Phantom Abyss is a first-person roguelike in which you explore randomly generated temples filled with traps and unfathomable chasms. The protagonist, who wields a whip, is quick and nimble, but not overly violent: Their duty is to recover precious artifacts, and there is no combat in Phantom Abyss as far as I can determine. The whip can be used as a grappling hook or to activate switches, however, it will not be utilized to slaughter bats. It has a tone halfway between Spelunky and Indiana Jones, with a hint of Fall Guys in its obstacle course-style advancement.
In a charming touch, you’ll be joined by the ghosts of up to 20 other players through each run, who you may either ignore or follow—doing the latter may help you escape a concealed trap or take you to an upgrade you would have missed otherwise. It acts similarly to the ghosts in Dark Souls games, however, you’ll be able to hunt Phantom Abyss’s ghosts from the start of the run until they die.
The farther you go within the temple, the bigger the prizes. There are many unlockable whips to earn, as well as some interesting-sounding traversal abilities: double jump, an Apex Legends-style prolonged slide, and a gliding jump, among others. In other words, it’s a roguelike, but what distinguishes Phantom Abyss, as far as I can tell from watching a stream, is its first-person platforming, which is moreish fluid—think Titanfall 2 meets Mirror’s Edge.
Phantom Abyss is being developed by Team Wiby in Brisbane and will be distributed by Devolver Digital. It will be available in Early Access sometime next month, where it will remain for “at least a year” as the game is updated with additional chambers, traps, whips, and zones, among other things.
