There is plenty to like about Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss if you enjoyed 2018’s investigation-heavy Call of Cthulhu, but it has a fundamental problem. You cannot develop a game focused on scouring the environment for clues and piecing them together, then saddle it with buggy script triggers and an inconsistent autosave system. Having to repeat dynamic sequences in an action game is frustrating enough; having to repeatedly scan hidden objects, scroll through text to trigger clues, and reconnect those clues in a clunky mind map is borderline insufferable.



It is a shame as Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss has an interesting premise and strong, polished opening chapter. Set in 2053, protagonist Noah and his partner – both members of the mysterious “Ancile” group – arrive in the flooded American South to track down a former colleague. Climate disasters are flooding parts of the world, corporations are plundering the oceans as resources dwindle on land, and desperation is turning more people to occultism. The rundown house reveals artefacts and crazed sketches from Chthulian myth, and a grotesque organic portal in the basement.

You cannot develop a game focused on scouring the environment for clues and piecing them together, then saddle it with buggy script triggers and an inconsistent autosave system.

The tutorial-like sequence introduces you to the investigative tools at your disposal: the ability to pick up, examine, and carry important objects; an AI that doubles-up as a hint system; a scanner that highlights items based on the parameters you set; and a digital mind map that allows you to connect clues to deduce answers to key questions. On the other side of the portal is a bizarre world of cyclopean ruins but Noah is ambushed, his partner left behind, and the game jumps forward a few years as he descends to an ocean floor research base to track down a missing science team.



After the strong opening, I was initially hooked. The exploration, puzzling, deduction system felt involved but rewarding. The visuals and atmosphere were on point, backed up by decent voice work, creepy ambiance, and a great soundtrack. To keep you on your toes, there is an energy system linked to investigating objects and revealing details, with “corruption” building up if press on with a depleted meter. That said, how you bypass obstacles in each chapter is the more significant corruption modifier – though the consequences are too obvious. You either complete arcane rituals started by the insane members of the research team or follow the clues of those trying to prevent the rituals.

After a strong opening, I was initially hooked. The exploration, puzzling, deduction system felt involved but rewarding. The visuals and atmosphere were on point, backed up by decent voice work, creepy ambiance, and a great soundtrack.

If puzzle games are not your forte, you could argue Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is too cryptic – even with the AI companion hint system, scanning mechanic, and a confusing but inconsequential artifact-based upgrade system. Piecing together clues can feel like an exercise in filtering out minor clues or red herrings as this is not some half-baked system where clues could only connect in the right spot. This drives you to spend more time within the investigation panel where you need to read clue text, link them correctly to answer key questions, deduce the correct order of events, reveal search terms for your scanner, and often combine those terms to highlight the correct item in environments littered with similar objects.



It feels far more involved than your typical video game and that is what makes the game’s flaws such a problem. I accepted that the “respawn” option in the menu meant that I would be getting stuck in the scenery from time to time, but that proved the least of my worries. From the second chapter onwards, I started to encounter looping script triggers that could mess with the save-and-quit system.

From the second chapter onwards, I started to encounter looping script triggers that could mess with the save-and-quit system.

In a perfect session, I could enter a new chapter and spend an hour exploring the region to find clues, collect key items, and solve puzzles. When I was done for the day, I could quit and reload into that same area with my progress saved. The problem - common to any puzzle game - arises when backtracking for missed clues or key items. This could re-trigger scripted dialogue and, if I quit out after that, there was a chance it would reset both my inventory and investigations back to the state when I first entered the area. Even after two weeks' worth of patches, this kept happening well past the mid-point and my patience eventually ran out.



As it stands, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss simply has too much jank to contend with despite showing so much promise with the setting, narrative, and investigation mechanics. There is a respawn option to prevent the player soft-locking themselves, so I don’t understand why such a puzzle-centric game doesn’t just offer a manual save system? Most modern games already extract more time from us then they deserve through extraneous mechanics and padding, so picking an automatic and inconsistent save system that doesn’t fit the mechanics feels like an own goal that is just going to frustrate the audience. For now, if you have an itch for this type of game, go play 2018’s solid (and frequently discounted) Call of Cthulhu while Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is patched into shape.

PS5 Review code provided by Nacon