Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness Review

Based off the series Made in Abyss!

Developed By:
Chime Corporation
Published By:
Spike Chunsoft
Genre
Action RPG
Consoles
Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Steam
Release Date
September 2, 2022
Our Score
2.5
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Knowing absolutely nothing about the Made in Abyss series, I was a little intrigued by the deceivingly cute game and name. We were gifted a key for the PS4 version of Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness by the folks over at Spike Chunsoft, so let’s check it out!

Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness is developed by Chime Corporation, who worked Re: ZERO Starting Life in Another World and is published by Spike Chunsoft, known for the AI: The Somnium Files and Danganronpa series.

Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness is two games in one, players start with Hello Abyss which basically has the players playing with Riko and Reg,  basically starting from episode one from season one of the anime. Players can also play Deep into the Abyss that begins with a completely new character to the series and to the Abyss. This mode is a new and original story to the series.

However, there is a limitation; you must play Hello Abyss before you’re able to access Deep into the Abyss. Even with this limitation, Hello Abyss is a good starting point for those who have never seen or heard of Made in Abyss anime or manga. It’s a good tutorial to get players familiar with controls, mechanics, and what to expect from the game.

Hello Abyss can be compared to a long tutorial as it explores the story of Riko and Reg and their descent into the Abyss. You through the eyes of Riko learn about the gruesomeness of the Abyss and its curse, the dangers of the wildlife, and of course death. Despite its cutesy and seemingly innocent look, you can definitely be eaten, fall off cliffs, ledges, experience starvation or even worse: submit to the curse of the Abyss. It’s not pretty.

Putting it simply, Made in Abyss is comparable to being a dungeon crawler – the dungeon being the vastness of the Abyss. You go on explorations, find relics, forage for food, and continue on through the stage without slipping off a cliff or being eaten. However, the controls and paying attention to your descent into the Abyss is super important to survive. You need to make sure you bring enough food, forage for ingredients, and have the supplies that will help you to descend deeper into the abyss, and most importantly so that don’t succumb to the curse of the Abyss.

While exploring you need to keep an eye on a few things, first being your hunger level. To put it simply you can starve and you don’t want that. Second is your stamina bar. This covers the main character’s running and the ability to swing their weapon to protect themselves from the wild. Third, you need to watch your inventory space, there’s tons of things to collect in during the descent but the main character being as small as they are can only carry so much. Too much weight will cause them to slow down and be vulnerable to whatever is lurking or the curse of the abyss.

Lastly, you also need to pay attention to how far in the Abyss you are since the further you dive into the Abyss the worse the curse will affect you. There are varying levels of what the Curse of the Abyss can and will do to you. Some of the effects may be an inconvenience like vomiting while others may render you completely vulnerable like being paralyzed. Some of these affects don’t last for too long but it’s important to make sure that you’re not scaling a wall or descending down a wall when the effects hit you.

 

All of the skills you learn in Hello Abyss is transferrable into Deep in the Abyss. The game play is nearly the same with the only difference being the story itself. With everything being said, Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness was definitely not my favorite. I was already aware that there was an anime and manga of Made in Abyss but it never interested enough to check it out. Even after playing Made in Abyss, I was still not interested in continuing by watching or reading it.

The story of Hello Abyss was lackluster and there there was nothing that gave me a reason as to why I should be rooting for or caring about the main characters. Also, the fact that you have to play Hello Abyss in order to play Deep in Abyss is also a big turn off for me personally. There are also some issues with the game itself that I noticed. First, there are audio balancing issues with the voice acting with some voices being louder, sharper, echoing more than others. There are also some issues with textures not loading in, but I believe that can be corrected via an update for the game.

Personally, this game isn’t for me. However, I do want to point out that if you are a fan of Made in Abyss, enjoy dungeon crawling, item gathering, and you have an open mind I would recommend that you research a bit more into the game. If you want to still purchase it I would recommend picking this game up on sale.

Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness Review
Hit series anime but lackluster story
Hit series anime but lackluster game with a new story locked behind the original anime story.
Pros
Music composition
Cons
Lackluster story
Audio balancing issues
Deep in the Abyss locked behind Hello Abyss
2.5
Score