Solar Ash Review

A Dimensional Dance-A Solar Ash Review

When I think of the term "indie game" there are a very choice selection of titles that immediately come to mind, and Heart Machine's first title Hyper Light Drifter is definitely one of them. With that said, when the company announced they'd be making a 3D platformer as the next project they were working on I waited with eager expectations for another gem. As it quietly released onto the Epic Games Store and PlayStation systems I was admittedly curious as to why no buzz was surrounding the game. With a dev team as touted in my mind as the ones at Heart Machine, what exactly is going on with their new title Solar Ash?

Beauty and the Boredom

In terms of gameplay, Solar Ash is a very smooth experience. It's clear a lot of work went in to creating an engine conducive to proper movement and control. Hitting enemies with your sword feels pretty satisfying with a three hit flourish, and the way you skate across levels feels very polished. Whipping around using grapple points is also a breeze, and you'll never feel unsure of control even when things ramp up. It's a delicate dance of floaty movement with concise control that Heart Machine have really perfected with this move set. 

I'd also add that visual flare in this title is paramount, with large vistas and really sweet set pieces that show off what kind of wonderful visions are possible in 3D. These were also present in Hyper Light Drifter, but you can really tell how much more is possible in a 3D medium with an art team this ambitious. 

With all this in mind, why then has this game remained in an area of relative obscurity? Essentially it comes down to a lack of variety. With more or less window dressing, you spend the entirety of Solar Ash doing about the same thing. 

It looks like this:

-Enter new area

-Find main waypoint to get access to other waypoints

-travel to each of the new waypoints where you solve a small puzzle to awaken a portion of that area's boss

-Fight the boss of the area, which all look different but revolve around climbing up their bodies and hitting weak points in order until you finish off their three hit health bar

-New area opens up

-Repeat until the end

This is what made me realize as to why this game hasn't been talked about much-it's just fairly monotonous. Again, I found a lot of joy in gawking at all the wonderful art and a handful of really interesting sections thrown every so often in this game, but it really did drag after a bit. I feel as though the team at Heart Machine didn't really want to fully commit to the artistic style of a game like Flower or Journey (more typical of the games' of the publisher they chose to work with on this title) and tried to add in these combat mechanics later on to try and spice things up. What Solar Ash does right is create varied environments with solid playgrounds to show off movement and momentum, but the lack of variety in combat and objectives brings it all down a peg. Perhaps that more artistic commitment like that of a Journey, Flower, or Abzu would've benefitted this game more? It's strange because the combat of Hyper Light Drifter was just as great as its art, so I suppose some things are lost in translation with the dimensional shift. 

The story is actually pretty great, consisting of a general narrative that you can bolster an understanding of by exploring each area to its fullest and getting additional lore logs. It culminates in a satisfying end as well, and as someone who isn't particularly interested in story in these games it was executed really well here. Shame it could've accompanied an equally exceptional game if more variety was present here.

Verdict

In game feel Solar Ash is unprecedented in its level of polish but in terms of brass tax gameplay it tends to fall a bit short of expectations. If you focus more on the art and feel of this title you could probably overcome its more monotonous gameplay loop, but that may be a steep task for some. As of today, I can say I appreciate the beauty of this games visuals but it isn't something I'd consider replaying. It's one of those games that wastes so much potential in some areas by failing to live up in others, and I can't get over the fact that such great visuals were seemingly left dry here. 

7.3/10-Genuinely Impressive Style Collides with a Subpar Gameplay Loop