Despite acknowledging his tolerance for racism, I find myself quite enjoying the novels of H.P. Lovecraft. His depictions of existences beyond our comprehension, and how they reflect humanity’s place in the cosmos, continue to fascinate. However, I’ve always been more drawn to Lovecraft’s lesser-known stories and monsters. Cthulhu, the great, winged squid demon, is, well, almost too famous, overexposed in media to the point where it lacks any of the mystery that can evoke a sense of cosmic dread from Lovecraft’s dated horror sensibilities.
So, I approached Big Bad Wolf and Nacon’s Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss with some caution. A AA horror investigation game centered around a giant flying squid could easily fall into all the obvious traps, invoking overused tropes from Lovecraft’s work without transcending the tentacles and people screaming themselves mad at a few squiggly letters on a wall. That part is certainly present, as We see a game based on Lovecraft’s work, but in the hours I’ve played, I’ve mostly been enjoying the fresh mystery at its core.
We play as Noah, an investigator of the occult, who finds himself drawn into a case far beyond his understanding after a colleague goes missing in the abyssal depths. The game opens with a somewhat unsettling sequence set in a cabin in the woods (or a swamp, more accurately), before pushing us into an investigation tracking a derelict deep-sea mining facility in the early 2050s, aided by an AI companion who assists us in scanning the environment, connecting clues, and, if requested in the settings, solving puzzles.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss first presents itself as an investigation game, which is perhaps wise, as Lovecraftian horror isn’t necessarily about jump scares in the way that something like Resident Evil or Silent Hill is. The overall atmosphere is unsettling, particularly as you move past the opening and into the solo exploration of the abandoned facility. Something was there, and remnants of its presence remain, but even at the end of the preview build, it’s unclear what that something is, which made a greater impression than being chased by fish-people.
This methodical pace gives you time to immerse yourself in the world, get lost in the mystery, and gradually piece together clues to uncover the dark narrative underneath. The investigation mechanics are deep and take some getting used to. As you move through the environment, your eye is drawn to the floor, walls, desks, and even the ceiling, collecting clues. These initially provide some information, but you can spend valuable energy resources to analyze them for more, storing them in a secure vault – a menu that allows you to select specific substances or elements and use a radar to detect more items with similar properties. There’s also a mind map, similar to those found in Sherlock Holmes games, allowing you to link various people, locations, and artifacts. I didn’t use it much, preferring to focus on the next piece of the puzzle rather than connecting all the dots early on. You can also use a pinning tool to collect certain clues and images for easy reference. Again, the focus seems entirely on investigation, which feels more in line with Lovecraftian atmosphere than action/survival adventure in an underwater temple.
The larger puzzles aren’t necessarily simple, and while you can get away with looking at everything in the beginning, I found myself needing to use my brain to solve some labyrinthine challenges in the latter half of the demo. I won’t pretend that some assistance from the AI companion, Key, didn’t come in handy, particularly when I was trying to achieve a “good” ending to a puzzle, requiring me to use a corrupted artifact to guide me through the maze. Each puzzle offers two solutions, one involving Key’s corruption mechanic. Spending too much time amongst the fish-people and twisting text is detrimental to mental health, and as you might expect, preventing Noah from going insane is necessary for a good ending. However, to save time in the demo, I simply scrambled the poor fellow’s brain. This mechanic is interesting, though I wish that in the full release, the uncorrupted solutions weren’t simply easier, but required more effort, as it feels like a simplification of the mechanic’s potential.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is definitely an experience. While it has moments of visual brilliance, solid gameplay mechanics, and an engaging story, We find some issues. I noticed some visual glitches and what appeared to be map design errors (transfer module labeled as transfer module). There was some performance stuttering each time I entered a new area, which, while not crashing, did detract from my immersion, which is a shame, as the visuals and story do a good job of drawing you into the world created by Big Bad Wolf.
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss may lack outright scares, but like reading Lovecraftian stories in an era where fish-people aren’t the scariest monsters, Big Bad Wolf’s mystery game is still filled with a potent sense of dread. I’m intrigued to see where Noah’s pursuit of this cosmic entity leads, and whether we’ll ultimately encounter the old tentacled one, or go mad before we have the chance. If you’re looking for a brain-bending mystery and a compelling story, keep this one on your radar.
