Ashen Reviews
Ashen's slant on the Soulslike subgenre isn't revolutionary, but is a wonderful example of the familiar formula executed well. It's thoughtful, gorgeous, challenging and a dream to explore.
Ashen's handful of new ideas make it a stellar Souls-like with solid combat, a great art style, and an interesting world.
A moody, well-wrought action role-player with striking, desolate landscapes and a couple of great dungeons.
Ashen contributes more hits than misses to the Souls formula, though the overall experience may feel too familiar to fans of FromSoftware's trendsetting series.
Collecting souls is as nerve-wracking and rewarding as ever, but the real joy Ashen brings to this deadly dance is sharing those memories with strangers
A44's Ashen is as much about building community as it is defeating challenging enemies, reinforcing the triumph of victory with concrete examples of how you're improving its world.
A lighter souls, yes. But not a lesser one.
Ashen doesn't try to hide the fact that it's a Souls clone through and through. However, where many before it unwisely try to out-do FromSoftware in terms of difficulty or obtuse systems and lore, A44 has taken its game in a more refreshing, community-focused direction.
One of the best Dark Souls clones so far and while some things are near identical the co-op features help distinguish it as something more than just a straight copy.
I like Ashen, it's a good game, it would just be nice to see it building upon the foundation of its muse rather than almost copying and pasting it. The world of Ashen is its biggest attraction, the lore is deeply entrenched and really pulls everything together into something that is worth playing through. That being said, if you have played Dark Souls and don't want to replay Dark Souls, then you aren't going to get on with this. It is an odd one as I am a huge fan of this style of game, but we need games that build a more exciting game on top of the ideas that have been put down. It isn't enough to be the same but with a different look. Ashen is good, but nothing revolutionary.
As I continued to make my way through Ashen a calm of complacency washed over me. It doesn't have quite the same highs as a lot of its predecessors, but it maintains its tranquil equilibrium throughout. If you have an adventurous spirit and the patience and time to put into it, Ashen will pay dividends.
Like an illegitimate heir to the fire of FromSoftware, Ashen clicks exactly the same notes that made Dark Souls a legend, achieving a challenging, mysterious and visually astonishing experience. We will closely follow the works of A44 from now on.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Ashen could have done more to make itself stand out, and also could have been optimized better for the Xbox One, but at the end of the day, it's still a great game.
Ashen is a soulslike, but to call it a clone would be a betrayal of the awesome job A44 have with their debut project.
Ashen is one of the best souls-likes around and its quality matches that of the games that gave birth to the genre. The mystery and lore help to build a fascinating world that excellently complements the open and varied environments and strange, contorted creatures you will fight in them. A44 have provided a big breath of fresh air in a genre desperately in need of reinvigoration.
From superb shots of the sea to underground caves illuminated by the crackling fire of your torch, uncovering a new area is an utter pleasure. It might be a year late, but Ashen still manages to carve out its own space for greatness.
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.
Review in Italian | Read full review