Ashen - Indie Souls-like

Games
1

Has anyone else been playing this? It’s a little bit rough compared to the Souls games, but so far (I only reached the first shrine), the action RPG gameplay is very similar.

At the beginning of the game, the lack of stamina is just brutal. I’m so used to how these games play once your character is leveled up a bit, so being level 1 or whatever the equivalent of level 1 is in this game (since I haven’t leveled up yet), I’m not used to the lack of stamina at all. I think I can do a couple of quick attacks, maybe three, and then I don’t have enough stamina to dodge or block anymore.

Also, I saw a bit rough because the game was clearly not designed to have the player die as early as I died. I saw a shiny object, so I fell down a valley to go get it, and then couldn’t find my way up, so I fell further to my death. And then without explanation I ended up somewhere else with a companion following me. Oops, I think I missed some story beat there or something. Still, I’ve carried on. Maybe I should start over one of these times if I can create a separate save game, that way I get to find out what the missing story beat was.

2

Nope, but I will once it hits Steam, its an EPIC store and XBOX exclusive for now… Some more info:

3

Ok, I think I finally understand the passive multiplayer part now in the game’s description. You know my companion guy that I mentioned? He helps me out with enemies, he gives me little fetch side-quests. Anyway, that guy is not just my companion, sometimes he’s possessed by human players. How do I know this? Because in the middle of a quest, he’ll run off in a different direction sometimes.

At first I was thinking “Man, what a buggy coop partner”, and then I died, and was hoping he’d come back to resurrect me, thinking the AI will surely bring him back now that I’m down. Not only did he come back, he single handedly beat 6 enemies, while dodging and blocking and swinging like a pro. I knew at that moment that it couldn’t possibly be AI.

At other times, the companion is very clearly AI. They substitute AI when he’s needed for quest things like giving me a boost up a ledge, since, presumably, humans can’t be relied upon for that task.

4

I finished it & rated it 5th on my QT3 GOW list. The story conclusion was a lot less than I had hoped, particularly after the 2 tough final bosses and the challenging palace “dungeon”, but overall I really dug it. The only other Souls-like I’ve played is Nioh, which I also enjoyed after grudging through the early levels. What I’ve seen of the genuine Dark Souls & Bloodborne worlds & plot doesn’t appeal to me, whereas what Ashen did, does. I’m also looking forward to Sekiro in March.

The random companion multiplayer mechanic has been nicked from Playstation & ThatGameCompany’s Journey, and while cool in theory, unless you’re playing with a friend & discovering the world together at the same pace, I found it was not as useful as the AI surrogate in this game. Fortunately you have the option to turn the multiplayer off, and it will default to the AI companion who is generally pretty competent.

Also, from reading other forums a lot of people struggle with the Seat of the Matriarch dungeon mid-way through, when even your AI companion apparently disappears just before the bridge with four platforms & tough mob of enemies arrayed throughout, with the next save point just beyond… I know myself, because I was struggling & googled for a walkthrough. Here’s my very mildly spoilery advice-

So if you keep an eye on your AI companion, after you come down the last set of stairs to the large platform with the sap collector, just before the passages towards that Bridge with the 4 platforms, instead of following you into those passages, they backtrack up the stairs & jump of the opposite edge of the platform above… down to another platform below nearest to the Bridge, avoiding some tough enemies in the passage. If you’ve both imbibed from the sap collector before this, you should both survive the fall with minimal damage. (Someone else mentioned finding a ladder down from there too, but I didn’t see it on my play-though)

When you get to the Bridge with the 4 platforms, don’t try to engage the enemies on those platforms. Instead, sprint directly forward & past the big jumping club dude & the crawler charging towards you from the other end, dodge rolling to avoiding their attacks. If you do this, the other enemies on the platforms should not follow you! When you get past them & down to the next section at the end of the bridge, beckon your AI companion to join you- they may have gotten hung up by that pair, but with some luck your companion will join you before that pair return to their original positions.

The next section after the bridge is a set of staircases that has a few more swarms of crawlers, but if you’re cautious you should be able to defeat them even on your own to reach the next Resting stone not much further along. When you’ve reached this save point, you can backtrack to the Bridge to take on those platform enemies with your AI Companion in tow if you wish, and not fear having to run the entire length of the dungeon to there again if you expire :)

5

Put the start spoiler and end spoiler tags on their own lines. It used to work the way you did it, but it stopped at one point. Just put it on its own line.

6

ta :)

7

What was really crazy is that when I decided to do my companion’s little side-fetch quests, it gave me a game critical reward! You know the little health flasks in Dark Souls that you can drink to regain health? That was one of the rewards for doing his first side quest. I couldn’t believe it. What if I’d skipped that side quest and just gone on to do the main quest?

8

Added some further thoughts above… my only other criticism, aside than the ending, is the weapon upgrade mechanic- where you can’t see the values for the upgrade after next until you’ve spent your scoria to complete the currently available upgrade, so what weapon you might choose to upgrade becomes a leap of faith. But I gather than unlike Nioh & most Souls games, the weapons choice is not a huge factor in the gameplay & becomes even more moot late in the game, when if you’ve been diligently exploring & collecting, you will have excess scoria & the ability to store it.

I’ve seen it suggested that because of some of the factors I’ve mentioned above & the less demanding armor & loot mechanics, this might be a better introduction to the Souls-like genre than the genuine articles…does that ring true to any of the DS/BB faithful that have played this?

9

I would be remiss for not mentioning the haunting soundtrack that compliments the art style. Probably not everyone’s taste, but it sure did enhance my experience.

10

I’ve been playing it, shared some of my experiences in the Xbox thread, I think. I’m about 3/4 of the way through, I’m guessing- into the last big open-world ‘zone’.

In comparison to the actual Souls games, it’s certainly more simple. There’s no magic system, and the weapons are all very small variations on one another- the single-hand weapons are either high-stun/no-crit or low-stun/+crit chance with a range of base damage/attack speed in each category. The 2-hand weapons have the same variance/categories, just with higher damage for the same ‘level’. Any weapon in the game is just as viable as any other, as long as you get used to its rhythm.

It also is definitely easier than those games, with always (mostly, unless they run off as you noticed) having a companion- either they’re a real human, and similarly my leveled to you (and thus very good), or at least good for distracting the enemy while you hit them from behind (or vice versa while you just block). One tip from the (super-long) loading screen I didn’t get until halfway through the game, but makes sense- if you want a human partner, wait at a shrine for a bit. One should come along soon enough. It’s pretty much worked for me when I’ve wanted one.

And even though it seems like it, @Rock8man, there’s no real ‘side-quests’. The main quests run out for a bit, so you’ll do the side things, then they come back, etc. You would have had to do that quest pretty quick.

11

December 9th!

12

I played this on Game Pass. The game wasn’t bad but I put it down after 5-6 hours because nothing was really compelling me to go forward. Maybe it’s because I just got off of playing (and loving) the Surge but I didn’t really find the combat or world that interesting.

13

I have this on my wishlist/watchlist. I am curious what folks think of it when it comes out, and that is only a few weeks away.

14

Well this has been released and is on sale on Steam. Anybody playing it?

15

On GOG too, and I’m interested in some opinions as well.

16

Ashen is solid, I’d give it a 7.5-8/10, I can recommend it to anyone who wants a challenging and beautiful action-RPG. Even if it’s not revolutionary or a GoTY candidate, it’s fun, especially for fans of this type of game.