Plus, once all the available relays are activated, you can always explore more in the hopes of finding these game-enriching hidden messages, or suit parts capable of enhancing Rei’s traversal talents. Solar Ash may not be a long game, but you move from location to location at a healthy pace. While it can be all too easy to simply skate from objective to objective, enjoying the ride along the way, players who stop to hunt down the various Voidrunner logs and notes from the black hole’s native beings littered around are sure to find a more satisfying narrative experience than what Solar Ash provides on the surface. Everything points towards an ancient society that has vanished. It all feeds into the idea that Rei technically isn’t supposed to be here clearly evidenced by the many shattered environments and sights you’ll come across. ![]() Successfully engaging in fights is mostly about getting the drop on foes rather than approaching them directly, tackling enemies from creative angles and using your time-slowing skill in order to launch a barrage of melee attacks quickly. Rei, however, is a little more fragile by design. This is especially surprising since, in Heart Machine’s 2016 game The Drifter, its main character was gifted with so many combat abilities – ranging from various gun types, a sword, and even a bomb – to dispatch enemies. While the core act of moving in Solar Ash feels natural, the negative impact of trying to sustain speed and grace in your movements is that instances where you’re forced into combat slightly suffer. Failing during a particularly challenging platforming sequence isn’t too disheartening either, due to near-instantaneous restarts and various shortcuts you’ll unlock along the way. Instead, you’re always encouraged to just pick yourself back up. Luckily, it feels great to pull off in that “easy to pick up, tough to master” sort of way, largely thanks to there not being much punishment whenever you do fumble a specific stunt or manoeuvre. These simple actions form the bulk of the game’s 7- to 8-hour runtime. As a Voidrunner (one of the few beings able to navigate such an ethereal setting) you’ll be grinding across rails, skating over the cloud floors, and grappling your way from ledge to rooftop – all while trying to maintain a strong sense of momentum. ![]() It also stays straightforward enough to keep you inspired to push on.Īchieving this lofty goal means mastering Rei’s liquid-smooth traversal abilities. ![]() Sounds like a doddle, right?įortunately, despite its interstellar trimmings, the game’s universe building is appropriately subtle, and never comes over as intimidating. ![]() The only way to save the planet is by activating a device called the Starseed at the dying star’s centre, ridding each unique location of the black goo and colossal beings that have set up shop there. Your world, specifically: which just so happens to be slowly being eaten away by a black hole known as “Ultravoid”. READ MORE: Heart Machine’s ‘Hyper Light Drifter’ proves that video games have the insight and guile to represent our sicknessįor as heady as its core concept is, your mission in Solar Ash is deceptively simple: save the world.Stylistically, this is very much the kind of evocative, neon-drenched excursion we’ve come to expect from Alx Preston and his team, but by emphasising fluid movement and tapping into the additional scope offered by 3D, Solar Ash presents a ruined realm well worth thoroughly exploring. Fortunately for us (but perhaps not so much for her) that’s exactly the scenario that Rei, the heroine of Heart Machine’s highly anticipated Hyper Light Drifter follow-up, finds herself in. Odds are, most of us will never know the sensation of what it’d be like to surf around the rim of a black hole, offsetting the immense force of its pull for just long enough to witness whatever mysteries lurk inside.
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