Ashen

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 224 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 111 out of 224
  2. Mixed: 40 out of 224
  3. Negative: 73 out of 224

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  1. Cg014
    Apr 10, 2023
    0
    Worse souls clone ever. Cool art style but that is pretty much all I can say about it positively. Dark souls is difficult but fair, this game is difficult because it’s unfair since the developers couldn’t figure out a creative way to make the game challenging. Uninteresting story. Broken mechanics (lock-on) and much more. Shield auto unequips in combat, super useful….not. Bosses one comboWorse souls clone ever. Cool art style but that is pretty much all I can say about it positively. Dark souls is difficult but fair, this game is difficult because it’s unfair since the developers couldn’t figure out a creative way to make the game challenging. Uninteresting story. Broken mechanics (lock-on) and much more. Shield auto unequips in combat, super useful….not. Bosses one combo you if you’re not trading agro with AI companion. No traditional leveling up. Boring side quests. Bull**** enemy attacks. Enemies can use the same weapons you do but they use the same attack patterns as you do but much faster because ‘fair and fun’. 4 years since release and it still crashes. Oh and your AI companion literally commits suicide for what seems to be no reason so you get to solo yolo dungeons that literally have no checkpoints and shortcuts making you have to do it all over again and they can be very long, copy and pasted, but long. Don’t complete the dungeon before you run out of healing items? Do it again. Fun. Regret buying it for a quarter of the full price on a sale.… Expand
  2. Ignis_z
    Jan 29, 2023
    8
    Toda una sorpresa con este juego, si te gusta el reto y el estilo de lucha Tipo Zelda o souls no te defraudará, buena ambientación, buen sistema de combate y una historia interesante. Eso sí, no debes esperar de él un juego como Dark Souls o Zelda, no olvides que es indie con un presupuesto mucho más bajo, pero he jugado todos los zeldas y souls y sé de qué hablo. Muy recomendable.

    Peca    Toda una sorpresa con este juego, si te gusta el reto y el estilo de lucha Tipo Zelda o souls no te defraudará, buena ambientación, buen sistema de combate y una historia interesante. Eso sí, no debes esperar de él un juego como Dark Souls o Zelda, no olvides que es indie con un presupuesto mucho más bajo, pero he jugado todos los zeldas y souls y sé de qué hablo. Muy recomendable.

    Peca en un punto donde te dan una explicación muy escasa y puedes quedarte atascado y es verdad que el.NPC puede dar problemas.    … Expand
  3. pcapinheiro
    Aug 11, 2022
    8
    Um Souls contemplativo, que te engana com uma atmosfera relaxante até você ter seu crânio esmagado por uma machado de pedra.

    Pontos Positivos: + Arte gráfica, ambiente e som, tudo muito legal; + Desafiador, mas justo; + História simples, mas curiosa, as side quests são interessantes; + Mapa aberto, mas sem gorduras. Pontos Negativos: + Queria ter mais clareza sobre o uso de    Um Souls contemplativo, que te engana com uma atmosfera relaxante até você ter seu crânio esmagado por uma machado de pedra.

    Pontos Positivos:
    + Arte gráfica, ambiente e som, tudo muito legal;
    + Desafiador, mas justo;
    + História simples, mas curiosa, as side quests são interessantes;
    + Mapa aberto, mas sem gorduras.

    Pontos Negativos:
    + Queria ter mais clareza sobre o uso de alguns itens e seus upgrades;    … Expand
  4. Game0fLife
    Jul 31, 2022
    9
    + Beautiful art style and good view
    + Interesting map design
    - Little weapon variety with similar move-set - Unsatisfied ending - Some imbalanced boss fight in the late game where it would require you to use boring cheese tactic to win. -Artsy and boring souls-like storytelling copycat. The story makes no sense, makes me feel like looking at weird modern art at the museum. Edit:    + Beautiful art style and good view
    + Interesting map design
    - Little weapon variety with similar move-set
    - Unsatisfied ending
    - Some imbalanced boss fight in the late game where it would require you to use boring cheese tactic to win.
    -Artsy and boring souls-like storytelling copycat. The story makes no sense, makes me feel like looking at weird modern art at the museum.

