Ashen

Ashen shamelessly imitates the great saga of "Souls", but at the same time is able to show itself as a title with a strong personality and, above all, very fun and addictive. One of the "hidden" gems of the year.

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.

Ashen is a great title. The Souls formula may be adapted nearly wholesale, but the art style gives the game a different vibe. The presence of co-op at all times makes each run feel feasible, since the odds rarely feel impossible to overcome, and the presence of a community to grow gives you a real sense of progression and purpose. Unless you're completely burned out by the formula, Ashen is an adventure that's well worth checking out.

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.

Ashen's slant on the Soulslike subgenre isn't revolutionary, but is a wonderful example of the familiar formula executed well. It's thoughtful, gorgeous, challenging and a dream to explore.

With an amazing art design and a polished and clean atmosphere, Ashen is far more than a basic Dark Souls clone. It has a more friendly universe and game philosophy, but sometimes fails to be fun, especially when it comes to AI cooperation or online multiplayer.

Ashen’s handful of new ideas make it a stellar Souls-like with solid combat, a great art style, and an interesting world.

Ashen is one of the most approachable and well-accomplished Souls-likes we’ve seen to date. It offers a bewitching world to discover with a character all its own. It’s unfortunate that one of its best and most unique features, companions, isn’t in a very good state right now. I believe this’ll get fixed with time.

Despite one or two shortcomings (like too few boss battles) Ashen is probably the best AA third-person “soulslike”, and that is no small feat. The unique, minimalistic visuals depict a world with its own personality (even though it may be an acquired taste) and the inclusion of a map and its commitment to co-op, be it with another player or an NPC, shows that A44 may be inspired by the best of the genre but it doesn’t afraid to take its own steps.

Ashen has some very good moments, and some others than can be ruined due to a terrible artificial intelligence. I fought along and against this AI to the end of the journey, in a very polarizing game. Some people will enjoy it a lot, and some people won’t connect with it.

Ashen is good, but nothing revolutionary.

Through an embrace of more traditional game design, Ashen's take on the Souls formula ends up feeling welcome, even after countless imitators. A solid quest structure and top-notch world design make this beautiful low-fi title a worthy homage to a quickly aging series.

Short, firm soul-like that keeps you entertained for 20 hours. Learning curve and replay value are low.

Ashen contributes more hits than misses to the Souls formula, though the overall experience may feel too familiar to fans of FromSoftware's trendsetting series.

Ashen is a decent proposition for Soulslike fans and it may be the ideal choice for someone who wishes to get into the genre before going deeper. Despite the simplicity of its mechanisms and the lack of depth / replayability, it is very enjoyable for both Dark Souls beginners and experts.

Ashen is a very good action-adventure game sporting interesting lore, good character development, and solid gameplay features like combat and exploration. Unfortunately, the game does almost nothing to separate its gameplay loop from the one seen in the Dark Souls series and therefore ultimately feels like a lite version of the series developed by From Software. The well-made overall experience does make it easy to look past this issue, but if you're looking for something innovative, you won't find it here.

Ashen is a Souls-like that succeeds despite its lack of originality. The simplified progression, tracked quest objectives, and a persistent companion make it a great way to get into this challenging sub-genre.

Are you still striving to gather enough courage to enter the unforgiving world of Dark Souls? Try Ashen instead. It’s a natural beginner’s choice in the genre of brutally difficult action RPGs.

Ashen is a souls-like game with a particular focus on the co-op multiplayer. Sadly this feature rarely works as intended, but despite its flaws, the game developed by A44 is still an enjoyable variation to the formula created by Miyazaki and From Software.