How the new fantasy world of video game Absolum was created in collaboration with an animation studio

A trend you may have noticed in the promotion of modern indie games is for lavish 2D animated trailers, as seen from indie hits like Dead Cells, Vampire Survivors, or indeed the launch of just about every Devolver Digital release.

These promo trailers are essentially the indie equivalent of the CG trailer for AAA, and usually outsourced to an animation studio. A great recent example is Absolum, a new beat-em-up game from Dotemu that follows on the success of 2020's Streets of Rage 4.

The animated cinematic that opens Absolum's announcement trailer also cuts perfectly to the gameplay, given that it also employs a beautiful hand-drawn animation style. While many reach for the best animation software to pull this off, or outsource it, what's unique here is the animated cinematic and gameplay visuals are actually from the same studio, Supamonks.

While hand-drawn animation has become a more popular aesthetic for indie developers, it's certainly the first time I've heard of an animation house also animating the gameplay. That's an understatement though, as everything that you see in Absolum, from its characters to its painterly backgrounds are all the work of developer Supamonks.

The collaboration makes sense, given that Dotemu and Supamonks are both based in Paris, although CEO Cyrille Imbert explains why the company sought them out, "As soon as the idea of making another game with [Streets of Rage 4 co-developer] Guard Crush Games became obvious we had the ambition to improve on the beat 'em up formula but within a fantasy universe."

Cyrille adds: "We ended up creating a new IP, and to realise this vision, we had to find the perfect partner to handle the art of the game. So to achieve that, why not work with a talented studio from the Parisian animation scene? That's why we contacted Supamonks."

Image 1 of 6

Absolum is branching a new path

With Supamonks' expertise in animation since 2007, from commercials to game trailers, including collaborating with Ubisoft Animation Studio on Rabbids Invasion: Mission to Mars, character designer and art director Maxime Mary believes that gives the studio a unique advantage over other game developers emulating that style.

"A beat 'em up requires responsive gameplay, which forces us to carefully choose the frames that would animate the movement, so our experience in animation allowed us to achieve fluidity and richness in each of these small animations, and in the way they flow together," Maxime explains.

He adds: "Similarly, coming from a narrative medium, we were keen to bring a lot of information about the story and the identity of the characters into the environments and animation. I personally think this adds a lot of personality."

Of course, there is also a huge difference between traditional linear animation and gameplay animation, especially with the more organic and iterative nature of game design, which resulted with a lot of early polished assets being completely discarded when game design changes occurred.

"We had to adapt our workflow to avoid finalising our work too early," Maxime continues. "The highly responsive gameplay of beat 'em ups, which require very fast seamlessly flowing animations, means we had to adapt to this by drastically reducing the number of frames for each move. All the small delays, anticipations, pauses – everything that gives a particular rhythm to a movement – had to be maximised for the game's needs."

Animation fights game design

Another challenge came from the structure of Absolum as not just a linear arcade brawler but a rogue-lite where you'll not only be revisiting areas again and again but can also take different branching paths.

"Since we could no longer design all the backgrounds as if they were going to be used only once, we had to design each background so that it could be divided into several reusable parts," says Maxime, "The difference with animation is significant, since each element is defined upfront, in the storyboard, and then each asset is created subsequently."

The environments are certainly a highlight in their own regard, where backdrops aren't just static vistas, while what I find most interesting is that its branching paths are also a lot more organic in presentation, compared to say the doors you pick in a Hades run or even the iconic 'Go' arrow that displays in classic arcade beat 'em ups. It also makes choosing a path a little more tantalising as it's not spelled out what you can expect in the next area.

"We made the choice of exploration, so that players have to explore the world and learn it," Dotemu senior producer Micke Moïsa explains. "How the reward system works also eventually comes together for the player to know the flow of the game enough to make the right decisions. This doesn’t mean that we’re not giving any indication. Every branching patch is subtly teasing what’s waiting for you on the other side, environment-wise."

Fighting fantasy tropes

When it comes to creating a new fantasy IP, the world of Talamh and its many races are intentionally familiar for any fans of the genre, with staples like Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons cited as inspirations.

"We didn't revolutionise these universes; on the contrary, we used them as a basis, because it's easier for players to recognise a goblin, a necromancer or a lizardman than it is to get to know a whole new race," Maxime explains, recognising that players may not necessarily spend time lingering on details and complexities during fast action-oriented gameplay.

There's nonetheless room to interpret and subvert existing tropes, such as for the first two announced playable characters: Elf Galandra is an agile swordfighter rather than an archer or magic user for instance, while dwarf Karl doesn't have an axe in sight, preferring to use his bare fists but also packing a rifle for ranged attacks.

What also brings a new perspective to this setting is a cartoon aesthetic with a lot of inky blacks that also feels very distinct.

Maxime credits the look of Absolum to comic books, initially with the French and Belgian authors he read growing up, such as Asterix, André Franquin, Régis Loisel, and Asterix co-creator Albert Uderzo, and then later the work of American comic book illustrators like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, as well as Andrew Maclean in more recent years.

"I wanted to start with large masses of black and bright colors to create a strong contrast, close to my references," he says. "The main problem we came up against was how to bring depth and legibility to an image that was initially designed to be flat. We played with the intensity of the black inking, to get maximum contrast on the characters, and something more muted in the background. We also added a few layers of fog here and there to add depth."

There's no release window set for Absolum, and since its original announcement in February, Dotemu is still keeping a lid on two other playable characters. But I get the sense that Talamh is meant to be a rich and dense fantasy universe that can hopefully become a new franchise to continue fleshing out in years to come.

I can certainly imagine Absolum becoming a Netflix animated series, and it'd be a no-brainer for Supamonks to take that on too.

For more info visit the the Absolum website. Inspired? Then read our guides to the best digital art software and best drawing tablets and start designing your own fantasy worlds.