All in Abyss: Judge the Fake is a decidedly un-heroic visual novel/RPG hybrid. Its premise revolves around high-stakes gambling featuring the Texas Hold’em variant of poker. Cocky, foul-mouthed protagonist Asuha Senahara is, to quote the description of the infamous chocolate-covered onion sold at Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market, “sweet on the outside but nasty on the inside.” If you are unfazed by all of this and want to indulge your sordid side, All in Abyss: Judge the Fake is a good blend of anime hijinks and solid poker gameplay.
Like Asuha, I’m more familiar with (and better at) five-card draw poker than Texas Hold ’em poker. I was brutalized the first time I played Texas Hold ‘em with a group of peers, though not as severely as Asuha in her first Texas Hold ‘em rodeo. Asuha’s witchy nemesis, a candy-loving sadist named Ulu Amamino, not only humiliates Asuha in front of a live and televised audience, she literally takes a bite out of her! Asuha is thus left bleeding, seething, and vowing revenge against Ulu and the elite cabal of witches running The City with their seemingly unstoppable poker tactics.
The song “I Like Jersey Best” (written by Joseph Edward Cosgriff and popularized by John Pizzarelli) contains the line, “there are no Jersey strangers, just friends we haven’t met.” I mention this for two reasons. The first reason is because All in Abyss’ setting reminds me of Atlantic City, NJ. In both places, the casino areas are glitzy and lit up, with the grimy slum areas right in the casinos’ shadows. The second reason is because the kindness of a stranger helps the down and bleeding Asuha get back on her feet, with her later becoming a sincere friend.
All in Abyss is a dialogue-heavy game, given its visual novel trappings. The writing has personality, but fair warning: many characters have filthy mouths and are not shy about cussing. The game’s ugly side goes well beyond bad words, though. Boss battles are death battles where the loser gets maliciously executed for the cheering audience’s perverse pleasure. Fallen bosses are subject to anime-meets-SAW style still scenes with wordy descriptions of their torture and execution.
These scenes are skippable, but skipping them robs players of emotional magnitude. Seeing bosses getting executed in ways that are equally physically and psychologically damaging truly emphasizes that gamblers in All in Abyss play for keeps by literally betting their lives. Asuha gets torture/death scenes of her own if she loses boss battles, but those are shorter in length and less gruesome. I appreciate the effort put into these execution scenes’ artwork and descriptive writing, but some are difficult to read and watch.
All in Abyss’s stylish, colorful aesthetics bring plenty of casino flash and anime charisma to the table. The main characters’ portraits are vividly expressive while NPC portraits are appropriately nondescript. The UI during poker battles looks busy, yet everything is reasonably straightforward to use and accessing information is easy. The menus used during story and exploration scenes are more subdued but no less stylish.
Location backgrounds are typical visual novel fare that gets the job done but does little to stand out. Conversely, the panned-out stills of The City in the location menu look sleek. Per the game’s Steam page, some in-game images partially contain AI-generated content later finished by hand. I merely say this as a caveat in case generative AI usage in video games is a deal breaker for you.
Guitar-driven music dominates All in Abyss’s soundtrack. Even the calmer and pop-style tunes have some distorted guitar in them. Battle scenes have driving rock to get the blood pumping and the death scenes have death metal-inspired music. As a fan of heavy, guitar-driven music, I liked All in Abyss’ soundtrack. Gritty guitars complement the setting’s gritty vibe. The soundtrack is also mixed and mastered in such a way that the more aggressive guitar tones won’t pummel players who think heavier styles of guitar-driven music sound too harsh.
All in Abyss is enjoyable over its five-chapter (about 15 hour) course, but the latter chapters are more poker-driven (read: grindy) than plot-driven. Those chapters drag and work better in small doses than marathon sessions. Even if you forego the optional high-risk-high-reward tournaments where you battle against multiple foes in a row with no breaks, you still play a lot of poker. Ergo, a love for poker is an admission requirement for All in Abyss. There is more to All in Abyss than just poker, though, and I had to pull out my RPG and graphic adventure skills alongside my card-playing ones.
Visiting street-level gambling dens and casinos to win money in poker battles (comparable to standard enemies in RPGs) is important, because you do not want to be broke in a gambling city where goods, services, and insider information all carry hefty price tags. Poker matches feel like fast-paced, turn-based RPG battles requiring a combination of luck and skill. Sometimes, I quickly obliterated opponents, and other times I needed to play a patient game.
In addition to money, winning matches gives Asuha skill points that she can use to learn and upgrade a variety of active and passive skills. You can set a limited number of skills for each match. Not only must you choose and use the right skills for each match, you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, and all the other card-playing advice in that famous Kenny Rogers song. For example, betting too much late in the hand might cause a cautious opponent to fold because they suspect you have a good hand and want to minimize the damage.
Even with optimal skill loadouts and a shrewd mindset, lady luck is not always on your side and you won’t always get the cards you want. Savvy players can figure out ways to utilize Asuha’s skills in game-breaking ways. Discovering these tricks is part of the fun and aligns with Asuha’s whole “self-proclaimed gambling prodigy” schtick.
Boss battles are challenging (especially the final boss) and have interesting gimmicks, yet are winnable so long as Asuha takes the time to dig up enough dirt on said bosses, manipulates her resources effectively (both on the field and during matches), builds her skills, and keeps a cool head. Carefully read the descriptions of every acquired item, because some available “key” items are red herrings. Visit every location and talk to every NPC before heading to the next plot-relevant place. Some locations even require point-and-click style combing over to uncover secrets. Occasionally splurging for nights out at the hostess bar provides stat boosts and even occasional hints.
When games remind me of familiar places and experiences, it changes my outlook. Instead of marveling wide-eyed at a brave new world’s wonders, I marvel at how these outlandish places surprisingly feel like “home.” I really got into All in Abyss: Judge the Fake because it reminded me of places I’ve been to and experiences I’ve had. That being said, All in Abyss: Judge the Fake is not everyone’s cup of tea. I highly recommend playing the entirety of All in Abyss: Judge the Fake’s Steam demo to determine whether this cool hybrid game is right for you.
