Ashen

Hey there!
This game is pretty alright.
Wait for a sale, this game is worth $25, not the full price of $50(dlc included).
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Pros:
++(-*)Dynamic Exploration: If you see it, and it looks reasonable, you can probably get to it.
Jumping around and climbing the terrain to try and see if we could get to a place that looked out of reach was one of my buddy and I's favorite parts of the game. Very often we climb to places we think werent intended to get to, and find an item waiting for us to grab. Although, the items will come up later*.
++Fluid Combat: Games combat is very fast paced and skill based. With proper skill, you can control most combats, with difficult boss fights challenging your memory, and reactions. You are constantly being given new enemy types to play around.
+Atmosphere: Every new area you go through is a varied landscape posing new challenges and visual aspects with an accompanying soundtrack that work very well to set the tone the designers were going for. Dungeons at first feel stifling, confined, and horrifyingly dark while you are still weak. However, they feel oppressive, magnificent, and corrupted while you are strong.
+Graphics: The way this game was graphically designed is breathtaking, The lighting is great in this game, from when you're in small confined spaces, your light properly shines, reflecting off of walls and other surfaces really well, while massive caverns almost (and sometimes literally!) seem to supress the light your tiny lantern makes. The Artstyle is very simplistic, but the things that need to be detailed are. You're faceless, because you were a blank slate. Gefn, however, is highly detailed, being a goddess of sorts.
+Staying Together: While out adventuring, you will stay with your friend as long as both of you remain alive, and do not return to Vagrants rest. Vagrants rest, the hub town, is the only place where you can not be with another player, otherwise the entire world is travelable together. You will even stay together after defeating bosses, if you so wish.
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Neutrals:
=Story: The story, while having some interesting moments like meeting Gefn for the first time, or certain other suprising moments, was ultimately very bland, and not surprising. A Heroes Journey is what this story is, and it doesn't stray from that path.
=Animations: They're okay, not the worst I've seen. Definetly not the best.
+=Controls: While the controls reward you if you use precise movements and attacks, it is easy to overexert yourself by Action Queueing by inaccurate, or overusage of the various controls.
=Challenge: The Game is difficult, but fair. Satisfying in difficulty, but not brutal. Died more times to gravity and drowning than enemies thrown at us. Only died about 30 times split between us, with more than half of those being accidental deaths due to falling. Some bosses were challenging, but only two required more than 2 tries to finish off.
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-=Customization: (Full section of each aspect of customization here)
-Armor&Shields: This is a Negative because there are only a small amount of armor and shields in the game, (12 Armors/Shields in the base game with the DLC bringing 5 gimmick armors, and 2 shields.) This is only made worse by the fact that Armors and Shields have direct upgrades. There are no reasons to use some armor/shields over other ones, at all. Light Armors are all outshined by a certain set, and same said about heavy armors. However, if you just ignore the bonuses from the armors, and focus on fashion the stuff is pretty varied. My favorite was the heavy armor set Tyrant's Plating which is straight up worse than Celestial Aegis. Matched well with Gefn's Blessing, and it allowed me my facial hair. The Defiler's Veil, the Light Armor, is straight up better than every other light armor in the game. It also matches well with the Guardians Pact.
=Weapons: Weapons have 2 different styles, 1handed or 2handed, and 2 different types, blunt or sharp. Blunt weapons focus on stuns and higher base damage, while sharp weapons have critical hit% and base damage that lowers the higher the crit% is. Each weapon type (blunt/sharp(1hand/2hand)) only has 4 different movesets to choose from. If you find a moveset you like, you're likely to find a weapon with some variation of weapon types listed above at some point. There are enough weapon variations to make a varied build.
+=Relics&Talismans: Objects you find progressing through the story or defeating bosses that give you various buffs, like the ability of everytime you make a charge attack, a successful hit resaults in an AoE burst that does 10% more damage, and stuns 200% harder. Talismans are runes you can inscribe onto the relics that give you various buffs. Anywhere from Increasing in damage as you get lesser health, to subtracting 25% from armor stamina penalties. You can make some varied builds using these, but there are some talismans that are obviously better than others.
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Cons:
----Limited Storage: There is a storage chest in the hub town. It is limited in storage space. You can not collect every item in the game, and keep them at town, even having to forgoe older equipment (even if its obsolete) to make room for new items and equipment. There isn't even a way to sell items to vendors so at the very least you're making money back, rather than just discarding them forever. If you're a hoarder, or a Collector, this will piss you off. (-*)The wonderful exploration and item finding earlier becomes a negative as SOON as you have to decide if you want to pick up an item, or keep something else in your inventory, especially because most consumables only stack to 9, and thankfully the plentiful upgrade materials dont. This is my number 1 most hated thing about this game.
-Multiplayer: While the dropin/dropout online feature works properly, the game is pretty dead. I recommend playing this together with a friend as I did (hopefully you get it on sale!), as the developers intended you to find random people to adventure with, while that just does not happen.
-Connectivity: Co-op is peer2peer. It can be good or bad, but lag can create moments where you're seeing enemies phase into and out of existance as the game tries to read where they are. Also, connecting to another person is instanced, while there's no loading screens, one or the other will be brought into the others world, which may resault in enemies respawning regularly if you have a bad connection.
-Length: As you may notice I have 21 hours of gameplay. This was an hour of premptively playing the game before getting my buddy to buy it, and 20 hours of co-op playthrough where we finished everything, and collected everything. We saw everything this game has to offer in 20 hours, and that included the DLC which was roughly only 2 hours long. My friend and I are Vets of similar games, so we may have finished it quicker than others, but if you're used to how these games play, you'll fly through it.
-Town Upgrades: Scoria, the ingame money, will at a certain point, lose its value, as it is possible to buy everything in the village, which there is no reason not to buy everything, as Scoria is plentiful especially later on, and not have anything more to spend it on aside from cheap consumables which you may not even want to get due to the limited storage mentioned earlier.
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If you got this far, thanks for reading. Game is a good game, with severe flaws that hold it back from being a great game.

