Solar Ash Reviews
Solar Ash is a beautiful adventure across worlds. While it can feel rather empty pacing-wise and overly ambitious to a fault, it’s still worth playing for people who love colour-filled skies and a huge expanse to skate across. Just don’t expect the combat to blow you away or the story to give you an existential crisis.
Despite the comparisons it might draw to Shadow of the Colossus, Jet Set Radio or Hyper Light Drifter, Solar Ash delivers a wholly unique experience that combines a smooth, unparalleled sense of speed, incredible level design, and a gorgeous art style. Even if the same can't be said about its narrative or controls, Solar Ash skates in at the last minute to become one of the year's most interesting games.
By making Solar Ash radically different from Hyper Light Drifter, Heart Machine has avoided boxing themselves into a niche while being able to continue and build a universe they clearly care for. It wears its influences on its sleeve and comes together as a cosmic mix of a few games held dear by many, and as long as they continue to do this, I'll eat it up until I am far beyond full.
Solar Ash is a solid second effort from the talented people at Heart Machine Games, with an intoxicating sense of freedom, good boss fights and a gorgeous soundtrack. It's less polished and less deep than its predecessor, but it's worth your time and money.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Solar Ash has a strong core gameplay loop, but its weak story and heavy repetition make it tough to recommend.
Solar Ash is a neon dream that will not fail to delight fans of Hyper Light Drifter and beyond.
Solar Ash is a non-stop roller-coaster of pulse pounding gameplay and intriguing narrative. A must-play!
Even with some rough edges, Heart Machine's latest is an endearing 3D platformer with its own unique hooks, carried by some strong lore, level design and aesthetics.
Solar Ash is another triumph from Heart Machine, a fast-paced burst of vibrant, surreal science fiction where players get to glide and jump around fascinating worlds with terrific bits of platforming and action spread out across a series of unique worlds with jaw-dropping visuals.
Solar Ash offers a visual delight with satisfying sci-fi parkour exploration but its call for adventure is occasionally hampered by certain repetitive actions.
Solar Ash is a surreal adventure that allows us to literally swim through the game. And although over time the fun becomes quite repetitive, losing some charm, the style does not allow us to break away from it until the very end.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Solar Ash is a visually pleasing adventure that pulls you in quickly with its swift and elegant movement mechanics and a snazzy synth soundtrack. Despite the strong start, the experience begins to lose its grip the longer it goes, with unreliable performance and mundane combat.
A lot of games did similar things to what you can find in Solar Ash, and unfortunately this new Heart Machine's game can't offer anything new. It's still a fine game, but one would expect something much more than just fine from these developers.
Review in Russian | Read full review
All in all, Solar Ash is a well-built, well-colored and unique game that you won't regret experiencing.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Solar Ash has some of the best controls in the adventure platformer genre. Putting you in complete control of a badass, freerunning woman, you’ll skate the beautifully neon and fractured world the game drops you in. Sure, the story is underwhelming and the combat simplistic, but the excellent atmosphere and mechanics are worth taking the running jump.
Solar Ash is a very well-built $20 platform that offers you a very entertaining package of stages, maps and platforming.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Solar Ash is an amazing and beautiful title that not only tells a nice story, but has a challenging and fun gameplay that will keep you hooked for its entire duration. Another great title by Heart Machine.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Solar Ash just managed to make it out in 2021 but it instantly became one of my favorite games of the year. It has an interesting story that got its hooks in me from the get go and the visuals and art direction are jaw dropping. Even though you spend a lot of the time doing a lot of the same things over and over the gameplay never got old to me as the fast and fluid movement system is so darn thrilling as are the towering boss fights. Solar Ash is a lot different from Hyper Light Drifter but it’s another must-play from Heart Machine.
Anyone who likes fast-paced platformers with a gorgeous sense of style will enjoy Solar Ash. Who knows - maybe fans of a certain blue hedgehog can play a good 3D game for once.
Solar Ash is a complete package, with stellar gameplay, a well-told story, and a realized world ripe for exploring.