From the Abyss

Lore & Background

In From the Abyss, players control an adventurer in the land of Rubenhaut, a peace-loving country ruled by queens until a dimensional gate used to seal away evil was broken. The country's armies were unable to fight off the evil demons, and the player must seal them away once more. The game sends players into randomized dungeons of various themes, such as fire and ice, to fight monsters and collect items. A map is automatically drawn as the player progresses through each grid-based dungeon. Both single-player and co-op modes are available, though co-op does not allow story progression.

Reader's Guide

From the Abyss is significant as a Nintendo DS title that attempted to blend traditional dungeon crawling with randomized level generation, a feature that would later become more common in the genre. Its co-op mode, while limited in narrative scope, offered a multiplayer option uncommon for handheld dungeon crawlers at the time. The game received critical criticism for monotonous dungeons and a simplistic plot, reflected in its average Metacritic score of 59% from nine reviews. A sequel, Anonymous Notes – From the Abyss, was released as DSiWare chapters between 2010 and 2014, retaining the same randomly generated dungeon gameplay and allowing item interchangeability across chapters. The original game's legacy lies in its early adoption of procedural dungeon design on a handheld console and its expansion into episodic downloadable content.

Did You Know?

• The game's dungeons are randomized and can have themes such as fire and ice.
• Co-op mode is available but does not allow the player to progress the story.