    Edit: Edit: It sounds bizarre, but the more I play Elden Ring, the more I miss this game, in which the developer of Ashen did a few things even better than the Fromsoft; Intuitive control (for keyboard & mouse), good PC optimization, better jump mechanic, lively central hub, convenient quest log, and most importantly no permanent missable (except 1 item in the starting area).

    Too bad this game doesn't have a proper PvP system, otherwise I would be addicted to this game for at least 300+ hours.    … Expand
  5. nichi
    Feb 8, 2022
    8
    32 horas de jogo:
    Um ótimo jogo com inspiração SoulsLike e que incentiva bem o coop.
    Os chefes são muito legais e bem feitos, joguei inteiramente coop e platinei com um amigo, foi bem maneiro e gostaria que os jogos da Fromsoftware incentivassem mais o coop assim como esse jogo. Vi pouquíssimos bugs, coisa comum como corpos de inimigos atravessando algum objeto como um muro assim    32 horas de jogo:
    Um ótimo jogo com inspiração SoulsLike e que incentiva bem o coop.

    Os chefes são muito legais e bem feitos, joguei inteiramente coop e platinei com um amigo, foi bem maneiro e gostaria que os jogos da Fromsoftware incentivassem mais o coop assim como esse jogo.

    Vi pouquíssimos bugs, coisa comum como corpos de inimigos atravessando algum objeto como um muro assim como ocorre em Dark Souls, mas bem raro, nada demais.

    Acredito que o único problema técnico no PC seja alguns cenários com mal otimizados, os quais do nada consumem muito da GPU sem motivos...
    Além disso, pra ser nota 10 só precisam melhorar um pouco a forma em que a história é contada, você fica muito curioso sobre aquele mundo e no fim do jogo continua sabendo tão pouco sobre.

    Dificuldade: 9/10.
    Gráficos/Arte/Design: 10/10.
    Trilha Sonora: 7/10.
    Narrativa/História: 7/10.
    Gameplay: 9/10.
    Requisitos: 10/10.
    Duração: 10/10.:
    BUGS/Otimização: 6/10.
    Conquistas: 10/10.
    Interface: 10/10.
    Preço: 8/10.
    Diversão: 9/10

    Média: 8.75    … Expand
  6. winterstorme
    Dec 10, 2021
    3
    Of the 10+ "soulslike" games I've played this has to be the least fun. It's just a big open (mostly empty) map filled with the same 3 enemies or enemies that look different but do the same things. You'll spend most of your time doing "fetch quests" or going from marker to marker on a map. The combat is a clone of Dark Souls, but with a lot of mechanics removed and nothing added to replaceOf the 10+ "soulslike" games I've played this has to be the least fun. It's just a big open (mostly empty) map filled with the same 3 enemies or enemies that look different but do the same things. You'll spend most of your time doing "fetch quests" or going from marker to marker on a map. The combat is a clone of Dark Souls, but with a lot of mechanics removed and nothing added to replace them. The bosses are completely forgettable. There are few weapons and armors and none of them are interesting. No skills or weapon arts or magic or anything of the sort is in the game... just a quick attack and strong attack and the classic dark souls role.

    The game is not very difficult compared to most games in the genre. Most of the difficulty I found was from traversing very dark dungeons filled with cliffs and bridges and having to fight enemies on top of them. Even while holding the lantern it was still very difficult to see. Oh and the game is filled with ambushes, almost all enemy encounters have ambushes.

    So that's all the difficulty in here, darkness and ambushes. The actual enemies and bosses are not that hard to fight, or fun. Compare that to a game like Sekiro where the bosses and enemies are much harder, but a lot more fun to fight.

    The only thing this game has going for it is a unique art style. I liked the aesthetics of the game, except for the fact that characters don't have faces. It's supposedly an art design choice, I didn't like it.

