Not everyone is gonna absorb a game's atmosphere the same as you, especially if you're not able to fully immerse yourself within one's fictional world. Thankfully Solar Ash had no difficulty setting the mood for its world and environments, establishing the massive scale of all five locations within the Ultravoid.

You're able to see previous and upcoming areas, along with the Starseed, from wherever you're standing. Heart Machine's previous game, Hyper Light Drifter's multilayered music tracks return, scaling progression off of how far you've traversed a level, or what phase you're fighting a boss on. Exploring open environments with a movement system that is fast and fluid is akin to the early 3D Mario games, while the gravity-bending planets and quiet atmosphere just screams Super Mario Galaxy. Taking on the gigantic Remnant boss fights after completing an area's gameplay loop is also reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus.

This game delivers on so many levels and tells an extremely important message about letting go of the past and moving forward, while dealing with themes of loss, loneliness, and desperation among others. But it also manages to hit the mark on a personal level. Not many games manage to give me full-body goosebumps on multiple occasions, or to even make me shed a tear, but this definitely accomplishes that.

Solar Ash feels like a vivid idea I dreamt up as a culmination of specific sources of media from my childhood, and manages to deliver one of the best original 3D platformers I've ever played. (and yeah I may have enjoyed it more than HLD, but Heart Machine's still BANGS)

Almost eerie how much this aligns with my tastes. If I were David Ehrlich, I would call it Jet Set Radio with Mario Galaxy level design (more one than two, with a little less emphasis on planetary gravity shenanigans, though still a fair bit) delicately placed alongside the basic premise and boss fights of Shadow of the Colossus. I (now playing myself) would complain that this sets ludicrous, unrealistic expectations and that the game could not possibly live up to this embarrassing hyperbole. I would then sit down and cross my arms in a crotchety way (crotchetily?) before firing up the game for myself. "Mario Galaxy meets Jet Set Radio," I'd scoff. I'd probably even do a kind of mean-spirited imitation of his voice and chuckle in my dingy apartment. I would then, after five consecutive hours of bliss, stand face-to-face with the fact that he was completely right. I would nevertheless not apologise to David Ehrlich.

This is gameplay as art. This is motion as art. This is why I get irate at how indifferently so many AAA games treat elements as basic as level design and movement. This is why video games are such an exciting form. A small indie team can do this (!) with one millionth of the money a small nation takes to make Anyone but You. Isn't that just unreal? It makes me electrified to even look at this game and recognise how untethered the medium truly is! This is one of the best games of the young decade and handily the best 3D platformer I've played since God himself shone a light down from the heavens that mysteriously transformed into a small chip containing the video game Bowser's Fury. All it would take is access to my neural pathways and a spreadsheet to tell how predictable this opinion is coming from me, but hey. I take what I get, and this is about as good as I've gotten in the genre without the red plumber's appearance. Ever.

Gamefeel is just the worst thing to articulate. There isn't much I can do to describe the joy of a game that truly nails momentum to this degree other than to tell you to drive on some black ice to see it for yourself. So, instead, I'll shout out how well they facilitate it. With the boost, the skating, the rails, and the emphasis on horizontal platforming, a simple push on the analog stick is never less than euphoric. The vistas are stunning and singular. The game is awash with that same post-Hotline Miami neon palette that so many dime-a-dozen pixel art indie games copycat. Here, the blocky models and brighter shades allow the scheme to pop so much harder, especially with the canny inclusion of actual points of contrast (A level has the colour orange! Enemies are a deep black with white cartilage and red eyes! The poison is bright sickly green! The whole colour wheel is within my grasp!). The boss fights are a completely different kind of movement-oriented challenge equally as fun as the rest of the game, and the open areas play my favourite trick in the world of being a series of linear challenges cleverly disguised and integrated into one interconnected visual piece. I'm floating on a cloud spiritually, and often literally, playing this game.

