Abzû & The End Is Nigh Free On Epic Store

Two weeks, four games, and the never-ending train of having to cover these free/promotional giveaways knowing the only respite I’ll have could be 18 weeks away. Just knowing the end is in sight for the weekly stocking filler/slap-up meal deal of the Epic Games store slightly gives me hope of some free time. Though that’s far off in the distance and we’re here for this week’s double bill, or as I called them last week, a double kill bill.

First off is the beautiful and vague indie darling I’m sure many praised for whatever they were feeling at the time. Abzû takes the idea of a small thing in a big scary world and flips it on its head with a colorful and beautiful underwater world full of many fish. It is a stunning little adventure of a diver doing something, somewhere, and in search of something. I don’t have all the time in the world to give a detailed analysis of how you are supposed to feel with an artsy game about taking magic mushrooms 5 minutes before going on the high dive.

Abzû is a wonderful little world to dive (pun intended) into the ocean with, allowing you to explore and discover different things. Often you’ll be finding little shrines which release specific fish and other sea life. Though this makes it slightly disturbing when you have some fishy friends following you. I’d advice not releasing a Chondrichthyes, or more commonly known as a shark into the waters. Yes, I did defecate upon the jump scare because jump scares are a cheap and lazy man’s idea of pay-off to any suspense.

The latter of this week’s double bill is The End is Nigh. Something I was told as I left Hercules with a lovely gentleman in Liberty City. Joking aside, The End is Nigh is a game about finding a friend after the world has ended. Heartwarming, fluffy, and fun are just some of the words I wouldn’t use when playing The End is Nigh. In fact, I’d go as far to say I just didn’t like it in the slightest.

Last week we had the, in my opinion, earth-shatteringly brilliant Celeste which is in itself fairly hard. The point of The End is Nigh is to, as the Dark Souls fans yell, “die, die, and die again!” As is the point of Celeste, so my point is how enjoyable death is in Celeste versus The End is Nigh and why I wonder more of the former and nothing of the latter. I would suggest it is all about the feeling of Celeste being enjoyable and inviting while The End is Nigh yells expletives from the get-go.

Both The End is Nigh and Abzû are available for free until the 12th of September. However, as I have already stated, The End is Nigh has several expletives thrown from the start, so you will have to be 18+ to get this one. As with every double bill so far on the Epic Games store, there is always a “for everyone,” option in Abzû. Though starting on the 12th through the 19th, Zoetrope Interactive’s Lovecraftian horror Conarium will be free.