Ashen is the first exclusive of EpiStore.
The title indicates perhaps the main reason that did not give the game either a normal start or the proper attention it certainly deserves.
Due to the short-sighted initial policy of Epic in terms of openly buying back games from under the noses of Steam at the end of 2018, the entire igrozhur decided not to substitute himself and either did not give a review of the game at all, or made it as short and inconspicuous as possible. And this is for a game that takes 35-40 hours to complete. In general, I have dragged on, the jungle of Epixtor and the mediocrity of the gamer are too deep. Let's get to the game itself.
The first thing that really catches your eye is the visual style. All the characters here have no faces, which is extremely unusual for many. No, I played Absolver
before, the style is absolutely identical and the design of the locations is very similar. So I was sure that these two games were made by the same studio, judging by the name, no, but the continuity is obvious. I wouldn’t say that this greatly interferes with the narrative; Hidetaka’s characters still talk with their mouths closed and nothing.
Locations are drawn with scope and soul, general minimalism does not interfere with the harmonious conveying of their mood, depth and atmosphere.
In general, everything is more than okay with her in the game thanks to the excellent visuals and musical accompaniment. The entire game is made in a pseudo-open world.
Why pseudo? Because, like in DS3, for example, it is basically a very thick (and with a lot of branches and caves), but still a gut. The game is a cross between the freedom of Skyrim and Dark 1.
Each zone in the game is very clearly recognizable by its visual style and characteristic musical content. What is very pleasing is the development of the town “Tramp’s Shelter” - your conditional starting hub, where something is constantly happening, the town is being completed, the characters have new improvements.
Probably the main controversial point in the design for me was the flashlight in the right hand, the game is not shy about sending you into pitch darkness and there you will either have to use a one-handed weapon and a flashlight, or if you are a fan of two-handed weapons you will come to fight in pitch darkness or rely on a flashlight with an ally, which is extremely inconvenient (
I personally really liked the game design. Fast travel opens only at the end of the 3rd zone, and probably the main disadvantage is that not all stones support it.
Gameplay
First and most importantly, you have a partner. He will play the first half of the game significantly better than you, and in the second half, especially at the end, when you learn how to do it correctly. cheap and catch timings will infuriate you with his running around and fights with enemies (with whom you don’t want to start a fight at all)
and will rarely but accurately study the abyss in the most unpleasant moments for you, when you need it most. Your partner can resurrect you and you can resurrect him, but the enemy very easily knocks down this resurrection with his attack and there is only one, that is, the second time you or your partner are guaranteed to die.
In general, the game has a standard DS fighting system, but it is much more dynamic than in any of the Darks and, taking into account the cheap prices, Bloodborn fans will feel like fish in water in it. In the game there are only spears from ranged combat, throwing them on a gamepad is extremely inconvenient and, most importantly, there is no quick auto-throw at the marked target.
So using them in general is a dubious pleasure. Since when an enemy is marked, the mark is reset and aiming occurs manually + the spear is a slot and GG switches to it as a separate weapon which can later be used as a melee weapon, but its effectiveness is questionable.
When sprinting, the auto-target is also reset for some reason, which is annoying.
But in general, besides these 2 moments, the combat is quite strong, thank God there is no broken Hidetaka camera when the game shows anything but what you need, sprinting and jumping are much better than in DarkSouls.
Plot
The weakest part of the game. Just a copy of DarkSouls. A standard story about darkness that has enveloped the whole world, only without understatement with a larger and more understandable amount of dialogue, but this is not so much a plus.
Thank you for at least everything is completely clear.
A very huge plus. The game is played in co-op and taking into account the fact that at the beginning the player plays much weaker than the NPC, co-op is many times more difficult than playing with an NPC.
For fans of hardcore.
NPC is disconnected. But ! The game is balanced specifically for playing with a partner. Alone, hordes of enemies will often be an insurmountable obstacle; all tactics will come down to aggro 1 or 2 enemies with a spear and gradually dismantling the crowd.
Or if you are a cyber cutlet, burst into the crowd and move like a god.
The game does not provide NG+, which is bad, but there is a mode for Children of Sisna (Sisna is the main antagonist, the goddess of darkness) where you have less HP and less stamina
a mode for hardcore work, by the way, it opens in the middle of the game if you play It’s too easy, you can just jump to it right away in the middle of the game.
Conclusion. Ashen is not a DS clone, the narrative here is driven mainly by the original style and music, all this is supported by strong gameplay and a proven formula with checkpoints and good difficulty.
Pros
The credits indicate gratitude to Jenova Chen, the creator of Journey, which explains the wonderful atmosphere and music in the game.
Strong gameplay without big disadvantages.
Great atmospheric discovery world.
Clear and intuitive pumping,
Wonderful Co-op of which you can count on your fingers.
Plus-Minus
The plot is told very well through the visual style and music,
all bosses are clearly located and correspond to the lore of the game. But it is still secondary.
Cons.
Small but unpleasant.
No ng +, Autofocus works crookedly in places, suicide of a partner at critical moments + the partner will aggravate enemies with whom you do not want to fight (unrealistically infuriating in places).
Buy on Epixtor and Steam, the only game that follows the canons of the DS and is not its faded clone. Moreover, in terms of integrity and atmosphere, the game follows the canons of Jenova Chen. Which is just great.