    If you can find this game on sale for around $10 you can give it a shot, but for $40 it's not worth it at all.    … Expand
  7. IdleSpace
    Nov 25, 2021
    5
    Просто скучная игра с поломанной системой прокачки оружия, которая напрочь убила интерес.
    Если конкретнее - все оружие в игре одинаковое, и ступени прокачки очень сильно отличаются друг от друга. Уникальных механик боя нет, так зачем отвлекаться и тратить ресурсы на новую пушку, если вы с ним тупо будете нежизнеспособны, пока не прокачаете до имеющегося.    Просто скучная игра с поломанной системой прокачки оружия, которая напрочь убила интерес.
    Если конкретнее - все оружие в игре одинаковое, и ступени прокачки очень сильно отличаются друг от друга. Уникальных механик боя нет, так зачем отвлекаться и тратить ресурсы на новую пушку, если вы с ним тупо будете нежизнеспособны, пока не прокачаете до имеющегося.
  8. edwardsalazar99
    Aug 30, 2021
    9
    Gran juego, buena dificultad, hecho para los amantes del género soulslike, hermosos gráficos. Recomendado
  9. yertre
    Feb 3, 2021
    6
    I appreciate the effort it took to make this game. It looks great, and it can be enjoyable, but it doesn't really stand out in any way.

    The game simply doesn't have much to offer. There isn't much variation among the enemies, there aren't enough items, or weapons, or anything really. There just isn't enough in the game. Also, the co-op system is laughably bad. Overall, if you are    I appreciate the effort it took to make this game. It looks great, and it can be enjoyable, but it doesn't really stand out in any way.

    The game simply doesn't have much to offer. There isn't much variation among the enemies, there aren't enough items, or weapons, or anything really. There just isn't enough in the game. Also, the co-op system is laughably bad.

    Overall, if you are interested in playing, don't expect much of anything. It's not a bad game, just a rather shallow one.    … Expand
  10. gfizzle
    Jan 11, 2021
    0
    Unless you have a friend to play this game with it is not worth it at all. The companion ai is downright broken. I wish i could use nastier words to describe just how pathetic the companion ai is and just how pathetic the programming behind it is. playing this game nearly 2 years after release you'd think the ai would have been fixed; it hasn't. And i don't know if this is a joke or notUnless you have a friend to play this game with it is not worth it at all. The companion ai is downright broken. I wish i could use nastier words to describe just how pathetic the companion ai is and just how pathetic the programming behind it is. playing this game nearly 2 years after release you'd think the ai would have been fixed; it hasn't. And i don't know if this is a joke or not but the dungeons are designed with lots of drops and you can bet with absolute certainty the ai will fall off at some point. Whether it's because you were fighting and it got hit and fell or that it fell due to it's own attack animation or that it fell because you tried running past the enemies because you knew it would fall off if you stayed to fight and instead of following you it decided "no this enemy has insulted me i must face it no matter what". The game is absolutely designed for 2 players. playing it alone makes it harder but not in a dark souls way just in an unfair overwhelmed by numerous large health pool enemies way. The game is dead now anyway because it's mediocre at best and despite balancing it for solo play or fixing the ai the developers twiddle their thumbs and sell a crappy game. You can most certainly finish the game on your own but if you have any self respect and value your own time you'll give this game a hard pass no matter how aesthetically pleasing it may look. The game gets a 0 for how much stupidity has gone into its design and the overwhelming lack of foresight on the developers behalf.… Expand
  11. Defoxx
    Dec 1, 2020
    5
    Отличительной особенностью этой игры является прохождение с ботом-напарником. Интересный открытый мир и механика обустройства базы по степени прохождения игры.
    Боссов мало, но они сильные.
  12. RockerKR
    Nov 17, 2020
    6
    lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Cool but sometimes frustrating and buged
  13. Birdie
    Nov 15, 2020
    9
    Just finished the game over the weekend together with a friend. We had lots of fun and are very happy with the experience. It’s a 25 hour game if you take it easy and explore. I liked everything from the graphics to the controls and also the sound and music. It deserves more attention and a higher grade.
  14. Bloodnes
    Oct 20, 2020
    5
    Какая-то инди игра, не о чем, очень специфическая и на любителя, убивают аля дарк соулс, графика не понравилась, сюжет просто пустышка, 5/10
  15. PeakZach
    Sep 20, 2020
    7
    Compelling and interesting story. Fans of the souls series will enjoy the curiosity of what new enemy lies beyond each corner and the thrill of a satisfying boss fight. However, this does not add much to the formula. The look is fantastic, but lacks in the item department. Weapons seems to all work the same, speed isn't considered much of a variable other than the obvious one/two handedCompelling and interesting story. Fans of the souls series will enjoy the curiosity of what new enemy lies beyond each corner and the thrill of a satisfying boss fight. However, this does not add much to the formula. The look is fantastic, but lacks in the item department. Weapons seems to all work the same, speed isn't considered much of a variable other than the obvious one/two handed weapon difference. This makes combat seem repetitive, and enemies to vary that much over time.… Expand
  16. hoanns
    Jun 6, 2020
    4
    I played 2h. The world feels empty and underdeveloped. No real plot. You always have to manually lock onto enemies or you miss. The only outstanding thing is the art direction.
  17. Mr_Robot
    Feb 15, 2020
    7
    сюжет - 6/10
    геймплей - 7.5/10
    саундтрек - 7/10
    графика - 8/10

    Одна из немногих игр, которая после прохождения в кооперативе оставила у меня приятные впечатления.

