Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss review: Your scanner has found a terrible career decision

The big picture

Noah has an AI companion, investigative equipment and a missing-persons case beneath the Pacific. Unfortunately, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss also gives him R'lyeh. An advanced scanner is reassuring until it confirms that the impossible thing in front of you is indeed present, enormous and unlikely to respect the warranty. Big Bad Wolf's first-person adventure sends a reasonably equipped investigator into circumstances where “reasonably equipped” becomes a rather optimistic assessment.

Published by Nacon, the full game arrived on April 16, 2026, for Windows, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Earlier playable versions were demos and playtests, not commercial Early Access. The released base game centres on investigation, puzzles and a branching story. Anyone hoping the famous tentacled name means an evening of shooting monsters should know that Noah's problems require considerably more interpretation. Official game listing

Sonar needs a question before it supplies an answer

The sonar reveals the surroundings, but searching for particular materials involves analysing their properties first. Known properties can then be filtered through frequencies, while short and sustained pulses cover different distances. It gives Noah something more involved than a button that announces every useful object in the room. The machine can help, but it has declined to become the entire detective. Developer's sonar guide

The interesting loop is observation leading to a better search. Learn what matters, set up the tool and use that knowledge to narrow your attention. A discovery can change how you approach the next space. That creates a reason to remember what an object means instead of collecting it because it briefly looked more important than the other objects.

There is a cost in effort. Repeated analysis and filtering may appeal if you enjoy a procedure that makes an idea tangible. If you wanted the scanner to remove uncertainty immediately, you may find yourself annoyed that it has brought additional uncertainty and a few settings. The useful buying question is whether preparing a search sounds satisfying or merely like the thing standing between you and the answer.

The helpful perk has unsettling small print

Investigative choices influence Noah's Corruption and the direction of the story. Perks can offer advantages while increasing the danger of Cthulhu's influence. The temptation is therefore attached to something useful: understanding the situation better can compete with keeping yourself intact. Cosmic horror has found an awkward place to put the upgrade button. Nacon's Corruption explanation

That arrangement makes curiosity consequential. You cannot assume that learning more is always a clean victory, or that the most immediately helpful choice leaves Noah in the best position. It suits players willing to make a decision without knowing whether they will later want to apologise to their own character.

Of course, some players will immediately want to calculate the safest route through every choice. That is understandable, but it can work against the uncertainty the premise is built around. If every decision must produce a spotless preferred result, the investigation may become a search for instructions rather than an encounter with the unknown. Cthulhu is a particularly unreasonable host for anyone who needs advance reassurance that the evening will go well.

The architecture isn't helping

Nacon describes R'lyeh through contradictory scale, strange geometry and uncertainty about perception. Those are creative aims that fit a place meant to resist Noah's understanding. The setting can challenge the mental picture you are trying to assemble, rather than simply provide a dark backdrop for collectible evidence. A corridor becomes more interesting when the building itself seems unwilling to explain what a corridor is.

There is still a difference between enjoying disorientation and wanting directions. Puzzle-led horror asks you to keep testing an explanation even when the environment looks hostile to ordinary logic. Players who like building a mental model of an unfamiliar place have a reason to explore. Those who need a clear destination and immediate confirmation should take that preference seriously.

The Cosmic Abyss offers a specific sort of horror: useful tools, incomplete understanding and choices that make knowledge uncomfortable. Its sonar and Corruption systems give the premise more substance than a famous name in the title. Choose it for the investigation, and be prepared for a discovery to complicate your life. Noah has excellent reasons to ask the next question. Unfortunately, he may also have excellent reasons to stop.