Abyssal (2024)

I follow some University publisher pages and DigiPen is one of them. However, for this particular project, I could barely stand about 20 minutes for this game. The UI, story telling, character introductions is straight up bad. The design and music is somewhat okay so thumbs up for designers but gameplay and mechanics and the buggy mess of UI makes this unplayable sorry.

There's such a weird lack of responsiveness when clicking to target abilities and continuing through the tutorial dialogue. Why does it fade out like that instead of just letting me play? Why does YOUR TURN fade in and out of the screen for so long? The camera appears to be bound to the playable area so I can't look ahead if I have to navigate the camera through a narrow passage. I don't understand how a school specifically teaching game design apparently has no UX instruction?

6/10 TBS with a minions party TLDR: it's a nice student project with good visuals and audio. Yet the lack of QoL features and the clumsy controls make it hard to play Good: + free + nice, even if low-poly models. Nice looks overall + thematic music So-so: +/- can't rotate the camera or zoom in/out. So it's unclear why this game even have to be 3D if the view is fixed Bad: - the cursor has an additional picture above it showing the currently selected ability. It's confusing and often makes you click below the objects you wanted to click because you can't exactly see the hotspot of the cursor. The extra picture should have been shown maybe on the right of the cursor, not above it - hard to see HP of the characters - can't see how far enemies can move, what abilities they have, or their attack range. Also, tiles on the ground are only visible within your movement or attack range. So, you can't really plan ahead and take into account the "danger zone" of enemies - no numbers in tooltips of abilities. What amount of dmg a spell does? How much healing heals? It's not really a strategy game if there are no numbers [table][tr][th][i]I'm a Steam curator, you can [url=https://store.stea…

Solid, the game is short but the atmosphere and ideas are cool. Good job ! :D

UI sucks and just looks terrible. No 1080p and up options in a game made in 2024. press space to continue, but space doesnt work half the time. No sound effects hardly. Killing enemies is delayed and feels terrible with no sound effects. death is delayed making you think your okay and then a laggy game over screen pops up. music repeats. dont waste your time on this garbage.

I usually go into free student games expecting a buggy mess or a half-finished tech demo, but Abyssal actually feels like a complete, thought-out experience. It’s a turn-based tactical RPG that leans heavy into that dark, Eldritch "monks and monsters" vibe, and it honestly hits harder than some paid indie titles. Why it’s actually worth the download: - The Story is Solid: You play as Archivald, a monk coming back to settle a blood feud with his brother, Alaric. It’s a classic revenge plot, but the way it’s tied into this infested, rotting city makes it feel way more intense. - Combat with Consequences: It’s isometric and turn-based, but you aren't just spamming attacks. The mechanic of using magic and minions to fight your way through actually requires some brain power. If you like the tactical positioning of games like XCOM or Divinity, you’ll feel right at home here. - The "Free" Factor: It’s under 700MB and costs zero dollars. In an era of $70 games filled with microtransactions, playing a tight, focused story made by students who clearly love the genre is a breath of fresh air. - Killer Atmosphere: The creature designs are genuinely creepy, and the environments look great for …