Ashwalkers Reviews
I started following the development of Ashwalkers long before it hit the stores. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on a copy to review. Unlike many games I take, I had high expectations going into Ashwalkers. The real question is, does it live up to the hype I built for it, or did my enthusiasm disappear like smoke? Keep reading this rapid review to find out.
Ashwalkers does a good job in presenting a wide variety of possible endings as well as creating a gloom, somber post-apocalyptic world for the players to dwell in. Ashwalkers doesn't deliver the same positive elements when it comes to technical execution and controls, thus contributing for a rather frustrating experience that makes it difficult to explore and to try to find all the different endings, while also harming the player's connection with the characters.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Ashwalkers is just a few inconvenient bugs away from being an “eShop essential.”
What could have potentially been a good hybrid of walking simulator and multiple choice adventure is instead buried under boring gameplay and eye-straining visuals. Ashwalkers squanders any narrative replayability by being an all-round drab experience that is as uninspiring as the wastelands it’s set in.
As a concept, Ashwalkers is fascinating, mixing the survival genre with a visual novel. The world created in Ashwalkers is one of hope surrounded by despair, but the execution lacks the polish to make this one a game that I could suggest. The technical issues alone should have been caught before the release. But even with that aside, the lack of character development and a risk and reward system makes for a very dull experience.
If you grew up in the days of The Oregon Trail, but want something that’s little bit more Fallout, Ashwalkers is likely for you. It’s not going to be the most engaging game when it comes to mechanics, but it portrays an open-ended story that really does feel like you craft it, even if the road is a fairly straight and narrow one.
The honesty and delicacy with which Ashwalkers builds its world is truly remarkable. The conflict is presented by its mechanics, which manage to keep us distant from what should be a survival experience worth remembering.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Ashwalkers had the potential to be a very peculiar experience. Unfortunately, its sluggishness and superficiality end up turning its excellent proposal into something very limited. To make matters worse, the Switch version still has performance issues that make everything noticeably slower. Thanks to all these factors, it is a game that is difficult to recommend, but one that players more inclined to intimate and solemn adventures may still be able to enjoy.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Each successful run of Ashwalkers takes about two hours, so you do not have to sink in a ton of time into each playthrough. The management of the Squad is engaging, but not inherently difficult, barring any lack of resources. Ashwalkers: A Survival Journey is a chill, but engaging game with a ton of reasons to come back for more.
Ashwalkers is an odd one, first and foremost deserving some credit for being distinctive with its narrative-driven approach to survival rather than being action-oriented...
By no means is Ashwalkers an action-packed survival adventure sim, but the story and importance of the journey was compelling enough to have me on the edge of my seat through my playthrough. I cared about Squad Three and wanted them to succeed, and for a narrative-driven game such as this, isn't that all you can ask for? If postapocalyptic survival games are your jam, Ashwalkers is worth its very reasonable $12 price tag and offers a different spin on the genre that you know and love.
Ashwalkers is a pretty good survival journey. It is both simple and difficult at the same time managing the group is easy...if you have the resources. If you are the least bit curious, I'd give Ashwalkers a shot, especially with 34 different endings, you're going to have different experiences for a few playthroughs!
All style and very little substance, Ashwalkers feels as cold and lifeless as the world it portrays.
In the end, Ashwalkers is a decent game. It’s simple in nature and there’s a nice reason why. This is a storytelling game above all else. It does a decent job here and offers up some different play styles when it comes to choosing the story the player wants to see. It’s not going to knock anyone’s socks off, but I did enjoy my time with the game even if it did have a few moments where it frustrated me. This one is for the story fans. Not actually the survival players. If you’re looking for a choice driven game, you’ll get it here. If you’re looking for a post-apocalyptic survival game, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
Ashwalkers feels like several games in one, incorporating various unique gameplay elements pulled from the survival and choose-your-own-adventure genres. But where this may seem like cause for concern, it expertly brings them together to create a special experience unlike anything else. My time with Ashwalkers was brief, but enough to leave a lasting impression that has me yearning to go back and play it all again.
When you're advertising 34 different endings, your survival journey needs to be survivable. But Ashwalkers rarely made me feel like my survival was on the line. I was hungry for more human interactions between squad members. But the bulk of the writing is saved for the badge-ridden hall of fame at the end of this post-apocalyptic Oregon Trail.
As it stands I finished the game without a lot of desire to repeat the journey to flesh out the many endings (34 in total). Because while there are enjoyable moments, it’s spread across a sparse and long hallway to move through. Ashwalkers has the bones of some good ideas. I’m hoping to see more from this studio as there are unique things to be found here, Nameless XIII just never really hits their mark. There are plenty of walking simulators out there that make you forget what they are. Ashwalkers, unfortunately, is not one of them.
If I had to use one word to sum up all of the paragraphs above, it would be “boring.” Ashwalkers takes some intriguing prose and some truly difficult decisions and casts them all into a dull world design with tedious gameplay. The visuals and interactivity presented here do so little to prop up the relatively decent writing that I can’t help but wonder if this game would’ve been better off as a book instead.
Ashwalkers is a low priced, brief survival adventure that offers neither satisfying decision making nor engaging gameplay mechanics.
Ashwalkers attempts to do something new with its blend of survival and storytelling, but it fails to be both compelling and a challenge for those who play it