Great game but If, like me, you're buying this having been attracted to the "Online Co-Op" tag be warned it's not traditional co-op. If you want to play through the game with a friend you're gonna have a lot of headaches.
Firstly trying to sync your worlds and secondly trying not to de-sync constantly.
The games co-op is passive meaning you're meant to just briefly cross into other peoples game space and help out a bit and then truck off again. If you're trying to play with a friend persistently, while it's possible, it's like the game is constantly trying to separate you and regularly will. I've read the co-op is more stable for some than others but for me it was extremely frustrating turning around every 5 minutes and going 'oh, my friend is now an AI character again, fantastic'.
I get the feeling if they'd just made it traditional co-op this game would've been received a lot better and been a lot more popular. It's clearly doable so why they've chosen not to support it is baffling.

I think the biggest reason for Ashen not recieving a very positive rating is that people tend to lament over the things the game doesn't offer instead of appreciating what it does.
In my opinion the game offers alot which other souls-like don't, most obvious example would be the jumping and climbing mechanics enabling a parkour like exploration at times.
If you see something that looks climbable it most of the time is in one way or another and usually will also have a reward waiting for you aswell.
Other than that the game is designed to be played in co-op, while the AI Companions do offer some help in the base game and playing it solo is also viable, dungeon doors and some climbing spots are literally designed for 2 players.
The co-op is also pretty good with you being able to connect to your friends with a multiplayer filter and being able to explore the whole map together except for Vagrants Rest, which is kind of like a ever changing Firelink Shrine.
Playing through Children of Sissna would also have taken alot more time with AI or solo, rather than with my friend.
The only real negative aspect to multiplayer is the fact that your friend will not show up as himself but rather as one of the NPC companions, depending on which quest you have active
The Combat is pretty much what you'd expect, a stamina bar which depletes on attacks, dodges and blocks
There is a slight difference in the dodging mechanic, if you press dodge once you do a bloodborne inspired dash but if you press dodge twice you will actually roll instead of dashing.
The weapons boil down to axe and club variants, which are then seperated into one- or two-handed.
Axe weapons usually have lower base damage but faster swinging speed and crit chance compared to clubs which swing slower, have no crit chance but offer higher stun and damage.
The stundamage is used to break guards or stagger enemies, while Blunt weapons excel at this, its also possible to pair a shield with a one-handed axe and use the shield to break guards or interrupt.
Each weapon has a very unique look to it and upgrading them makes different parts of the weapon glow.
Shields and Armor sadly can't be upgraded at all but better lanterns can be bought later on in the game.
Story and artstyle are definetly a matter of taste but in my opinion neither of it was bad, story had some decent twists and you can get into it if you really care and as for the artstyle I just really liked it.
The different Areas are all unique and look beautifully crafted and so are the dungeons.
I had a great time with the game and would definetly recommend it to anyone whos looking for a souls-like game to enjoy with a friend
BUT I would also recommend you to wait for it to go on sale, as the full price can seem a bit high

