Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults is a first for this fantasy role-playing series. Other video game adaptations based on Paizo Publishing's adventure path books already exist, such as Owlcat Games’ Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, but this upcoming adventure harks back to the more immediate fun of a dungeon hack-and-slasher. 

While these previous games let you switch between real-time and turn-based combat, Abomination Vaults takes its inspirations more from classic co-op arcade and console adventures rather than the modern action RPG formula popularized by Diablo and Path of Exile. "For a long time, we had been talking with [Paizo] to discuss what kind of games would be cool to make, games like Gauntlet and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance," says Wyatt Gray, Abomination Vaults' creative director at the Quebec-based studio BKOM. "This used to be a genre that had decent representation, so we thought a hack-and-slash game using Pathfinder would be awesome."

Adapting the Abomination Vaults adventure path, where your heroes are up against evil sorceress Belcorra Haruvex, also felt like the perfect fit, as it takes place in the Gauntlight Keep, a mega dungeon made up of different floors with a wide variety of biomes and monsters. The early build I got to play has all the trappings you’d expect of a dark, underground cavern crawling with spiders, along with glowing fungi and floating jellyfish.

What's more important is who you're adventuring with. Abomination Vaults is designed as a co-op game, and that is true even when you're playing by yourself. You play as four iconic Pathfinder heroes: Amiri the barbarian, Ezren the wizard, Harsk the ranger, and Kyra the cleric—whom fans may also be familiar with from previous games. Instead of players choosing a hero to start the campaign with, the four always function together as a group. Better yet, you can switch between which character you control whenever you like. If a friend wants to join in, then they can hop on and do just that, or dip out if something comes up. But the adventure continues with the entire party, whether the characters are controlled by AI or other players.

"Whether you're playing by yourself or with friends, you have the feeling of leading an adventuring party of heroes as they work together to overcome the challenges of the dungeon," Gray says. "One of our goals is to take the barrier of entry to playing with your friends and bring it down to zero. So, whichever moment of the game you're in—you could be in the final boss battle—your friend could pick up the controller and start playing. And if they need to jump out in the middle, that's fine, too."

This approach also eliminates the incongruence of having characters dropping in and out of a campaign, as BKOM cares about telling a story through these four heroes' perspectives as they explore the mega dungeon together. Left 4 Dead and Warhammer: The End Times—Vermintide are a couple of inspirations Gray references, where each character’s personality and attitude are conveyed through moment-to-moment contextual dialogue. For instance, you can expect someone like the level-headed Kyra to occasionally clash with the brash and impulsive Amiri.

Having the party together isn’t just for the story; players will also have to work together at times (though, thankfully, not to solve any convoluted puzzles). One of the more basic examples I encounter is finding the path blocked by a boulder, which the party can push out of the way among a number of other approaches. In another scenario, for example, Gray said: "There's a river that you need to cross, and if the party works together they can push over a tree and create a crossing to get the treasure on the other side, or you lift Harsk up onto the cliff, and then he can pull a lever to drop an elevator so the rest of the heroes can climb up."

While some of these situations are quite preset, a more interesting way of working together is during combat, which Gray describes as a combo effect system. For example, if Ezren casts a wall of fire, Amiri can unleash her whirlwind attack to turn it into a fire tornado. That's something you'd be able to set up when playing together or switching between characters. The team is also working on a request system so that you can request your AI-controlled companions to create more seamless team synergy. Gray even teases that they're experimenting with some crazier ultimate combos, although this is still a work in progress.

The game won't just be about navigating the mega dungeon, though. In between chapters, you can return to the nearby village of Otari where your heroes can relax at the tavern or upgrade their various gear and supplies from a blacksmith, tailor, and alchemist. It's also here where you can take on side quests from the villagers. 

"Our game is not about grinding," Gray assures me, as Abomination Vaults also has a leveling system where heroes simply level up after completing a story chapter. "Our hope is that players can simply sit down and enjoy going through the main story. But if you're ever struggling, then doing some of the side content is probably the best way to boost your character's direct power level to make those challenging moments easier."

While the previous Pathfinder video games have been based on the tabletop's first edition rules, Abomination Vaults will likely be one of the first game adaptations based on Paizo's recent remaster of the second edition. Though there’s the obvious caveat that the team has to adapt or omit certain ideas that may not translate to an action-based game so well. Gray is also conscious of the fact that there are fans demanding a Pathfinder CRPG based on the remastered rules. "Our hope is to do an awesome job making an action interpretation of Pathfinder, which can also pull in a whole audience of people who know nothing about Pathfinder, but could be their first step into its world," he says. "It's a challenge, but it's a cool opportunity."

While there is no current release window confirmed, you can wishlist Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults right now on the Epic Games Store.