DnD rival Pathfinder is cooking up a fun, flexible co-op RPG to challenge BG3

Dungeons and Dragons rules the roost when it comes to tabletop RPG universes, but Pathfinder isn't far behind these days. While there are plenty of great DnD videogames out there already, the younger Pathfinder is still finding its feet in that department. At Summer Game Fest, I got a chance to try out the next game in the series, and it's shaping up to be the best yet. Pathfinder Abomination Vaults takes the isometric RPG action of its predecessors, enhances the buildcrafting experience, and gives it full co-op support. While I can't foresee it toppling the DnD-aligned Baldur's Gate 3 from its throne, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Abomination Vaults and was impressed with its flexible approach to co-op play.

While so many RPGs take place across sprawling open worlds, Pathfinder Abomination Vaults is set in just one dungeon. Before you worry about a lack of content or environments all looking the same, I should mention that it's an enormous "mega dungeon" - developer BKOM Studios' words, not mine - that sits beneath the home of the game's big bad, Belcorra Haruvex. The overarching aim sounds simple: clear your way through each level and descend deeper into the dungeon to find and defeat Belcorra. However, there'll be increasingly difficult monsters to slay and puzzles to solve as you go.

Like Baldur's Gate 3 (unless you're a hardcore solo sicko), Abomination Vaults is party-based, but the core difference is that it's a free-flowing action RPG rather than a turn-based affair. The cast of four playable characters - Amiri the Barbarian, Harsk the Ranger, Kyra the Cleric, and Ezren the Wizard - always navigate the dungeon together. With co-op being supported this time around, that means squads of up to four can team up and control one character each. For groups of two or three, or if you're playing solo, any unselected characters will be controlled by the game's AI. They'll automatically assist you in battle, but you can also direct them to target specific enemies, open chests, or participate in environmental puzzles.

However, some neat additional features woven into this system make Abomination Vaults super flexible as both a solo and co-op experience. When fewer than four players are in a party, you can switch to an unused character at any point and take full control of them. If you need Ezren casting his magical abilities to help take down a specific enemy, you can snap over to him instantly and unleash his attacks yourself. Certain character pairings can also use unique team-up abilities, so if you need a specific combo attack to get you out of a sticky situation, you can switch to the relevant characters.

Because you're not tied to just a single character, you also have the freedom to tinker with builds for all four of your heroes. While each one represents a typical RPG class archetype, Abomination Vaults gives you the freedom to cross-pollinate and shift characters more towards other roles if required. For example, you can push a DPS-focused character more towards a support-style build if you want to have more healing presence on your team. Due to how short my preview was, I couldn't dig into itemization, skill trees, and all of Abomination Vaults' other progression and buildcrafting systems, but BKOM assures it has made things incredibly flexible.

The section of the mega dungeon I got to explore was unexpectedly vibrant thanks to some beautiful backdrops and loads of bioluminescent plants. Several chests were tucked away in nooks and crannies for me to find, awarding me with new items. A few environmental puzzles and objectives were peppered in, and although they were fairly basic, they offered something a little different from just clearing a horde of enemies before strolling on to the next section.

Combat is a hack-and-slash affair, but it's enhanced with a loadout of abilities and special attacks. I was mainly using Ezren, the wizard, whose magical powers all felt satisfying to use and were on fairly generous cooldowns. I would occasionally switch to Harsk, the dwarf, who offered some ranged damage with his crossbow - a valuable commodity in the rather chaotic boss fight at the end of the demo. With the help of the developer I was playing with, we managed to pull off a couple of combo moves, and they require a decent amount of communication and discipline when it comes to timing and placement.

I wouldn't describe the overall combat experience as revolutionary, but it was certainly enjoyable. The ability to seamlessly switch characters, however, does mean that if you're bored of the hero you're playing, or they're not being as effective as you'd like, there's an alternative option available to you at the press of a button. Well, unless you're playing as a co-op quartet, of course.

A solid and flexible multiplayer RPG, Abomination Vaults is one to keep an eye on, whether you're already invested in the Pathfinder universe or not. Its single mega dungeon will need to provide plenty of visual and gameplay variety to avoid becoming stale, and we'll have to wait and see whether the buildcrafting is as malleable as the developers say it'll be. However, the 30 minutes I got to play put a smile on my face, and at this early stage, that's the most positive sign you can get.