Ashen Image
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 224 Ratings

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  • Summary: Ashen is a 3rd person, action RPG about forging relationships. You are a lone wanderer in a sunless land. The only light to be had sputters from an age-old lantern at your side. There is a rumble in the distance, and then a light. Through leaking eyes you make out a peak on the horizon,Ashen is a 3rd person, action RPG about forging relationships. You are a lone wanderer in a sunless land. The only light to be had sputters from an age-old lantern at your side. There is a rumble in the distance, and then a light. Through leaking eyes you make out a peak on the horizon, choking the land in a cloud of ash. Nothing ever shone so bright. The first dawn turns to dusk and finally recedes into familiar blackness. A GAME BY AURORA44. This is the tale of a bygone world. Choose a path and hold on to those you trust. Players can choose to guide those they trust to their camp, encouraging them to rest at the fire and perhaps remain. Together, you might just stand a chance. Expand

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E3 2017: Ashen Gameplay Trailer Features Creepy Monsters And Tense Battles
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 21
  2. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Dec 6, 2018
    90
    Ashen does more than enough to differentiate it from other Souls-like games. Although its combat utilizes the same stamina-focused mechanics, the inclusion of features that promote a sense of community with the game's characters makes for a wholly different experience.
  2. Dec 17, 2018
    86
    Its gameplay is familiar and fun, but its world is like nothing you’ve ever seen. You have to work to see it all, and you’ll want to.
  3. Jan 2, 2019
    85
    Ashen uses the Souls-like formula to tell a very different, optimistic story about community. Whether you’re playing alone, with an AI companion, or with another person, combat with the game’s varied enemies and bosses is challenging and satisfying. Ashen’s world feels real and lived-in, and getting to carve out your own settlement and watch it prosper is truly satisfying.
  4. Dec 6, 2018
    80
    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.
  5. Jan 10, 2019
    80
    Ashen has some very good moments, and some others than can be ruined due to a terrible artificial intelligence. I fought along and against this AI to the end of the journey, in a very polarizing game. Some people will enjoy it a lot, and some people won’t connect with it.
  6. 80
    Through an embrace of more traditional game design, Ashen's take on the Souls formula ends up feeling welcome, even after countless imitators. A solid quest structure and top-notch world design make this beautiful low-fi title a worthy homage to a quickly aging series.
  7. Dec 18, 2018
    70
    As an indie game Ashen really knows how to impress a crowd. There is so much variation in this game of 20 hours, that it easily makes you forget about all the technical mishaps.

See all 22 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 68
  2. Negative: 13 out of 68
  1. Dec 8, 2018
    10
    Absolutely beautiful graphics . Bit like dark souls - You cant just go slashing enemies. Fantastic atmosphere
  2. Dec 10, 2018
    10
    Las 4 reviews con 0 son lamentables y deberian ser eliminadas, uno dice que solo está en W10, lo cual es mentira, a otro le molesta el precioLas 4 reviews con 0 son lamentables y deberian ser eliminadas, uno dice que solo está en W10, lo cual es mentira, a otro le molesta el precio y que no salga en steam, nadie habla del juego, en fin haters hay en todos lados. El juego es excelente, ambientación, estructura de misiones y mazmorras, interesante el concepto de ir haciendo crecer la ciudad. 10/10 Expand
  3. Dec 11, 2018
    9
    Great Dark Souls inspired game. If you love Dark Souls and have a fast enough video card, you will most likely love this as well.
  4. Sep 20, 2020
    7
    Compelling and interesting story. Fans of the souls series will enjoy the curiosity of what new enemy lies beyond each corner and the thrillCompelling and interesting story. Fans of the souls series will enjoy the curiosity of what new enemy lies beyond each corner and the thrill of a satisfying boss fight. However, this does not add much to the formula. The look is fantastic, but lacks in the item department. Weapons seems to all work the same, speed isn't considered much of a variable other than the obvious one/two handed weapon difference. This makes combat seem repetitive, and enemies to vary that much over time. Expand
  5. Jan 25, 2020
    6
    ASHEN is a souls like game made by annapurna interactive and its a cute little game that brings something new to the souls like genre butASHEN is a souls like game made by annapurna interactive and its a cute little game that brings something new to the souls like genre but still needs some work