    7/10
  18. Gohax
    Jan 25, 2020
    6
    ASHEN is a souls like game made by annapurna interactive and its a cute little game that brings something new to the souls like genre but still needs some work

    Story: there is this ashen bird that split up into 3 factions and one of those factions are the human kind and now it is your job to find all the artifacts of this bird and bring it back to life pros: so in this souls like    ASHEN is a souls like game made by annapurna interactive and its a cute little game that brings something new to the souls like genre but still needs some work

    Story: there is this ashen bird that split up into 3 factions and one of those factions are the human kind and now it is your job to find all the artifacts of this bird and bring it back to life

    pros:

    so in this souls like game they added an open world which you can explore by doing side quests of some characters plus doing the main mission and it kinda feels like an mmo game but in a good way

    the voice acting is really good

    the art design is really beautiful and the world they built really shines and come to life

    there are dungeons in the game which are always a cool addition

    for an indie game the game is kinda long it took me 15 hours to complete it including all the side stuff

    the co op mechanic is cool and the fact that the game is better played with a friend just adds more fun to it

    the fact that you can use your friend or ai partner to climb ledges and open doors is really awesome and really adds to the co op element

    the game costs like 30 bucks

    cons:
    although the game is cute and all there are a lot of balancing issues such as your character having a very limited time to swing unlike the enemies which are a lot more faster and some times don't even stagger when you hit them that also includes the amount of stamina your are using or the teleporting spear mechanic they introduce to you later in the game or even the bosses almost everything in this game is unbalanced and the whole deal needs a patch like right now

    the ai of your co op partner is really dumb and it sometimes kills itself by accident leaving you alone
    to face a horde of enemies

    there is a limited amount of weapons and attack animations in the game

    some enemies feels recycled

    you cant unlock shortcuts or anything of the sorts when entering a dungeon which makes back tracking a lot more annoying

    some performance issues that need patching such as frame drops and bugs

    you don't get rewarded if you explore the open world of the game unless there is a side quest which is annoying because i really wanted to explore every corner of the map

    the final boss of the game is the most annoying part because the backtracing is just horrible you have to go past a cave littered with strong enemies then run all the way to the boss room with out any bonfire or anything that feels up your health potions then the boss is a total nightmare it has no mechanics or openings just a split second hit and then you need to dodge it for like an entire 5 mins without getting hit that's not hard that's just annoying

    in conclusion this game has a lot of potential to be a good souls like game i hope that the next game in the series will be a lot better and balanced but until then we will have to enjoy what we got so my final score to ASHEN is a 6.5 out of 10    … Expand
  19. Gamerjohn
    Dec 12, 2019
    0
    For a year old game it's quite buggy. I was expecting more considering the whole of taking the epic deal was to IMPROVE on the game's development. Paying full price and buggy AF game on GOG is disgusting.
  20. watchm824
    Dec 11, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I liked the game. Simple graphics, but a pleasant atmosphere and an interesting world to explore. Disappointed with the final boss, turned out to be too complicated in comparison with other opponents in the game.… Expand
  21. tobivv
    Nov 26, 2019
    5
    Ashen's world is aesthetically pleasing, but empty with few enemies and challenges.
  22. ZEDFRA
    Oct 29, 2019
    9
    First, I want to say this. Ashen is one of my favourite games ever, and I was shocked when I saw the user score here of 5.8. It really doesn't deserve 5.8, it deserves a 9.

    OK, first thing's first. Ashen is a beautiful game, it's basically a masterwork piece of art. Everywhere you go has stunning visuals, from it's canyons, to the streams, to the grasslands, to the palace of Lathyrus    First, I want to say this. Ashen is one of my favourite games ever, and I was shocked when I saw the user score here of 5.8. It really doesn't deserve 5.8, it deserves a 9.