This game deserves way more love!
I hardly ever see anyone talking about it, and I really don't know why it's so under the radar...
It has almost everything I seek in a Souls-like:
- Very good combat and animations;
- Incredible athmosfere;
- A lot of exploration.
I must say this review will seem quite negative, but that's simply because I tend to remember things I dislike way more than things I like in pretty much everything I consume. But that doesn't necessarily mean my overall opinion is bad... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, let's begin:
The controlls all feel very familiar if you are a souls fan, and the combat is also very similar.
It's all about learning the time to dodge, to hit, learning the attack pattern of the enemies, and learning the best ways to use the moveset of your weapon.
I also like how the weapons got balanced. Those with higher damage will mostly have low critical chance or either a worse moveset, those with a better moveset will either lack raw damage or critical chance and so on. So there are options for all playstyles and there are very few objectively bad weapons.
The art in the game is simply beautiful and the atmosphere makes every area feel unique and give you a different feeling. Caves and dungeons get really dark, making it mandatory to carry a properly upgraded lamp. Which you can always place on the ground, in case you want to go for two-handed weapons in such places.
I also like how the areas are quite big and open, so there's plenty of room to explore and find secret items hidden in every corner. Sometimes you can even find hidden paths, but they are not always rewarding.
There are some interesting details like the ost played in the main town changing slightly as you progress through the game. The way as the town grows as you progress, and how the NPCs seem to gain better gear also makes you feel like you are making some actual difference in that world.
It has a quite interesting lore too, if you dig into it, but it's easily misseable. I may look more into it later...
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But of course, the game is not perfect. And has a few problems:
First the progression is a bit awkward: you spend the entire game saving Scoria and feeling like you never have enought to upgrade all the things you need. Until you get to the last two regions and suddenly gets overwhelmed with tons of it, so you get very excited to go back to the main town to do some real progress with your gear... Just to realize you was in the very final upgrade of pretty much everything, and no longer have anything actually important to use the whole bunch of Scoria you have left...
The bosses were a bit disapointing for me with a few exceptions.
Most of them just feel like regular enemies, but with a huge health bar...
They often have one unique mechanic in the fight, but it's never a big deal, and they have mostly generic movesets that willl hardly ever change during the fight. So they are fairly easy, to the point that there's only one boss in the entire game that I didn't kill in the first try... (without counting the DLC, since I didn't play it yet)
I also must say that I really dislike how Ashen deals with enemies respawns. It being by time instead of interacting with a checkpoint completely takes away the feeling of walking freely by a "clean" area. And it's even worse in closed dungeons. Meeting enemies you already killed when you walk backwards in a closed dungeon makes no sense at all!
Another issue is the multiplayer, which is pretty much dead if you don't call a friend to play with you. And even if you bring one, it's fairly easy to lose the possibility to connect in case you do a main objective before your friend.
And if you are alone you are left with the AI companion, which seems to alternate between two states of mind:
The "decent helper" and the "complete nuts". When in the second state, the AI will just do some nonsense like jump off the nearest cliff, become irresponsive at a random spot until you force it to respawn, get confused hitting the air while trying to save you from a grab attack, etc...
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And besides all that, the game could really use some quality of life changes such as:
- Unlimited storage space (honestly, you can't even store all the different weapons and armour in the storage...)
- Unrestricted inventory slots. I mean, why do I need to have a permanent empty slot just because I don't want to use potions? Why can't I just place any other consumable there? Or why can't I just have another one handed weapon equipped instead of my two handed?
- A better keybinding for the lances (having the same key as regular weapon swapping is just annoying, and creates bad situations when you need to swap between 1h and 2h quickly)
- Less multiplayer restrictions;
- And maybe the possibility to place markers in the map, so you don't have to remember everything by head when you backtrack...
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So, my final grade:
8.5/10 in coop
7/10 with AI
Probably the best souls-like I've played in a long time, but could be even better!

