The Abyss is a confusing experience; nothing quite seems to follow any set pattern. Even though the first two full chapters (all 5 minutes of them) are on full display, it’s almost impossible to tell what the overarching narrative is. The worst possible case and the conclusion I came to in my video is that every chapter is supposed to be disconnected from the previous and taken as a single one-off experience, relying on the idea that the player’s character is in a coma and everything is deliberately supposed to be disconnected entirely.
This randomness bleeds into the character design and gameplay; with the game lacking any tropes of its own, you’ll find random segments that are extremely reminiscent of other experiences that quickly fall apart into other random segments; the entire experience feels janky and devoid of immersion. However, that doesn’t make the game “bad” really, I’m interested in playing the final product, and there may be some obscure story explanation as to why everything appears so disconnected. Still, the obvious conclusion that I came to makes me worry.
The ITCH.IO store description also requires a little touching up to make it easier to read, the random
line spacing has me on edge!?
Full video and cynicism below.