It was a dizzying experience that left me unsure of what to expect from the community.
Most of my subsequent run-ins with other players were more positive. In numerous cases, I walked onto the scene of a player surrounded by three or four enemies. Rather than watch them get demolished, I was able to jump in and take out a couple of the opponents on my own. This once led to an impromptu, 20-minute co-op session where a new pal and I took on a particularly challenging mark and celebrated together before one of us died and the other moved on.
Sloclap/Devolver Digital
The most brilliant aspect of Absolver’s online functionality is that it allows for all of these experiences to take place without the need for written or spoken communication. A single button press allows you to access a quick wheel of emotes such as bowing or giving a thumbs-up, perfect for offering up thanks to someone who just helped you out with a tricky fight. That same menu allows you to invite someone to a co-op group or to a friendly sparring match. It’s elegant and feels ahead of the curve compared to similar action RPGs.
If the potential for running into aggressive players scares you off, you can play Absolver offline, but I feel like the joy of off-the-cuff co-op more than makes up for the occasional bad egg. There is one frustration I ran into a few times that seems to stem from online play, though. In a couple of instances, I approached one of the game’s “marked ones” — minibosses who hang out in certain areas — and was ambushed by multiple versions of the same enemy. A single marked one on their own is tough; when the game bugs out and throws two or three of them at you, there’s not much to do beyond accepting your inevitable death.
For those who want to stick with Absolver for the long haul, the online functionality provides plenty to do beyond the initial challenge of defeating your nonplayer character targets. Once you take out the final boss and become an absolver, you’re able to form your own school and mentor other players. This will allow less experienced players to pick up new moves faster, among other bonuses.
The game also offers combat trials — a more regulated player-versus-player mode with matchmaking. Completing trials unlocks harder versions of Absolver’s three main boss encounters, as well as the chance to earn better gear and more experience points. Sloclap has promised free updates after launch, including a three-on-three mode, the ability to spectate PvP matches and a full-on ranked mode.
Wrap-Up
Absolver knows what it wants to be and embraces that identity without distractions
Whatever gets added in the future, though, I hope that Absolver doesn’t lose its sense of focus. If the game had tried too much — if it had thrown me into more complicated duels, or forced me to use weapons more often — I don’t think I would have found it nearly as appealing. Instead, Absolver recognizes its singular goal of building a robust, satisfying martial arts combat system. It leans into those strengths, and it’s a better game for it.
Absolver was reviewed using a final “retail” downloadable Steam code provided by Devolver Digital.
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Microsoft Security Tips 956187
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Security Advisory
Increased Threat Associated with DNS Vulnerability that Could Allow Spoofing Attack
Date Published: July 25, 2008 in the DNS make spoofing possible» (953230). It contains updates designed to protect against attacks on the Windows Domain Name Service (DNS) that could allow spoofing. Microsoft has worked with other DNS service providers who have also been affected by this issue to produce this bulletin. Since the joint release of these updates, the threat to DNS systems has increased due to the widespread knowledge of attack mechanisms and the publication of detailed exploit code on the Internet.
Microsoft is not currently aware of any attacks using this code or the impact of this vulnerability on user systems. However, due to the open-source publication of conceptual code examples, the potential for such attacks is high, so Microsoft is monitoring developments to ensure that users are kept informed and advised as needed.
Investigation has shown that the exploit code does not affect the computers of users who have installed the updates described in Microsoft security bulletin MS08-037. Microsoft still recommends that you install updates for affected products by turning on Automatic Updates on your Windows system.
Microsoft has identified known issues with updates that are part of Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-037. For more information about known installation issues, see sections FAQ about this security update in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-037 and Known issues related to this security update and described in article 953230 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base .
General
Overview
Purpose of advisory Inform users of an increased threat level and recommend that they immediately install the updates described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-037.
Status of recommendations Recommendations published. Since the workaround for this issue is included in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-070, no additional updates are required.
Advisory To improve your security, review the bulletin referenced and install the appropriate update.
| Links | Definition |
|---|---|
| CERT specification | VU#800113 |
| Characteristic in CVE | CVE-2008-1447 |
| Microsoft Knowledge Base article | 953230 |
| Safety Bulletin | MS08-037 |
These recommendations apply to the following software.
| Affected software |
| Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4 |
| Windows XP SP2 or SP3 |
| Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2 |
| Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 |
| Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition SP2 |
| Windows Server 2003 SP1 for the Itanium platform and Windows Server 2003 SP2 for the Itanium platform |
| Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit systems |
| Windows Server 2008 for 64-bit systems |
FAQ
What is the scope of these recommendations?
Notify users of an elevated threat level for Microsoft DNS instances and recommend that they immediately install the update that is described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-037.
Does this security vulnerability require a release of an update by Microsoft?
No.
Systems that have the updates that are described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-037 installed are not affected by this vulnerability.
What is the cause of the threat?
The Windows DNS service on the DNS client and DNS server does not provide sufficient entropy when processing DNS requests.
What is Domain Name Service (DNS)?
The Domain Name Service (DNS) is one of the industry standard protocol suites that includes the TCP/IP protocols. The DNS service is implemented using two software components: a DNS server and a DNS client (or resolver). Both components run as background service applications. Network resources are identified by numeric IP addresses, but such addresses are difficult for network users to remember. The DNS service database contains records that map user-friendly alphanumeric names for network resources (such as www.microsoft.com) to the IP addresses that those resources use to communicate with each other. Thus, the DNS service acts as a symbolic device that allows users to easily remember the names of network resources.
For more information and logic about how DNS works with other Windows technologies, see What is DNS? (in English) on TechNet.
What is a DNS cache?
A caching DNS resolver service (DNS cache) is a service that stores responses to DNS queries. It allows you to reduce the number of similar queries sent to the DNS server. For more information, see DNS Cache (in English) and Caching DNS Resolver Service (in English) on the Technet Web site. For information about DNS cache poisoning, see Attack Detection (in English) on the TechNet Web site.
What can an attacker do with this feature?
It can insert arbitrary addresses into the DNS cache. This type of attack is called DNS cache poisoning.
Suggested action
- Microsoft recommends that users immediately install the updates that are described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-037.
Other information
Sources:
- To provide feedback, complete the form on the Microsoft Help and Support Feedback page.
- Residents of the United States and Canada can contact Microsoft Product Support Services. For more information about support options, see the Microsoft Help and Support Web site.
- Customers in other countries should contact their local Microsoft representative for support. For more information about how to contact Microsoft support for specific regions, visit the International Support website.
- The Microsoft TechNet Web site (in English) provides additional information about security features in Microsoft products.
Warranty Disclaimer
The information in this document is provided «as is» without warranty of any kind. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Under no circumstances shall Microsoft or its suppliers be liable for any damages, including indirect, incidental, direct, consequential, special damages, or loss of profits, even if Microsoft or its suppliers were advised in advance of the possibility of such damages.