Genre - Dark Fantasy Soulslike with quirky graphic style
Another game that was an Epic exclusive, but it was worth the wait and there is now an added DLC that was worth a purchase too.
The graphical style might seem lazy to some, but I found it endearing and quirky. The models and terrains still look good to me.
There are only single or double handed clubs or axes to use as your main weapon, but you do get shields, spears and shields as utility items too. The AI is actually quite useful and you will rely on them in a few fights. I had a few real people jump in for co-op, but this wasn't very common.
The enemies are actually varied enough throughout the course of the game and the setting changes enough to keep your interest. The story is pretty forgettable, but the rebuilding of your main village is an attractive reason to keep plodding along.
It isn't the hardest Soulslike I've played, but is still a challenge. I do think they got carried away with the last boss though, as I nearly rage quit the game before looking up a few hints.

Wonderful environments, minimal stories, great character design. I would define Ashen as a softlike , because compared to soulslikes it's quite easy and it also lacks the complexity of combat, stats and enemies. Still, the game works perfectly fine and difficulty is always well balanced, except maybe for a few moments where the path to the boss is harder than the boss itself. Since the moveset is limited and there are not many types of weapons you will mostly dodge and attack for the whole time. Shields are not so effective in this game and they will just consume the stamina you need for dodging when attacked from multiple sides. As always, learning the enemy pattern is the key to the victory., but most of the normal enemies use the same pattern with some little variation and things only get interesting during mini and regular boss fights. During your quests you always have a following NPC which most of the time is useful (especially for climbing high walls), but can also be annoying when he gets stuck and can't reach you, or when he dies by falling off a cliff. If you activate the online multiplayer a real player can join and play as your NPC, which is much better, but it rarely happens 'cause the multiplayer is kinda broken. You can also play co-op with a friend if you set a filter code, that should work better.
The atmosphere is really great. The exploration feels rewarding, especially at the beginning when you are weak and only have a few items. You can increase your stats by completing side/main quests and finding the hidden black and white feathers of the Ashen. Side quests are great and involve different characters and places you wouldn't normally explore during your main quest. Unfortunately the exploration ends up being useless soon after you max everything you can. There are some secret armors and weapons hidden, but most of the time you will be overwhelmed with crafting materials you won't need anymore.
Now some negative points:
- You can only upgrade weapons (no armors, no shields).
- Limited storage space that can't even contain all the weapons / shields / armors you will find.
- Enemies respawn after some time and can be really annoying before unlocking fast travel.
- Some parts can be easily cheated by simply rushing to the nearest ritual stone.
- You can't skip the ending credits.
The game is well worth if you are looking for a simple soulslike with a beautiful open world and an interesting lore. The base price is a bit high though, I would recommend it only on sale.
PS: If you want to take screenshots without the HUD I suggest downloading the "Ashen Hud Toggle" mod by Pino44io.

7/10 on sale below 15€
5/10 at 33€ because that price tag is NOT worth it
French and english versions below:
TLDR: N'achète pas pour jouer à DarkSouls mais pour jouer à quelque chose de différent. Recommandé pour les gens en manque de nouvelle expérience action-aventure
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TLDR: Dont buy this to play another Darksouls ripoff, buy this to discover a new game with inspiration in DarkSouls mecanics and handling. Totally recommend to people lacking some action-adventure games in their life.
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Un peu trop linéaire a mon gout mais le level design est au rendez-vous, le lore est cool, les personnages sont pas tous égaux en qualité, le gameplay est solide, manque de variété et de profondeur.
le dernier boss est pourri
les donjons sont challenging en mode normal, et y'a un deuxieme mode avec 50% stam et hp en moins qui rend le jeu vraiment vraiment difficile.
Je conseille aux fans de DS-like en manque d'expériences nouvelles ainsi qu'aux fans d'aventure, de challenge et de poésie, car oui c'est un jeu très poétique et ça fait tout a fait son charme
Je déconseille aux gens qui ne peuvent QUE voir l'action-aventure par le prisme de DS pcq ils finiront déçus
Maintenant je vais traduire tout ce que je viens de dire dans une review en anglais.
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The game is a tad linear but the level design is decent.
Story and lore are well explained and there is plenty there for people to explore.
Characters are not equal in quality.
Last boss is absolute shit.
Dungeons and areas are challenging and can sometimes feel a bit cheesy
Gameplay loop is ok-tier: explore all the maps, get all the loot and cash, discover and upgrade equipment as you go.
I recommend to the people loving the DS-like formula that are looking for a more poetic and linear experience
I DO NOT recommend at the normal price tag and/or people who can only see that kind of games through Dark Souls prism because they will end up totally jaded about how the game ISN'T Dark Souls.