    OK, first thing's first. Ashen is a beautiful game, it's basically a masterwork piece of art. Everywhere you go has stunning visuals, from it's canyons, to the streams, to the grasslands, to the palace of Lathyrus and even down in the darkest dungeons. Adding to this is just one of the most fantastic soundtracks I've heard in my life, I sometimes even listen to it when I sleep. If ever I'm asked if "are games art?" I point to Ashen. I love the design of this game, the devs nailed it 100% I've never played anything more beautiful and gorgeous than this.

    Combat is great too, it basically plays like dark souls. It's solid, with a good sense of difficulty that can be tweaked through adding or removing your companion. It can be a bit awkward to position yourself and getting used to the pace of combat when you start, but you'll quickly get used to it. You can use either a two handed weapon, or a one handed weapon with a shield or lantern. I really like the lantern mechanic, you need to equip it when you go into a dungeon or cave so you can see. This adds a real sense of journeying into the unknown and it feels really well with the themes of the game. I love it. However, this is where I dock a point on this game. Ashen has a combat system that is too limited. You can't dual wield, there's no option for a pure ranged build and there's no magic. More options for players to utilise in combat was needed, and it's a definite negative, the lack of options in combat can lead to the game feeling a bit repetitive sometimes. Each weapon in ashen has its own set of moves and attacks which helps null the sense of repetitive combat, it's fun to experiment with weapons and find one that suits you. Accompanying the combat are various items you can use, you have your standard healing item amongst other various items and you can also craft potions which might boost your offense or defense. As an aside, there are no swords in this game, the devs said in an interview this was because they wanted to create an atmosphere of a world on the edge, and since swords are hard to make, they wouldn't be made in a world like this. But that's just bollocks, I would've really liked rocking a cool sword or katana in this. Swords should have been in the game devs come on. Also of note is the lack of fashion. Armour sets come in one piece, why? There's no reason and it just limits player options, the devs really missed out here on fashion ashen or FASHEN. I came up with that. This isn't to say that you're going to look like **** for your play through, there are some pretty cool looking armours here for you to enjoy.

    I really loved the lore and story of the game, I found myself intrigued and wanting to discover more about the world through it's characters and various items. The story may not be the most original, but I'm not docking any points because it never really bothered me, and it does it's own thing enough so that it can't be called a rip-off. HOWEVER, I realise that my opinion might not be shared by everyone, and you might feel that the story here is a bit already done,but it never felt like that for me.

    Unlike many souls game, Ashen has co-op, you can play with a friend or randos online or with an ai companion offline. The online stuff worked fine for me and my mate and I encountered no issues with it. The ai companion is solid aswell and I had no issues with 'em. Just as an aside there is no pvp.

    I prefer the mission structure of Ashen to dark souls aswell. Missions and side quests are clealy laid out in the quests menu, and you don't need to spend time looking on the wiki to see what npcs to talk t when and where to find them and how to do their quests. Here, you get given a mission, it's clearly laid out to you and you do it. It's simpler but it's better. Also, there's a main hub area of the game, called Vagrant's Rest, it's sort of like Firelink shrine, but what's cool is that as the game goes on and you encounter more characters, the hub grows with new people, buildings and crafting stations for you to use, so that's pretty cool.

    Next, we come to the game's bosses. I've seen complaints that there aren't enough, but I almost prefer it like this, you won't encounter bosses often true, but when you do, it feels like much more of a grand and epic moment, each boss in the game is a big deal, there are no ****ty or filler bosses here.

    In conclusion, Ashen is a fantastic game, and although it has flaws, ultimately it overcomes them. I think this is A44 games' first ever game too. They've really made something special here, especially considering their smaller budget. Even if you've never played a souls game, this is something I can recommend. I'll say it again, this is one of my favourite games. I love this game.    … Expand
  23. Kleptomacer
    Oct 5, 2019
    0
    **** clone of dark souls and egs exclusive on top of that. avoid at all costs
  24. Psychoticrow
    Sep 5, 2019
    9
    Art Style / Graphics - 10/10 I am biased because I love this dark yet simplistic style. It just appeals to me for reasons I can't even explain.

