What Spirits Abyss is
Spirits Abyss is a roguelite platformer with destructible terrain, in the Spelunky-like vein. You get cast into the Mountainous Abysm and dig through randomly generated depths, fighting phantasmic meanies across diverse spookful biomes, meeting curious compadres, and grabbing useful items and treasures on the way. The goal is to find a way back home past the Guardian of the Undying Gate, and the store text hints that something may nestle beyond the realmic veil of death. Runs are built from 15 different regions, 10 of which unlock as you go, each with its own enemies, hazards, oddities and challenges, plus sub-stages and special rooms so no two trips through the Abyss play out the same.
Playing it with friends
Two players can share the same screen in co-op, and it works across all game modes. Remote Play Together is supported, so a friend can join over the internet as if they were sitting next to you. Beyond co-op runs, there are online seeded runs where you compete against the Abysm community, an arena survival mode, and special trials. Most game modes have their own online Steam leaderboards, with separate leaderboards per Clan, so you can chase a high score or a speedrun time together and see who comes out ahead.
Before you start
Pick one of 9 Clans, 7 of which are unlockable. Each Clan has its own weapon, fighting style and upgrade path, and Clan choice matters for leaderboards too. Expect a steep challenge: the game carries Difficult, Perma Death and Precision Platformer tags, so runs end and you start over. Along the way you will find over 100 items, from passive boosts to equipable gear, weapons and weird artifacts, and you can unlock hats and skin or clothes colour customisations. There are 8 game modes to master and unlock, including a strategic collectable card battling game and a free play mode where gold you loot buys niceties for future runs. A controller is supported alongside keyboard play.