So, I created an account. Especially for this game. If you are here for my rating - 7 out of 10. The following words are addressed not so much to people who want to know about Solar Ash, but to Alex Preston personally and to those people who have already finished the game.
And I warn you: further there will be some details that will ruin your impression during the passage (if you want toSo, I created an account. Especially for this game. If you are here for my rating - 7 out of 10. The following words are addressed not so much to people who want to know about Solar Ash, but to Alex Preston personally and to those people who have already finished the game.
And I warn you: further there will be some details that will ruin your impression during the passage (if you want to go through this game - so do it, do not read the following lines).
Let's begin.
We all know the old funny phrase: "What could be worse than bite off an apple and see a worm there? Find half a worm inside." About Solar Ash, I can say the same thing: "What could be worse than beating the game and realizing that it is not bad, but it is nothing special. To discover that it contains a myriad of unrealized potential." As much as I hate to deny it, but, unfortunately, it is. Knowing how great the Hyper Light Drifter was, it's impossible not to compare Solar Ash to it. It's still a secret for me, how, having in hand the formula for a great game, could you not follow it? Don't think, I did not expect Solar Ash to be Hyper Light Drifter 2, but it's... it's not what I expected.
Soundtrack, game design, gameplay, STORY - everything was created in the right direction, but as if it was all unfinished. Not put it that way. it was all done, but as if in a terrible hurry (?). If you compare the game with the trailer that was released in 2019, you can see that almost everything has been redone. Maybe this is the reason? Maybe such a full-scale alteration did not allow to carry out everything that was conceived? Quite possible.
The first thing that catches your eye (or rather in your ears, hehe) is the soundtrack. He just is. It does not evoke the same awe and awe that it did in the HLD. "An unremarkable soundtrack for an unremarkable game. Not bad, but not good either." Probably, this is how I would describe it if I had been given to listen to it earlier, without saying where it came from. I don’t feel Disasterpeace’s hands in them. Only a couple of them made me "shake". The rest are just copy-paste.
In principle, the whole game is copy-paste (but, in truth, with some differences). Come to a new location --- meet the CYD --- "Systems are offline, destroy the anomaly" --- destroy all the "eyes" --- defeat the boss --- meet with ECHO --- come to a new location --- meet CYD --- ... and so on until the very end. I think the reason for this cyclical (hehe) nature is the same as I wrote earlier.
Now let's move on to game design. The game is very colorful and contentedly expressive with its soft minimalism. But unfortunately, it is far from the first in this niche. With its colorfulness and Low Poly style, it immediately reminded me of ASTRONEER. It's a pity, but in principle, it's okay. If you look closely, the locations are decorated quite well, but after looking at the trailer, it seemed to me that there were not enough showed details that were present there. Let's move on to the more technical part. I noticed gaps in the textures, some graphic bugs, and, most importantly, there are empty bushes inside :) Simply put, no critical issues were encountered.
I'll tell you briefly about the gameplay. Running is cool, fight is boring, boss fights are interesting. And by the way about bosses - you can feel the strong influence of Shadow of The Collossus. The same impressive, huge creatures, and the same climbing over them and hitting weak points. I don’t think this is bad. I just thought it necessary to say.
Let's move on to the most important thing - the plot. To be honest, it's predictable. Crazy and corny predictable. The player almost instantly understands who is who, and what the main plot twist is. most of the same unrealized opportunities and lies in the plot. A pity, but it had every chance of being quite extraordinary.
All of the above problems affected me. When I watched the events in the game's finale, I felt ... nothing. I hoped that playing with its hooks would catch on the threads of my soul, that she would take my heart and play with it. I begged Solar Ash to do it, I tore my ribcage myself, as I realized that the effect that I expected was not happening. I myself raised my heart to it on a silver platter. All you had to do was take it into your own hands. but it didn't. It made it worse. By its inaction, it tore him apart. and that's why I'm here, writing this stupid review about this stupid game. I'm lost.
Reading all this, you might think that I hate this game and do not recommend it to anyone. Well ... it isn't. This is a beautiful and inviting game. Would I recommend it to my friends? No. But if my friend asks about it then I'll tell him: "try this."
I did not write this review to say this game is bad. Rather, it was a small essay in which I poured out all my thoughts and emotions. I hope my style was not very difficult, and also I did not say a lot of stupid things. Even if it is, I hope you will justify me.… Expand
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