So where's that final half-star? I've got two hang-ups, neither major, but both nibbling at the corners of my psyche once the credits rolled.

First off, the regular enemies, or just the standard combat. If you can genuinely mount a defence of single-button flailing against enemies in a 3D platformer as, in any way, valuable, then I'd love to hear it. I, for one, do not envision this defence. The slow-down feature adds some dynamics and allows the enemies to occasionally serve the roll of fun shortcuts or movement-combo extenders, but, generally speaking? You just mash the button to kill them in two seconds. You could remove combat like this from every platformer ever made, and history would progress unchanged. It's hard to blame this game for following suit, but it's harder to think of where it's been more pointless.

My real hang-up is more of a question. Does this borrow too much from SOTC? I don't dislike this as an object of storytelling in the way many reviews seem to. I don't even think the constant quipping is that annoying. Although this is almost certainly unintentional, it's a very interesting way to signal a character's unquestioning belief in their heroism. Intellectualising like this won't get you past the enormous speed bump of a voice you find intolerable, but I really like Rei's voice. Sue me!

What I dislike is taking SOTC wholecloth. This has the same twist and build-up. The element with Echo is a nice addition, but, just like the actual plot, it was so over-signalled that I was surprised when it went in the exact direction I thought it would from moment one. I expected a left turn that never came. SOTC is an unbelievably touching, uniquely human fable. I'm more than willing to enjoy this on the level of a retelling, a different author's interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story. But that's all I could do. That's all I was offered.

I discussed this a little with the friend who recommended this to me initially (thanks, Blair!), and they had some justifications for the over-telegraphed structure that I kind of bought. The idea that Rei is so single-minded in her mission that she misses the obvious weight of reality is compelling! But even if I was fully on board with this interpretation, it doesn't add to the experience. Take the logs, which are joyous to engage with just on the level of being well-placed collectables. These are positioned as though they are drip-feeding you information, slowly unfurling a mystery throughout the runtime. But they aren't; you get it immediately! Tracing the lines is less exciting when the entire thing is neatly unspooled on the table from moment one. And it wasn't; I lost interest in the logs very quickly. But this is hot air. I still found myself righteously fist-pumping at the climax. Even if it is a retelling, it is a gorgeous and innervating one. Every point lost for lack of subtlety is gained by the unwieldy stadium-sized emotions they choose to substitute them. It, if nothing else, understands that to supplant a vision demands a new one take its place.

Play if you have a pulse, the camera is a dream, speedrun honks, Epic Games exclusivity is a prison that has doomed this masterpiece to a life of obscurity, etc.

Talk about a Disappointment... i came into this game with Cautious but high expectations coming from Heart Machine's first game, Hyper light Drifter, which i loved it thanks to amazing presentation, world building, atmospheric soundtrack and excellent action adventure gameplay

Solar Ash isn't a bad game in the slightest. if anything it has redeeming qualities. once again the presentation is phenomenal, dream-like even. every location stands out and the beautiful music makes it just as magical and mysterious. the gameplay can also be pretty fast paced and fun, especially when it comes to the platforming and skating around, and i also like the world building around the Ultravoid itself.

unfortunately while the highs can be high, the lows are also pretty frustrating. When it comes to gameplay, the combat is extremely bare bones, and while the platforming is fun, it can be annoying at times because of the camera and other things in the way. but really the biggest issue with the gameplay is how Easy it is. i rarely died in this game and even if i did, it wouldn't really matter for how the game is so forgivable with saves, health pick ups and how quickly you can finish off your enemies, and feels like i'm going through the motions for most of it.

and while i loved the Presentation of this game and liked the world building of the Ultravoid... the story just kinda sucks. it just feels like the writers wanted to make something in the veins of Shadow of the Colossus, but without what made that game's Narrative work in the first place. and i also didn't like how heavy in the dialogue the game was, Rei especially talks... a lot and while it's not annoying, it was surely distracting from letting me just sink in when going through this world.

