To hell and back.
Shadow dropped during Sony’s most recent State of Play, Warriors Abyss is KOEI TECMO’s take on the Hades formula. As you fight in service of King Enma, to rid the underworld of its most notorious bad guy, you’ll summon 100 characters from the Samurai and Dynasty Warriors franchises. While it retains some of its Musou energy, its lack of objectives and non-combat content does cause the title to be overally simplistic and considerably repetitive.
Being a roguelite, you give it your all during a single run. You’ll collect currency to unlock new characters, and with 100 to toy around with, there is a lot here to unlock and progress towards. With the majority of the characters coming from Dynasty Warriors 8 and Samurai Warriors 4 DX, there are plenty more from many eras of the franchise, at least from games that didn’t use a more realistic art style. And thankfully, despite the wealth of characters here, each and every one feels unique, despite a few shared combos between a select few.
Each character will also have their own stats, from speed to defense, health and toughness. I opted for Kenshin Uesugi from Samurai Warriors as his toughness was considerably higher than most characters I had unlocked. I also enjoyed using Zhurong from Dynasty Warriors and especially Lu Bu, who I got to know in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Each of their combo attacks were screen clearing in most cases, making them very effective.
Throughout each run, you’ll collect additional characters that you’ve unlocked to form an alliance with. This adds to your overall battle level. Like most roguelites, and other games in general, you want the numbers to go up as much as possible. While you’ll have the choice between three characters to form said alliance with, you’ll always want to go with the one that has the highest number, which can cause this system to offer you the illusion of choice. Sure, there are benefits to picking certain characters despite the number, but given how challenging the last two areas can be, you want to be as strong as you can be to even survive.
You can collect six characters to create an alliance, with additional characters sitting on the bench but still contributing to your battle level. These six can be brought out in combat by executing a combo when their tile is lit up. Press X to start a combo and then Y to activate that characters when your combo finishes. You can also press RT once their meter is full to bring all of them out to attack. This is usually best reserved for bosses, given you have to break their shield before you can even attack their health bar. While the bosses are fairly ok in their attacks, I never found their designs to be that great.
Enemies, and boss, each attack with AOE’s that are telegraphed by purple circles. You’ll want to dash out of them and then bring the attack to your foe. Later on, especially in the last two areas, these AOE’s get out of control and the screen becomes a mess of barely seeing what is going on. Honestly, it’s the only aspect of the game to really be annoying. Given the screen is also filled with hundreds of enemies, with a half dozen all performing these AOE circles or lines, all focused on you, it all becomes a bit too much.
Your alliances can also be quipped to different formations, which provides various bonus stats depending on the formation used and what slots they occupy. These have both active and passive traits which allows for a small amount of build making. However, you have to unlock the formations within the run, so you don’t quite get a high level of freedom until you visit the cauldron and spend currency to unlock them.
Each run has you defeating a set number of enemies. Some levels will have a mission, but it usually is built around defeating a special enemy type. At the end of the level you’ll recruit a new ally, or add to your health with peach trees, or other rewards that can boost your battle level, such as bonus items you’ll find constantly throughout your run. You’ll then open up three destinations that will show you their rewards. Some will lead to locations with currency as a reward, the cauldron to purchase items and new recruits, or simply the ability to recruit a new ally freely. It’s similar to Hades where you’ll know what you’re getting at the end.
The story is rather simple. You are recruited and plucked from your respective games and encounter Enma, the king of hell. You are tasked with defeating their nemesis, who they are responsible for banishing to the underworld. However, as they have gained enough power to possibly escape, you are charged with stopping their rise to power. You can make dialogue choices, but they ultimately lead to very similar outcomes. While there are a few moments of some strong storytelling, the narrative itself is paper-thin and rarely engaging.
Upon a completed run, you unlock the ability to make each additional run considerably harder by increasing the traversal level. This is a difficulty modifier that gives enemies extra attacks and makes recruiting much harder. However, for your trouble, you can earn karma embers much faster, which is the currency you use to unlock new characters. And since each character’s unique weapon costs 50,000 embers, you’ll certainly want to invest in this post-game mode to unlock them. That said, you can find unique weapons in chests, but it is rare and also random, possibly unlocking a weapon for a character you don’t use.
Warriors Abyss may be an asset reuse from the history of their respective franchises, but it takes those assets and builds a rather enjoyable roguelite around them. Yes, it is pretty repetitive as it doesn’t have the non-combat moments that made Hades so memorable, and the story itself is very basic, but the gameplay is what helps this title shine. With its low cost of entry and a massive cast of 100 characters, there is a lot to dive into, and is one hell of a time.
Developer - Koei Tecmo Games.
Publisher - Koei Tecmo Games. Released - February 13th, 2025. Available On - Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC. Rated - (T) - Violence, Blood, Mild Suggestive Scenes, Alcohol Reference. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X/S. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.