Ashen

While Ashen is usually touted as merely a "souls-clone," a term that leaves a bad taste in people's mouths, A44 takes great strides to separate itself from what came before through clear, refined design choices and a unique aesthetic. This is not a title to be passed on for fans of the action-RPG genre, especially now that it's available on any platform of your choosing, compared to its status on release. The world of Ashen is different enough to immerse you within it. Voice acting is done well for the various characters, and the open-world design allows for enough free-exploration whilst out on side missions that you'll discover new areas on your own as well as via the main story. What sets Ashen apart from Souls is it's ommision of both character attributes and specific weapon types, such as swords and bows. It instead opts for a stone-age fantasy vibe that ties in well with the other aspects of the game, and creates a bigger distinction between bladed and blunt weapons, putting greater emphasis on gear and skill over farming to level yourself up. In many ways, this also serves to hurt replayability if build variety is a concern for you, as at any moment, you can totally shift your style of play to change things up; you are not locked into any style other than the one you are comfortable with. Every weapon is end-game viable provided enough upgrades are spent, and every armor set has its benefits and trade-offs, so it really makes Ashen better suited to newcomers in the genre, rather than catering to the hardcore. Again, I can see this turning off many players, but for me, this served as a selling point rather than a detriment, and kept me interested to the end the game. My first playthrough was completed in slightly less than 18 hours. A hard-mode labeled "Children of Sissna," which limits HP and Stamina, will probably tempt me into another run-through, and with environments this well crafted, I will most definitely revisit Ashen for more runs to come.

Ashen wears its inspiration on its sleeve for all to see, providing a compact ‘Souls-like experience that doesn't wallow in oppressive misery throughout. You get the pretentious story, a nameless (and faceless) player character, and wisened NPCs who talk too slowly, However, the AI companions are interesting, provide combat assistance, have their own story arc that'll guide you off the beaten path, and offer a ton of expository dialogue to fill in the lore. Completing their quests upgrades your village and they're also part of the dynamic coop system. You can disable companions completely (unwise for most boss fights), set them as AI-only (good except for one particular dungeon and the final boss), invite a friend to join you (the best option), or let randoms drop into your game if they're at a similar point in the story (wildly varying results). Combat is a melee-centric affair, with throwable spears the only ranged option, with sword-and-shield style or two-handing larger weapons the most common find. Weapon type and armour load affect your attack speeds, jumping, and maneuverability, and several socketable "Masks" are as close as you get to magic, offering up defensive and offesnive abilities like damage reduction or magic missiles. There's a simple crafting sytem for upgrading gear that, coupled with collectibles, is the only way to improve your stats. The world is a linear sequence of interconnected zones (with fast travel) but each is visually distinct and interesting to explore. The traversal mechanics allow for running, jumping, and mantling, so exploring is not a miserably imprecise experience like in the 'Souls games. This comes into play in two of the largest dungeons, Seat of the Matriarch and Palace of Lathyrus, both require careful traversal and cautious combat, but ended up memorable thanks to the unique visual style. Ashen is an impressive indie take on the 'Souls formula, though perhaps too light on content and complexity at full price.

This game definitely pays (at times, heavy) homage to the Souls franchise, but like other reviewers here, I also think Ashen sets itself apart in important and compelling ways. I played through the game about 8 months ago, then recently came back to it for the DLC. Above all, what struck me most was the way in which the game brings together its music with its environments, for incredible atmosphere and immersion. Every area feels distinct, and what is a fairly mundane colour palatte, and airy musical score in the early stages of the game, grows in vividness and intensity as you move into the mid-game. I will say that the descent beginning at the Henge of the Matriarch is one of the most involved and intense dungeon crawls I've encountered in recent gaming - just amazing (also recommend you commit to the immersion with some quality headphones). In terms of controlling your character, the mechanics for combat do take getting used to - you have to be strategic with your moves, much more so than a Souls game, I find (where reflexes and speed play a larger role). Heading into a difficult encounter, these mechanics can often prove frustrating. You have to kind of game the level design, drawing enemies out, or sprinting past, to then turn and face them under more advantageous settings - not completely unlike some Souls encounters. In terms of replayability, as some other reviewers have mentioned, the skill tree and weapons/equipment are nowhere as deep as a Souls game, a condition that has its charms, but also might affect how quickly you return to the title. Personally, I think I'll come back to this game for the aesthetic and atmosphere, not the gear (or even the bosses, really, like I do with Souls games). The world building is on point; the rest, including the gear, perfectly fits that built world, so I don't take issue with it.

Very beautiful indie souls-like with a unique aesthetic, great level design and very fun platforming. The game can look absolutely stunning at times, each area is unique and handcrafted with little reused assets, the exploration can be very fun with little nooks and crannies everywhere, including completely optional mini-dungeons. But the lack of weapon and enemy variety, rough combat mechanics and simplistic boss fights bring it down a notch. Still, a very fun game, if a bit on the short side (around 20 hours for the whole game + DLC).