I Came into Solar Ash expecting to love it, but sadly... while I'll remember the sights, sounds and fun of jumping around this lovely planet, it has certainly given me a sour taste in my mouth with how it tells it's story which is what the core of it all was... and that sucks

Regardless, I'm still looking forward to the future of Heart Machine, so hopefully, Possessor(s) and Hyper Light Breaker turns out great and gives me the same positive feeling I've had when i played their first game

After Hyper Light Drifter, I was definitely excited to see what Heart Machine (again with Disasterpiece's soundtrack on board) would come up with with their first 3D game. Especially since it's basically a 3D platformer focused on momemtum and speed. And honestly, I was definitely not disappointed.

The premise alone is one of my favorite in video games: The protagonist's planet is about to be sucked up by a black hole, and she descends into the black hole to destroy it. Within the black hole are fragments of worlds that have already been absorbed, connected to purple clouds over which you can surf. An incredibly cool concept in my opinion.

And it plays great and lets you marvel at the beautiful and melancholic world design again and again. The core gamplay loop consists of destroying anomalies with the help of parkoure challenges. Sounds a bit abstract, but that's the best way to sum it up. The problem here is that this loop gets repetitive very quickly and isn't expanded enough with new challenges or more skills. What kept me going were the new worlds, but not the new challenges. Sure, lava floors are used here and timetrials there to add variety to the parkour challenges. But despite that, since the moveset remains the same until the end, a certain routine arises. Get to a new area, destroy 5 anomalies with parkour and destroy the boss. The story is also relatively unimportant; I only noticed the side characters and their fates peripherally.

The world design and general feeling of gliding above the clouds is so strong that I was drawn into this world. And I'm really surprised that, objectively speaking, there aren't that many aspects here that really excite me. However, the movement and atmosphere of the world are so strong that I am simply enchanted. They could have dropped the voice acting and the detailed lore dumping and left everything just as mysterious and vague as in Hyper Light Drifter. Then it would be much more popular with me.

Tony Hawk's Shred-ow of the Colossus hits some high highs but some real lows, but remains definitely worth trying out.
Visually stunning, extremely satisfying traversal, but some menial systems in place that felt like they detracted from the overall experience in my opinion.

Primarily upgrades locked behind scavenger hunts of yo-yo difficulty and some relatively obtuse menu systems for tracking completion of side quests.
My biggest personal gripe was with the Withered Eye boss about halfway through the game, where the physics just didn't work - not only did I have to set the game to easy to get through the jank, it was so frustratingly beyond my control I almost put the game down.
I'm glad I persevered, since the final two areas were visually striking and the bosses were satisfying, and the ending stuck the landing for me. A tonne of style, only a touch less substance, and a few baffling decisions, but still very much worth a play.

Solar Ash is a beautiful and very well realized game about exploring and moving through space. The game feels like it was built upon its skating and gravity mechanics, with some very solid platforming, big boss fights, and a good number of hidden collectables. It also shows off a fantastic sense of vertical scale every time you reach a new area, you're a given vast establishing shots showing the entire area that you will explore. Each zone feels very distinct and there are memorable challenges in each of them.

But unlike Hyper Light Drifter, this game's story does not speak for itself, instead it's delivered through conversations and data logs which I found hard to get into. The central conflict between Echo and Rei is visually striking and mysterious. The imagery is all we really need, I don't think this game needed to walk the player through the story of regret in such a wordy way. Perhaps it is an unfair standard to compare it to the developer's first game, but I think they could have told this story entirely environmentally with as much focus on the boss fights as they had.

Having lore and NPC stories doesn't really drag the game down much, but it adds up with some other things. The game's full potential is held back a bit by the combat, certain instances of unfair timing, and occasional jank that's to be expected from such an ambitious 3D platformer. Once you've seen an area and solved its puzzles it can be a little tedious to backtrack through them or have to repeat tricky sections. It's not a perfect game but it's one that is definitely worth your time and one that I look at fondly and will probably return for extra challenges in the future.

