The Sargosian Abyss Reviews

Great game. Enemies change up enough to keep things interesting and unlocking all the different character abilities was a lot of fun. More variety in the item stats would be nice but the game is short enough that the drops still feel rewarding. The little lore booklets and shrines you find throughout the dungeon are a nice touch.

Really liked this turn based combat game. It hooked me more than the other game from this developer (Battle for Esturia). Graphics are somewhat simple but I think they match well with the old school nostalgia is going for. I'm from that era so I'm perfectly fine with them, and I think it's beneficial to the genre, as everything is clear and uncluttered. It took me a few rounds to grasp a bit how things work. I'd say that the very beginning of a run is the hardest (so far), as it can be very punishing. Once you start using items and leveling, things get smoother. A few suggestions: - I personally prefer to know in advance what I can expect from an item or a weapon. That way I can properly plan attacks, combos and contingency actions. At the moment, I don't know the range of damage an attack can do. - Likewise, it'd be nice to know the enemies' ranges (both the walking distance AND the attack range), so I can stay away from both melee and ranged distances if I wish to. - For a somewhat punishing roguelike game, the economy so far seems a bit lenient. I have way more money than I can spend so far. Coin reward should probably be reduced, or item prices should be higher, or more powerful (and expensive) items available at shops. Or a combination of them all. - It'd be nice to ALSO equip the other way around: select an item, and see how that item would affect each character (instead of having to go inside each character menu). That'd save me some time and would definitely appreciate it.

Greate Game. Many tactical options. Simple, but complex as well. Inventory management just a little too uncomfortable. Love it. Want more!

After ranting about Battle for Esturia for so long (it's awesome) I finally got a chance to play Sargosian Abyss. It cuts the story and exploration out, opting for a pure combat experience. Could use a little more level variety and QoL but the combat's very polished. Sargosian Abyss is a tough "arcade-style"TBT. 10 levels but plenty of potential character and party builds to experiment with & proc-gen levels for loads of replayability. Challenging retro fun. For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/

- I made a run or two and I must warn you the game is very challenging; - Difficult to say the game is balanced, feels like a heavily RNG biased, for good or bad; - Dev is very responsive to feedbacks on the forum board, kudos for that! - Plays nice on Linux. Overall, giving it a thumbs up because I had fun, most of the time. It doesn't treat Party "fairly", but that's life, I guess :-)

This game is pretty fun! You might take a few attempts to really get going, but once you understand the game better, it's considerably good and fun if you enjoy games where you make your own team and go delve into a dungeon. I'd recommend this game if you want something small to play every now and then. The game is overall well balanced and made, but is overall a short/small game. You can also turn off permadeath and enable friendly fire, among other settings including adjusting the difficulty. Overall, for it's price, I think it's a nice addition to one's collection.

It's just.. super dull. All the item drops are very weak and similar to an endless degree. The shop, if you find it, sells HORRIBLE equipment, so you can't even spend that 1500+ gold (almost nothing costs more than 50). Every stage is pretty much the same. 2 locked doors and a locked boss door. Not a single variation. I suppose it was fun for a little while.. yet there's really no reason to keep playing.

This game is amazing. It has the aesthetics of an old-school Ultima game with the challenge of a well-designed Roguelike. I'd HIGHLY recommend this game.

The Sargosian Abyss is a well-crafted combination of traditional roguelike and tactical RPG with a charming old-school aesthetic and lo-fi feel. The mechanics will all feel familiar if you're into either of the aforementioned genres - assemble your party of four from a list of predetermined character classes, hit Play, and you're dropped into a small randomized dungeon and left to find your way out. Each floor is comprised of 8-10 rooms or so, with some fraction of those containing groups of monsters, which will initiate a turn-based battle. You're free to control any of your party members in whichever order you prefer, which lends itself well to formulating a tactical battle plan. You'll need it, by the way - this game is HARD. Some smart accommodations are made to minimize player frustration: - You can always effectively "undo" movement, as moving back to previous tiles doesn't cost action points - Friendly fire is disabled by default (though it can be turned on) - Revive potions are (thankfully) fairly common - Numerous grid spaces contain environmental elements which can be used for cover Even so, you'll definitely struggle for your first handful of attempts. I ended up using a party comprised largely of casters, as their ranged abilities, heals, and turning the undead seemed like a winning combination. I didn't have as much luck with the melee classes. Your mileage may vary. The mechanics are fairly simple and the game is somewhat small in scope, but it's well-designed and smartly balanced in such a way that will keep you coming back. The ability to disable permadeath is very welcome, also. I'd love to see a few changes/additions in an upcoming update: - Item descriptions of some sort on the Use screen. Yeah, I know, traditional roguelikes often don't tell the player what items do upfront, but I find that quirk to be a relic of the past. Difficulty should arise from combat mechanics, not item opaqueness - Ability to save on any screen, rather than solely after bosses - There are still a few references to the developer's previous game lingering around the UI, including the window title. These should be removed/updated I look forward to continuing this on my Steam Deck, presuming it runs well. It's right up my alley and provides some nice twists on familiar formulae. Find more reviews and recommendations on my Steam Curator page, Indie Infinitesimal: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41769714/

The Sargosian Abyss is a classic Rogue-like (turn-based RPG) with nods to modern rogue-lite conventions (fast play-style, smaller in scope). This game looks simplistic, but offers lots of content and replayability with different character classes and skills. Perfect to pick up and play for a short time, but sinks its hooks into you to return again and again. The presentation seems nostalgic and sparse at first, but oozes atmosphere in many details. A great little rogue-like RPG with interesting tactical group combat, recommended for lovers of RPG classics and Indie contemporaries alike.