    Gameplay 8/10 - What is in this game works, and it works extremely well. It could do with a bit more uniqueness between the weapons and maybe even an ability or two outside of that. Maybe the lantern could be made slightly more relevant in that    Art Style / Graphics - 10/10 I am biased because I love this dark yet simplistic style. It just appeals to me for reasons I can't even explain.

    Gameplay 8/10 - What is in this game works, and it works extremely well. It could do with a bit more uniqueness between the weapons and maybe even an ability or two outside of that. Maybe the lantern could be made slightly more relevant in that regard.

    Co-op 5/10 - It's in the game and when it works it's wonderful but you'll struggle to get it to work properly at many points in the game, you often just don't run into people and even if you're playing with a friend it really shows its weakness. It just doesn't work because of "reasons" or sometimes because of intentional game design choices and the way they chose to implement it.

    Overall I honestly feel this game is a 10/10 but the really bad implementation of a key feature of this game the co-op really hurts it overall and knocks it down a mark or possibly 2 marks.    … Expand
  25. BadCaptain
    Jun 15, 2019
    3
    The game was easy before mission "listener's heart". I wasted around 5 hours on this mission and didnt beated. I quited the game. Mission is simply dumb: 10 min of easy mobs, then mobs who oneshot you, no checkpoints. Just restart time after time. This mission also hightly depends on you retarded AI teammate. AI sometimes not even appears, sometimes it dies, sometimes it just taking aggro,The game was easy before mission "listener's heart". I wasted around 5 hours on this mission and didnt beated. I quited the game. Mission is simply dumb: 10 min of easy mobs, then mobs who oneshot you, no checkpoints. Just restart time after time. This mission also hightly depends on you retarded AI teammate. AI sometimes not even appears, sometimes it dies, sometimes it just taking aggro, sometimes it falling down from the cliff. Hated the expirience and strongly not recommend this game cause of this only mission. What lies ahead? Who knows?

    PS. watched youtube video, found shortcut for this mission, reinstalled the game. Passed mission on second try. Now almost beated the game. Game was easy again until second last boss. Took me a few tries to beat    … Expand
  26. mbestvina
    May 30, 2019
    8
    Ashen is a mix of Dark Souls and open-world action-adventure games like Tomb Raider or Horizon ZD. The reception is a little mixed and I think I know why...

    In my experience, there are two types of people that love Dark Souls: people that love it as an immersive adventure game and people that just want to fight hard bosses. Souls clones tend to get the combat right and appeal to the    Ashen is a mix of Dark Souls and open-world action-adventure games like Tomb Raider or Horizon ZD. The reception is a little mixed and I think I know why...

    In my experience, there are two types of people that love Dark Souls: people that love it as an immersive adventure game and people that just want to fight hard bosses. Souls clones tend to get the combat right and appeal to the hard-boss-fight kind of players, while they generally flub the level design (looking at you, Nioh...). Ashen is the rare example that puts the emphasis on exploration instead of the combat and it excels precisely because of this reason.

    If, like me, you love the exploration in souls as much as the combat, then I highly recommend Ashen! There are a few key differences to the souls formula that bolster the exploration. Notably, you have a more conventional jump and you can climb ledges. Ashen also bucks the linear, windy levels for a sprawling open world filled with sidequests. No longer are you railroaded from one tough encounter to the next. Instead, you have a lot of freedom to decide where you go and what you do. This makes the world a delight to explore. It often feels more like Mario Odyssey than Dark Souls, combing each area for items. The first area or two is a bit dull to explore, but it ramps up significantly as you progress and the levels become more vertical. You eventually get a hookshot-type ability as well that further cements Ashen's strength in exploration.

    Aside from a focus on terrain traversal, Ashen also mixes up the typical Souls co-op by giving you an AI companion for the entire game, that will seamlessly be taken over by other humans that are in the same area. It works fine but ultimately, I felt this kind of co-op would have worked better in a typical Souls game than an open world game. Virtually every time I was partnered with a human, we would have conflicting priorities. I would want to push forward and they would want to scrounge for items, or vice versa. Only one time was my partner and I on the same wavelength and I ultimately turned the online off. The AI works great and can be depended on 90% of the time but that 10% will always frustrate you. The bigger gripe I have with the AI is with the final boss fight, where your AI companion will inevitably get knocked into the water and refuse to swim to shore until they die. I'm not sure if this was a glitch or intentional but it's baffling this got shipped in the final product either way. Whether you're using the co-op or the AI, the partner system is ultimately just kind of there.

