Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss Review – Clever, Varied, and Propulsive

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Okay, so when I first saw The Cosmic Abyss, I totally thought it was going to be just another scary survival horror game with a Lovecraftian vibe – you know, creepy monsters and trying not to lose your mind? The art style and even the title really made me think that’s where it was going. But honestly, Big Bad Wolf totally surprised me! They used that familiar, spooky setting as a way to build something completely different – a really clever and interesting puzzle game. It’s not what I expected at all, but in a good way!

The game weaves a captivating story around a strange mystery, challenging players with complex puzzles that can be solved in multiple ways. It doesn’t offer much guidance, pushing you to figure things out on your own as the challenges grow harder. Just like its unsettling atmosphere suggests, The Cosmic Abyss hides deeper secrets beneath its mysterious surface.

“Where The Cosmic Abyss differs from many of its counterparts, though, is in its lack of combat.”

Okay, so I’m playing this game, The Cosmic Abyss, and I’m Noah, a deep-sea investigator. Basically, a bunch of miners went missing during an expedition, and I’m sent to find them. It’s a solo mission, thankfully I have this AI buddy named Key helping me out. But things get weird fast. I ended up going through some kind of portal and now I’m stuck in this totally bizarre new world. Now I’m trying to figure out what this place even is while also trying to find a way back home. It’s pretty intense!

Sending the protagonist on this solitary journey might seem strange, but it perfectly establishes the game’s unsettling and isolated atmosphere. As you play, fitting for a Lovecraftian horror game, you start discovering evidence of intelligent alien races and frightening supernatural creatures.

What sets The Cosmic Abyss apart is its focus on puzzles rather than combat. Though a monster can occasionally cause your demise, the game is primarily a linear series of complex, self-contained puzzles—seven in total. These puzzles are cleverly designed to encourage exploration and understanding of the game’s mechanics without being frustratingly difficult.

I’m definitely getting some serious System Shock vibes from how I explore this game – it really throws you in and expects you to figure things out yourself. One puzzle really stood out: I needed to open a portal across a huge pool of water, but couldn’t just walk around it. I had to learn a whole sacrificial ritual – translating the instructions, finding these cool crowns hidden in the bloody water, and then arranging them correctly to actually do the ritual. A lot of the puzzles feel familiar in a good way, but everything is drenched in this creepy, beautiful atmosphere. The level design is so smart – I keep finding new clues even in places I thought I’d already searched thoroughly, which is awesome.

The game uses a sonar-like ability to help you find things. It works by matching the frequency of an object to locate others made of the same material. Importantly, the game doesn’t automatically point out everything you need. For instance, the crowns are all made of Bones, so you can only find the rest of them after discovering the first one.

And if I’m really stuck, the AI buddy can even give me up to three extra hints to help me out – which is awesome!

I really like how this game gently nudges you to try new things when you hit a wall. Sometimes, though, it can get a little confusing – you’re not always sure if you even have the right tools to solve the puzzle. The puzzles themselves get more interesting and challenging as you go on. One had me figuring out how to deal with this huge, crazy monster, either by destroying it or finding a way around. Later on, the puzzles really make you think about the world and the characters – you have to understand them to progress.

These puzzles can become quite difficult as you progress, but the game includes many helpful accessibility features to assist you. As you uncover new information, it’s recorded on a ‘Mental Map’ where you can organize clues, highlight important details with colors, and even answer deduction questions. Solving these questions with the right clues provides additional hints to help you solve the larger mystery.

This system can be a bit tricky, particularly if you figure out a puzzle on your own but aren’t sure which clue led you to the answer. However, for complex puzzles with lots of details, the Mental Map feature is really useful for keeping everything organized. It’s especially helpful if you’ve been playing for a while or want to avoid rereading old notes.

The game also lets you ask your AI helper for up to three hints when you get stuck. These hints range from straightforward answers to more subtle guidance. It’s a nice feature because it offers assistance when you need it, without spoiling the puzzle completely.

This game features puzzles designed to be replayable, even if you know the answers. To achieve this, most puzzles have two different solutions. Each solution affects Noah, the main character, through a system called ‘Corruption.’ One solution is usually simpler but increases his Corruption level, while the other is more challenging but either lowers or doesn’t change his Corruption.

I was really impressed by how the game handled the sacrificial ritual puzzle. You can actually go through with the sacrifice, which increases Noah’s Corruption, and open the portal that way. But, and this is cool, there’s a totally different way – you can open it using an underground electrical system! Even though both options solve the same problem, they feel completely separate, and it’s awesome how much freedom the game gives you in tackling each chapter. It really lets you play how you want.

In The Cosmic Abyss, the game’s choices directly impact the story, framing corruption as a natural progression of your moral compass. The narrative unfolds through interwoven chapters and cutscenes, drawing you deeper into the game’s world as you learn more about both the miners and yourself. While the initial questions about the miners’ motives hint at themes of corporate greed, the story ultimately feels like a familiar, though somewhat tame, Lovecraftian tale, hitting many expected story beats for that genre.

The game offers plenty of different experiences, so it doesn’t feel repetitive, and having choices within each section means you can play it again and again.

The acting is adequate, though a bit unnatural at times. However, the script is often weak in how it presents information. It’s unclear whether the writers assume the audience is familiar with the story’s background, leading to moments where characters either over-explain things or jump into conversations without any context.

The conversations can feel a bit awkward at times, making the game feel more like a series of beautiful locations than a story with big surprises. How corrupt you become during the game significantly changes the ending you receive, with multiple possible conclusions. This, along with different puzzles to solve, gives you a good reason to replay the roughly 10-to-12 hour campaign.

The game struggles with technical issues, especially at the beginning. While the environments look great and are full of things to explore, this often causes performance problems. I frequently encountered a bug that seemed to cause the game to slow down and eventually crash, particularly when using the in-game Mental Map. It’s disappointing, because when the game does run smoothly, it’s very fast and loads quickly. Thankfully, the frequent saving meant I didn’t lose much progress, but the crashes still disrupted the experience.

Despite being set in a familiar Lovecraftian world, The Cosmic Abyss stands out thanks to its clever and detailed puzzles. The game’s unsettling atmosphere perfectly complements your exploration as you unravel increasingly difficult mysteries. You’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment as you discover new clues and piece together the truth.

The Cosmic Abyss is a smart, diverse, and fast-paced game. While its story isn’t entirely original, the inventive puzzle design makes it a worthwhile experience, even if you’ve played similar games before.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

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2026-04-17 18:13