Abathor

Abathor is a simple, 80s-retro side-scrolling action-platforming game that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel and is not ashamed of that. It has a distinctly Castlevania-like style which is perfect for me because I love this genre.

The game is set in Ancient Greece, leaning into the mythology, and features up to 4 players co-op (I have yet to try this out but co-op is never a bad addition). It has absolutely GORGEOUS pixel art, with smooth animations on the characters and enemies.

As for the gameplay, it’s nothing exceptional, but also nothing terrible. It’s just good, period. But what makes this title shine for me is its overall variety.

90% of the time, I played as Con- I mean, Crantor, but I also tried the other three. Each of them plays quite differently, forcing the player to switch up strategies.

- Crantor: He’s just your average Conan-like barbarian with zero originality but all the brute force you could hope for. He’s the all-around action-guy, with a powerful sword strike and  he also ended up becoming my favorite.

- Sais: She’s a Valkyrie that wields a buckler, is very defense-oriented, with a slow and tanky approach. Also she's THICCCCCCC!

- Kritias: The agile, fast character. He’s an assassin that turns into a samurai when transformed, with a screw attack that resembles Samus Aran from the Metroid series.

- Azaes: He’s a half-demon, half-human warlock with a very cool mechanic where you absorb enemies’ souls to make his attack stronger. Like Sais, he’s very slow, but he also is extremely powerful.

Fortunately the game has no DEI agenda in it. I've played and read as much lore as I could and didn't detect anything weird, plus when I asked the developers, one of them told me this:

No, we didn't have an independent consultancy.

Couldn’t be more clear than that, right?

Abathor is set to release on July 25 for Steam and consoles.