Ashen

Ashen is a quality Soulslike with a nice art style and some great ideas about seamless and anonymous online co-op. The dungeons are memorable, the evolving town is awesome, and the increased focus that quests provide is a nice touch.

As I prepare to go bumbling back through the glimmering palaces of the (maybe) final section, I know that the Capra Demon’s curse is still there. I must inevitably compare this to Dark Souls itself. And in doing that, Ashen has already come away poorer than it ought to. But if we think of it another way, maybe we can circumnavigate the curse. So let’s compare it to other Souls imitators. Because when I think of The Surge or Nioh or Hollow Knight, I’d rather be enjoying this gorgeous panorama of a game, climbing to the top of its mountains, lurking through its deep caves, or returning to my gen...

Ashen is full of nonsense. I don’t mean its gameplay. The fighting, exploring, advancement and traversal mechanics are all well thought out and a ton of fun. I’m talking about the story. Every time a character in Ashen speaks, my eyes start to glaze over. Then I snap back to attention and realize that the story isn’t boring at all — it’s totally bonkers.

A thoughtful, engrossing Soulslike that's not shy about its influences.

Ashen uses the Souls-like formula to tell a very different, optimistic story about community. Whether you’re playing alone, with an AI companion, or with another person, combat with the game’s varied enemies and bosses is challenging and satisfying. Ashen’s world feels real and lived-in, and getting to carve out your own settlement and watch it prosper is truly satisfying.

Souls-like games have been a dime a dozen lately, some mimicking the style better than others: The Surge and Nioh are great examples of the difference. Dark Souls is one of my favorite franchises, and while I have still enjoyed the spin offs it has inspired, none have perfectly mimicked the gameplay like Ashen has. It takes a lot more than only re-creating Souls tight gameplay to develop a great game, so lets see how Ashen stacks up and how it makes the Souls-like style its own.

An inspired approach to co-op and non-player characters turns what could’ve been just another Dark Souls clone into one of the most interesting action adventures of the season.

Ashen is a game created in the same vein as some of the predecessors of its genre, like Dark Souls or Bloodborne. It imitates a great deal of the mechanics from those games but also brings a unique and beautiful art style as well a sense of organic progression that enhances the feel of the game. For those lovers of games like Dark Souls, it's hard to guarantee that you'll find the same experience, but there's still a heck of a lot to like about what sets Ashen apart.

Ashen has a distinct look and its landscapes are imaginative, but no level of creativity can hide the fact that it is a shameless Dark Souls clone. New Zealand-based developer A44 fully embraces this inspiration to deliver almost identical combat, exploration, and a risk-based currency of souls. While feeling overly similar to From Software’s body of work, Ashen pumps out excitement and fun, and manages to carve out a hint of something new with how it handles cooperative play.

From Software changed the world of gaming forever with the release of Demon's Souls first and then, later, Dark Souls. Many developers in the past have released their unique tale on the formula, ranging from 2D experiences like Salt and Sanctuary and Death's Gambit to full-blown massive game like Team Ninja's Nioh. While these games tried to introduce new twists into the formula, Ashen by Aurora44 doesn't even try to hide its inspiration, resulting in a game that can be pretty much considered as Dark Souls lite. And this is not entirely a bad thing.

From the start, it’s pretty clear where Ashen’s primary source of inspiration comes from. If you’ve played any of From Software‘s Soulsborne games, the control scheme should immediately clue you in. I don’t want to start a whole line of discussion about how Ashen is yet another Souls-like, though, because it’s not.

If you know me, you know I detest and often protest against the use of “Soulslike” or “Soulsborne” as a descriptor of a genre. Becoming a catch all phrase for a game with difficult combat meant that people used it for basically anything that presented even the slightest challenge. Unfortunately though I think I am going to have to eat my words and go back on my stance on this. The Dark Souls games changed gaming and since then have inspired many games. With an industry that is being o...