So I Tried… WARRIORS: Abyss

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time around, I went with the 2025 spin-off of the Warriors franchise: WARRIORS: Abyss.

What I thought it was

I’ve played my fair share of this long-running franchise from developer Omega Force. From Warriors Orochi, licensed spin-offs such as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, to the main franchise Dynasty Warriors itself, there are plenty of games to choose from. For the majority of these titles, if you’ve played one, you’ll instantly be familiar with them all.

With that said, I assumed WARRIORS: Abyss would be more of the same, albeit from an isometric perspective. If you’ve never played any Warriors titles before, then they pretty much boil down to mindless hack ‘n’ slash combat set across multiple levels, with a large roster of playable characters. They’re fun, simple games that don’t take much thought, and are great for when you want to get a short gaming session in.

But, was I on the money in assuming WARRIORS: Abyss would be basically the same as the majority of the series?

What it actually is

Okay, so what I thought it was wasn’t exactly right. If I’m making excuses for myself, then yeah, it’s got plenty of hacking and slashing, a large roster of characters, and a seemingly uninteresting story (at least, so far), but it’s much more than a typical Warriors title. The most obvious difference being… it’s a roguelike!

Now, it still feels like a Musou title, with simple combos, special attacks, and hordes of mindless bad guys, but the added roguelike elements give it a new lease on life. Each run sees you taking on waves of enemies across several floors, with upgrades and new recruitable warriors awarded between each completed stage. Levelling up during a run also grants you new abilities, which in turn give you both temporary boosts as well as permanent boosts to that particular character as their cumulative level increases once a run is complete.

It’s a fun time, and not too demanding in terms of complexity. Although I only had a quick half an hour of playtime, I definitely got the feeling that this would become an “oh, just one more run!” type of roguelike. Which, let’s face it, is the best kind! Unless it’s late and you have work in the morning…

Will I keep playing

Absolutely! I’m currently only playing a handful of games I can jump into for a quick session or do some daily challenges (BALL x PIT, Madden 26, skate., etc.), so WARRIORS: Abyss will fit in quite nicely! Having only played 30 minutes thus far, I have no idea how long it will last, or if it’ll even keep me entertained for too long. But, for now, I’m quite happy to jump back in with some recognisable faces and beat up millions of grunts with spectacularly over-the-top moves!