    Story: there is this ashen bird that split up into 3 factions and one of those factions are the human kind and now it is your job to find all the artifacts of this bird and bring it back to life

    pros:

    so in this souls like game they added an open world which you can explore by doing side quests of some characters plus doing the main mission and it kinda feels like an mmo game but in a good way

    the voice acting is really good

    the art design is really beautiful and the world they built really shines and come to life

    there are dungeons in the game which are always a cool addition

    for an indie game the game is kinda long it took me 15 hours to complete it including all the side stuff

    the co op mechanic is cool and the fact that the game is better played with a friend just adds more fun to it

    the fact that you can use your friend or ai partner to climb ledges and open doors is really awesome and really adds to the co op element

    the game costs like 30 bucks

    cons:
    although the game is cute and all there are a lot of balancing issues such as your character having a very limited time to swing unlike the enemies which are a lot more faster and some times don't even stagger when you hit them that also includes the amount of stamina your are using or the teleporting spear mechanic they introduce to you later in the game or even the bosses almost everything in this game is unbalanced and the whole deal needs a patch like right now

    the ai of your co op partner is really dumb and it sometimes kills itself by accident leaving you alone
    to face a horde of enemies

    there is a limited amount of weapons and attack animations in the game

    some enemies feels recycled

    you cant unlock shortcuts or anything of the sorts when entering a dungeon which makes back tracking a lot more annoying

    some performance issues that need patching such as frame drops and bugs

    you don't get rewarded if you explore the open world of the game unless there is a side quest which is annoying because i really wanted to explore every corner of the map

    the final boss of the game is the most annoying part because the backtracing is just horrible you have to go past a cave littered with strong enemies then run all the way to the boss room with out any bonfire or anything that feels up your health potions then the boss is a total nightmare it has no mechanics or openings just a split second hit and then you need to dodge it for like an entire 5 mins without getting hit that's not hard that's just annoying

    in conclusion this game has a lot of potential to be a good souls like game i hope that the next game in the series will be a lot better and balanced but until then we will have to enjoy what we got so my final score to ASHEN is a 6.5 out of 10
    Expand
  6. Dec 1, 2020
    5
    Отличительной особенностью этой игры является прохождение с ботом-напарником. Интересный открытый мир и механика обустройства базы по степениОтличительной особенностью этой игры является прохождение с ботом-напарником. Интересный открытый мир и механика обустройства базы по степени прохождения игры.
    Боссов мало, но они сильные.
    Expand
  7. Apr 10, 2023
    0
    Worse souls clone ever. Cool art style but that is pretty much all I can say about it positively. Dark souls is difficult but fair, this gameWorse souls clone ever. Cool art style but that is pretty much all I can say about it positively. Dark souls is difficult but fair, this game is difficult because it’s unfair since the developers couldn’t figure out a creative way to make the game challenging. Uninteresting story. Broken mechanics (lock-on) and much more. Shield auto unequips in combat, super useful….not. Bosses one combo you if you’re not trading agro with AI companion. No traditional leveling up. Boring side quests. Bull**** enemy attacks. Enemies can use the same weapons you do but they use the same attack patterns as you do but much faster because ‘fair and fun’. 4 years since release and it still crashes. Oh and your AI companion literally commits suicide for what seems to be no reason so you get to solo yolo dungeons that literally have no checkpoints and shortcuts making you have to do it all over again and they can be very long, copy and pasted, but long. Don’t complete the dungeon before you run out of healing items? Do it again. Fun. Regret buying it for a quarter of the full price on a sale. Expand

See all 68 User Reviews

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