    On the RPG side of things, Ashen has massively streamlined the Souls mechanics. The sword and shield combat is exactly as you'd expect, just with fewer options and playstyles. You have a lantern that functions like torches in Dark Souls 2 and this actually works much better here. Lastly, you don't level up your character, just your gear. There are very few upgrades for you to purchase, but their cost escalates rapidly as you buy upgrades. Unfortunately, I ran out of things to buy about 2/3 of the way through my 20 hour campaign. You can, however, upgrade your character's stats by completing sidequests. None of these are tedious and most of them simply require you to explore map, which most souls fans will do anyway so this is a nice way of rewarding exploration.

    Unfortunately, the difficulty is also all over the place. Once you get in the groove with Ashen, it's very easy to simply lean on your AI partner and it often feels necessary given how many gang-up fights there are. Most of the difficulty comes from long run-backs, though I will admit this is highly fitting for a souls-like that's more focused on exploration than combat. There are few bonfires in the overworld, the two dungeons really push the limit on how long you can ask a player to go without a bonfire, made even more egregious by not being able to warp in and out of the dungeons, and the final boss has both an awful run-back and is an absurd jump in difficulty, compounded by the AI swimming issue I mentioned above. I turned the co-op back on to find that players online were struggling with this boss even more than I was and I ultimately prevailed with the cheese strategy of wait-wait-poke. Another bonfire or enabling the AI to swim would have done a lot of good for this under-cooked final boss.

    In spite of some glaring flaws, I loved Ashen. Between its more engaging exploration and environment traversal and its streamlined combat and RPG mechanics, Ashen feels like what you'd get if Nintendo made a souls-like out of the Zelda franchise. It offers a vibrant world with tons to see and do, and the combat checks all the souls boxes, even if it never transcends them. I enjoyed this more than every Souls clone I’ve played (Nioh, s&s, etc), simply because it nails the exploration, even if the combat is a tad weaker. Again, if you’re in the exploration camp of souls fans, check this out    … Expand
  27. svonton
    May 26, 2019
    8
    so this game is good part of souls-like games, yea it`s indie and it feels (small variations of weapons and their movesets, some troubles with connections if u try to play coop with your friend) but, BUT game looks good (yeah it`s lowpoly but as for me looks pretty nice), game sounds good and it tell simple but interesting story about unusual world.
  28. Dubeau
    May 25, 2019
    4
    Ashen is hard because it's unfair and full of cheap deaths. I did love the story, the voices, the graphics. But the combat is horrible. You are suppose to get an AI companion. That's when it works, it get stuck near a wall or corner, stops walking or fighting. The armors are useless. You get a shield but it does almost nothing. The saving system is just awful. You have long and big dungeonAshen is hard because it's unfair and full of cheap deaths. I did love the story, the voices, the graphics. But the combat is horrible. You are suppose to get an AI companion. That's when it works, it get stuck near a wall or corner, stops walking or fighting. The armors are useless. You get a shield but it does almost nothing. The saving system is just awful. You have long and big dungeon with no saving point of any kinds. Let me tell you, it's easy to get kill in one of those. Even the lantern is causing an annoyance regarding fighting. I give it a 45%. The saving system could have soften the blow of some of the other issues in this game. But no, just a retrograde saving system.… Expand
  29. SedSays
    May 24, 2019
    5
    I wrote something more wordy, but then my PC crashed, so short version:

    Pretty game
    Good/Hammy Voice Acting
    Dark Souls-esque combat
    Dark areas artificially increasing difficult is not good design
    Stupid companion AI
    Long dungeons with no short cuts
  30. MGee
    May 24, 2019
    4
    It's so uneven of an experience. The exploration is top-notch. The "dungeons" are all at least twice as long as they should be with some really crappy checkpointing. The difficulty is kept at a fairly low level until suddenly it's ramped up for a single fight, at which point it becomes a quiet, serene game again. I'm not sure Ashen knows what it wanted to be.
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Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best PC Game of 2018
48
#48 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Games.cz
    Feb 28, 2020
    70
    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.
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  2. Worth Playing
    Apr 26, 2019
    85
    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.
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  3. The Games Machine
    Jan 17, 2019
    70
    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.
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