Solar Ash is amazing. A parkour game based on destroying giant anomalies. It reminds me a lot of Shadow Of The Colossus due to the size of the anomalies, however, it is much faster and more dynamic. The game mechanics are incredible, sliding and jumping from place to place is very satisfying, you feel like you're in the game, flying and sliding smoothly. The game's story is incredible, that typical game where you understand practically nothing at the beginning, but as the gameplay progresses, you understand everything and everything falls into place. It's an incredible game, with a great moral and history lesson. I loved Solar Ash and its platinum was relatively medium difficulty. It was a good time and I had a lot of fun. An incredible and dynamic game, to occupy a few hours of your day and have a lot of fun.

Pretty impressed by this game. I don’t know how I got this impression, but I thought it was a 2D side scroller. It is NOT a 2D side scroller 😂

Compared to Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter, this is a radical departure. 2D vs. 3D; isometric Zelda-like vs. third-person Jet Set Radio/Shadow of the Colossus-like; text only vs. voice acted; subtextual narrative vs. explicit. In other ways, it’s totally of a piece. Sprawling, desolate, colorful yet dark sci-fi worlds; Disasterpiece soundscape, bleak tone.

I played this game on a game pass trial, and after clearing the third area, I was close to putting it on pause in favor of checking out a different game. I seldom dip out of a game halfway, especially a game that’s 5.5 hours to beat the main story.

But up to that point, I was somewhat underwhelmed. I was leaning 6/10 or 3/5 stars for a rating. The game was mostly straightforward with few compelling gameplay developments, and the difficulty was borderline too easy. Rei’s abilities, while cool, seemed to be stagnant. Put another way, I felt I’d sort of grokked the game, seen what it had to offer, and wouldn’t be missing out if I moved on.

But I pushed through, thinking I’d be done soon enough, and I was curious to see if the narrative would pay off. I’m glad I did.

As you tilt into the second half of the game, the challenge rises. Not a crazy amount, but enough to keep me from getting complacent. Enemies and combat never get fleshed out too far, but they do ramp up the number, type, and placement of enemies to make you work for it. Traversal challenges get progressively more imaginative and more exciting as well, if not always more challenging.

The fact combat and traversal stay largely consistent throughout isn’t a bad thing. The game is balancing a tone and player experience it wants you to have that it succeeds in delivering. Rei’s abilities, combined with the level layouts and the enemy encounters, allow you to pull off some fun, quick bursts of each type of activity, chaining them together gracefully and artfully, and that becomes the fun. Well, it’s always fun, but it opens up more as it goes, and the devs start to really flex in the back half of the game.

Around this point, I’m leaning 7/10. The game hits its stride, I can see where it’s going and that it had more up its sleeve than I thought.

But then I started collecting more Voidrunner caches. Then I unlocked the suit that lets you track down the remaining caches, so I get all those. Then I look up the last couple locations I need to tie up the remaining side quests. And then I beat the game.

By the time the credits rolled, I went from being interested to invested to engrossed in the story. For what it’s worth, so did my wife, who watched me play a good deal of it, and asked me to fill her in on story developments when she missed some sessions. She came for the gorgeous art, but stayed for the story.

I was eager—we were eager!— to see how it ended, and the resolution was shocking. It’s neither the vanilla happy ending I was expecting nor the despondent, worst possible outcome I would have predicted otherwise. It strikes a weird, chilling middle ground all its own.

For making me genuinely care about the story as well as surprise me with the resolution, this game gets a solid 8/10. It’s a game that pays off if you give it the time (and I did—10 hours 😳). Give it a chance to cook, and it does. It has a new game plus mode and a hardcore mode, which I think are two different modes. So there’s some replay value there too (a cursory Google revealed a group of people who think the hardcore mode is the true way to play, not that I know what changes about it).

I’ll be chewing on this one.