Until there's a significant technological revolution in the way we interact with or play games, innovation will mostly take the form of deft blending of well-known genres and inspirations. Phantom Abyss is one of those games where the individual components don't do much on their own, but when put together, they have a military effect equivalent to a force multiplier.

In terms of terminology, "first person platforming with asynchronous multiplayer," "procedurally generated tomb-raiding game with persistent unlockables," and "roguelite" are definitely mouthfull. As an unnamed adventurer trying to plunder a Mesoamerican temple, you get cursed yourself. You're trapped in a kind of pocket realm with a local god, and you can only follow their orders. It says to gather temple idols for our mutual escape. Excellent.

In an attempt to reach the bottom where the freeing relic is hidden, you set out on said collecting, racing past temples rigged with traps and hostile magical guards. Ghosts of gamers who tried the identical temple layout before you and died at some point accompany you on most runs. They make excellent recommendations to follow, so instead of competing with them, take note of what they are doing well and, more importantly, what they are not doing. Every run is created procedurally from many pieces extracted from the circular device that resembles a mechanical representation of the Mayan long count calendar. Though combinations are almost endless, the player who successfully completes a temple layout will always be tied to that particular layout as it will be permanently removed from the pool of possibilities.

The competitive players—likely the same ones who have been streaming for years—were the ones who informed the general design. Spelunky runs that seem unreproducible for the typical person. Phantom Abyss demands a considerable deal of talent, but with constant practice, you should be able to become rather proficient very quickly. Remember that this is an early access title, meaning there is still a lot more fine-tuning, more dangers and traps to be included, and more metaphorical curveballs to be thrown at the player. Thus, there's a good chance that the difficulty will rise.

The main game itself is a blast, even if it's still restricted in scope and features. You'll go through the sacred corridors that you attempted to plunder and failed at, using the whip, sliding, and jumping like Indiana Jones while being always aware of your perilous surroundings. In addition to setting off a few traps, Whip lets you Tarzan across platforms, which is even more useful. Although you can't whip opponents into submission right now, the rest of the usefulness is similar to the much-maligned but excellent roguelike City of Brass from a few years ago.

Speaking of adversaries, you'll summon one of the few resident magical guards after you finish the first level of any temple layout, and they'll start chasing you right away. They assault you with poison balls, flaming lasers, or other lethal weapons. They appear as enormous, floating Tiki masks, massive levitating eyeballs, or something similarly terrifying. Their assaults get more frequent as each level is finished, making it more urgent to move quickly enough to overtake them and obstruct their line of sight. The whole experience sometimes seems like a sophisticated version of Temple Run, one of the earliest mobile endless running games, because of the constant sensation of peril. Guardians are unforgiving and can only be outran at this time; they cannot be beaten.

If you have the money, you may also upgrade your powers. Your god friend will offer to bless you for finding extra gold coins in chests at the conclusion of each temple section: 150 gold for the first box, and 50 more for each one after that. Numerous and sometimes transformative blessings include double-jumping, reducing fall damage, and extending the reach of the whip. You have three lives at first, so if you're short on life, you may refill them rather than accepting the gift. One of the alternate whips, which may both enhance and debuff, will become available to you if you are able to get one of the lesser idols. For instance, it may improve your speed or range, but it will also cause harm if it comes into contact with any body of water. A number of keys that unlock hidden passageways and chambers will also be given to you, albeit the majority of them are currently in the placeholder stage.

Phantom Abyss is designed to be visually quick and compatible with the widest range of PC configurations. Nothing flashy or elaborate is there since the design is focused on simplicity, functionality, and performance. Naturally, things may alter if developers choose to demand more accuracy in the future.

The creators said Phantom Abyss will be in early access for around a year more. That gives you plenty of time to create the extra flavor that the expansive temple halls are now lacking. However, the game can be a lot of fun even at this early stage, and I think its potential will only grow. Overcomplexity should be avoided since it has ruined a lot of prospective games that were excellent in their most basic forms.