Ashen (XB1/Epic Games Store/PS4/Switch/PC) - Gamespot 9.
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:59 am
ALONE, YOU WILL BE CONSUMED BY DARKNESS. TOGETHER YOU MAY THRIVE IN THE LIGHT.
Set in a sprawling open world, Ashen is a tight, 3rd person, skills-based action RPG about guiding your wanderer through a newly lit world. Fight alongside others, forge friendships and defeat the creatures of shadow determined to cast the world back into darkness.
Explore mysterious dungeons, fight epic bosses and explore diverse regions filled with gorgeous vistas and mythical creatures. Meet characters along the way who will join you on your journey and turn your home into a lively town. In this new era of light, you must protect the Ashen and destroy the hungering shadows once and for all.
http://www.ashen-game.com/
Developer: A44
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive.
Platform: Xbox One/Epic Games Store/PS4/Switch/Steam/GOG.
Release Date: 7th December 2018 on XB1/Epic Games Store. 9th December 2019 on PS4/Switch/Steam/GOG.
Genre: Action role-playing game.
Players: 1 player but you can team up with another player (Random or Friend) or an AI. A bit like Journey.
Price: £35.99 but it's Free with Xbox Game Pass.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/ashen
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p ... ashen/home
https://www.facebook.com/a44games
https://twitter.com/A44games
https://ashen.gamepedia.com/Ashen_Wiki
Features
PASSIVE MULTIPLAYER
While exploring and completing quests for characters, you’ll come across other players in the wilderness. You can choose to work together on a quest, tackle dungeons or go your own way. It’s up to you.
OPEN WORLD EXPLORATION
Ashen is filled with sweeping, hand-crafted environments waiting to be explored. From rugged coastlines to dark intricate caverns and sprawling cities from civilisations past, each region is unique and will reveal more about the lost history of the world.
STAMINA-BASED COMBAT
Each encounter has the potential to end in disaster. Discover unique weapons and equipment during your journey which will let you develop your own play style to defeat the shadows. But knowledge of the land and patience are as valuable as any weapon in Ashen.
THE TOWN
In Ashen you’ll have a settlement where characters you encounter on your adventures will return to and make their home. As you complete their quests, they will expand their own dwellings and provide you with services to help you on your journey.
Media
Reviews
“Ashen establishes its own identity by delivering an experience that focuses on creating a sense of community and trust with those you meet.
The relationships you forge define your adventure through Ashen, and helping your new friends is a powerful motivator that drives you forward through the game's beautiful world.” - 9/10 GameSpot
“Ashen takes liberally from Dark Souls when it comes to combat and progression, but it’s a very good take on the formula that delivers satisfying, strategic combat and progression that rewards careful play. Thanks to a gorgeous, varied open world and neat, passive cooperative features, Ashen comes into its own wonderfully.” - 8.5/10 IGN
“There's genuine satisfaction to unraveling its reinventions and departures - identifying the places where it sheds a little more light on Souls at large, and the places where it lets the darkness close in.” - Recommended Eurogamer
“...Ashen echoes the core mechanics of Dark Souls, but it does so with such finesse that it hardly matters. Its passive co-op features offer new insights into the genre, and the variety of its beautiful world is an absolute joy.” - 85/100 PC Gamer
“Ashen strikes the perfect balance between being attractive to veterans of the genre thanks to its immaculate execution, but also being welcoming to newcomers…” - 8/10 Gaming Bolt
“Ashen is one of those independent jewels that come to us from time to time to value a segment of the video game industry that has been living for a few years in a particular golden age.” - 9/10 SomosXbox
“Ashen is simply breathtaking, rising above its gaming influences to achieve something wholly original and something for other indie and AAA developers alike to look to for an example of gaming at its finest.” - 4/5 ScreenRant
“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.” - 8/10 Metro UK
"Ashen is unique in that it borrows liberally from the Souls-like genre, but doesn’t feel beholden to it. Adventure game fans and Dark Souls fans alike definitely won’t want to miss out on what Ashen offers." - 8/10 GameCrate
“I've never seen a world quite like Ashen's, and I consistently felt drawn in, wanting to know and see more.” - 4/5 GamesRadar
"...the presentation in Ashen is nothing short of incredible, and the mechanics, while not exactly original, are both finely-tuned and engaging, resulting in a very satisfying and enjoyable action RPG — so long as you don't mind a challenge.” - 4/5 Windows Central
"Even with so much of the experience feeling similar to something else you’ve played, Ashen delivers a great sense of wonder in its world, and ends up being a fun journey to undertake." - 8/10 GameInformer
"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.” 8.5/10 TechRaptor
“...this is why I think Ashen is going to be a hit. Its gameplay is familiar and fun, but its world is like nothing you’ve ever seen. You have to work to see it all, and you’ll want to.” - 86/100 COG Connected