Duet Night Abyss preview - "Stylish movement, snappy gunplay"

• I got some hands-on time with Duet Night Abyss and came away thoroughly impressed
• It boasts stellar melee combat and fantastic gunplay
• The movement system is reminiscent of Digital Extremes' Warframe

Appearances are often deceiving, and while we all know the old adage of 'Never judge a book by its cover', we're all guilty of it. So when I first saw Duet Night Abyss' key art in all its anime-styled glory, I assumed we were in for another Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves. Colour me surprised then that when I got hands-on with it recently, I found it had more in common with Digital Extremes' Warframe, just with more cute or supposedly sexy but ambiguously aged anime girls. So, call it Waifu Warframe if you wish. It's an apt, if flippant, description.

Before we dive into my thoughts, however, a little housekeeping is required. Duet Night Abyss is coming to mobile. In fact, the currently underway closed beta test is playable on phones. However, so far, I've only dabbled with the PC version. So, I can't comment on how well everything works with touchscreen controls yet.

Sublime, Warframe-like movement

Great, now that's out of the way, let's talk about how brilliant the movement and combat are, where the Warframe comparisons are most appropriate. There's no need for a sprint button here because you can dash about like nobody's business, covering large distances with a simple slide into vault forward known as the Helix Leap. Throw in a double jump, an evade and the ability to scale up pretty much anything by persistently jumping at a wall, and you've made the simple act of getting around exhilarating.

Once I nailed all the timings, I became capable of practically skimming across the ground with a style and grace I could barely comprehend in real life. It's a real rush to conquer a short platforming section in one smooth string of moves. I'm quite excited to see what better players than I can do with it, frankly. And that's just pottering about. The movement also plays a role in the combat, allowing you to dance across the battlefield with ease to unleash your preferred method of dishing out damage.

There are several ways of vanquishing the numerous foes you'll face in your adventures. If you have a penchant for giant swords, scythes or whatever melee weapon you enjoy, then you can slice them up that way. Whichever you pick, it's all delivered in that delightfully over-the-top spectacle fighter manner, with acrobatic lunges and backflips accompanying most extended combos. Of course, there's a healthy dose of particle effects and other fancy animations with each slice, stab and thrust. It's needlessly showy and all the more glorious as a result.

Equally magnificent are some of the abilities at your disposal. Each character has two, with one usually costing more Sanity – Duet Night Abyss' take on energy or mana – to use while being more powerful than the other. They range from giant tentacles that rise up from the ground and clutch enemies in their slimy grasp to a big purple ball that zaps anyone foolish enough to get within range. My current obsession is Margie's Combustible Bins, which sees her throwing several explosive bins at enemies, resulting in comic book-style explosions on a grand scale, usually wiping out everything with little trouble.

Some abilities are hit-and-miss

However, you might have noted I used the word 'some' there. While a lot of the abilities look spectacular, they're a mixed bag when it comes to how satisfying they are to use. Ground tentacles and lobbing bins at foes? Great. The big purple ball? Yes, it looks awesome, and I weirdly want to bite it despite the threat of electrocution, but it merely sits there, sending out sparks. Likewise, Margie's other ability sees her whacking enemies on the dome with a shovel.

Now, while that sounds hilarious, in action, it's just not that exciting or satisfying to use. So I simply don't. And that's the thing here. This is a gacha action RPG, after all. If one character isn't doing it for you, another will certainly provide the thrills you're seeking. How much of a knock that is on the game is for you to decide. For me, so long as I find fun characters, I'm not fussed if there are a few duds here and there.

The final - and least flashy - side of the combat is the guns. On paper, that might not sound too enthralling and, in a way, it's not. The guns are not as eye-catching as any of the abilities or melee attacks, instead merely functioning as you'd expect. And yet, you know what? They're really powerful and gratifying to use, with a punchy heft found particularly in the shotgun. Likely because of my preconceptions, I expected this aspect to be fairly ineffective and more of a chip-damage tool. However, if you solely wanted to use ranged combat and forgo melee, you could do so very effectively. I often found myself gunning down enemies while waiting for my ability to toss bins to become available again. There is ammo to worry about, though it was in plentiful supply in my experience.

So, whichever way you decide to go with it, the combat is excellent. It's also deepened further by the pet system, Geniemon. These little critters float beside you in battle, providing a passive and an active ability. Mine gave me a boost to my Sanity when activated, which, in my world, translates to more explosive bins, and that's all I really want. However, there are other options based on status types and other buffs.

Summon two AI buddies as backup

You can also wade into battle with two AI companions if you're playing solo. It's a notable departure from the recent trend of having you switch between a few characters on the fly, a la Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves. While I could certainly see that being an issue for some – you don't have much control over them, after all – I actually prefer it. I'm the sort of person who likes to pick a character they enjoy and stick with that. So, having a couple of AI allies who are liberal with their ability usage is perfect for me. You can upgrade their weapons and tweak their Demon Wedges (Duet Night Abyss' build system) so they're as powerful as you are.

Now, you've probably noticed that we're over one thousand words into this preview, and all I've spoken about is the combat. Well, the reason is simple. For me, it's the entire selling point here. Whether it's story missions, Commissions (battling waves of enemies to earn upgrade materials with slightly varying rule sets), or the Maze of Missteps (a neat roguelike mode), to me, it all serves as an excuse to enjoy more of this wonderful combat and improve my characters stats so she can handle tougher enemies. Everything else is superfluous, nice-to-have or something I find myself skipping over.

There is an impressive customisation system on offer, letting you adorn your characters with various trinkets and accessories, including changing the colour of your weapons. It's a lovely inclusion, particularly for a gacha RPG, that allows you to make your characters feel more personal to you. And I'm sure many players will love it. I'm just not overly fussed.

Likewise, the story hasn't grabbed me at all. It seems like the developers have taken a few cues from Nier Automata – the opening segment even has some beautiful music reminiscent of that particular soundtrack. Everything is quite melancholic, with some humour sprinkled in here and there. Characters are ripped apart or even die, and it should be devastating. However, it misses the mark because I don't enjoy the voice acting. Most notably, the main character has this constant sadness-meets-ASMR voice that I find rather grating. I'm sure it won't bother everyone, but I skipped the dialogue after a while to get to the parts I enjoyed - Explosive bins and shotgun shells.

Aside from that, my only other concern was that a few technical hiccups marred the experience, which is expected at this early stage of development. Otherwise, Duet Night Abyss is a thrilling gacha action RPG on the combat front, and it provides a lot more depth if you're looking for it. The Demon Wedge system allows stat lovers to obsessively tinker with their builds to make them as efficient as possible, and the customisation angle is sure to be a hit with many. However, if you're like me and want to ignore all that, you'll still find plenty to enjoy here. And who knows, if you like the voice acting, maybe you'll get into the story too.