ABYSS CHRONICLES didn't start out as a game about cutting down monsters.

Our first diver carried a hook, not a blade. You searched for sunken cargo, hauled it up, slowed down under heavy loads and watched your oxygen run low.

We stripped out the oxygen timer and the salvage loop and rebuilt the game as a hack-and-slash: cut, sweep, loot. We kept the old game and its saves rather than deleting them. From there came eight connected seas, the first combat screen, combos and attack effects.

Simple base forms, and a silhouette that changes dramatically with every class advancement. Here's the human diver's base form next to its third-class concept. We're working on bringing it into the game now.

The master of the first sea is a tide-swallowing beast with hooked arms. This is still concept art. In the next log we hope to show it moving in-game.

ABYSS is made by a very small team. Design, code and art direction are essentially in one person's hands, and we use AI tools for some concept art and translation (our sound effects are built from real recordings). When you stare at your own game alone for too long, it gets hard to see what's fun. Your feedback genuinely makes a difference.

Question: Which of the six races do you want to see first? Humans · Awakened Machines · Merfolk · Ancient Hybrids · Nautil Voyagers · Crystalline Coral. Tell us in the comments or on Discord — the most requested race gets the next log.

ABYSS CHRONICLES launches December 10. Wishlist it so you don't miss what comes next.

Discord: https://discord.gg/f7RTHFb9w