![]() ![]() We’ve seen countless great examples of sci-fi trying to examine what lies beyond the unknown, and some of the strangest and hardest hitting successes are the ones that frame seemingly impossible concepts against the comfort and familiarity of life and reality as we know it (I’m looking at you, 2001 and Interstellar). The game tells a story of sacrifice and loss using exploration as its primary device, and traversing the void to uncover its secrets (and hopefully save your planet) is an utterly sublime experience. From its striking first moments of staring down the business end of a beautifully rendered accretion disk and plunging straight into the Ultravoid on your interstellar skates, Solar Ash is oozing with style, grace, and all of the neon-drenched sci-fi trappings you can handle. This shield system works to remind players how fragile Rei is while incentivizing plasma collection and curiosity.Skating across the strata of ruined wastes of planets long ago pulled across the event horizon, leaping between outcroppings and weaving through ruined civilizations against the backdrop of impossible geology, you can’t help but wonder how you’ve never played anything like this before. There are up to five health slots, so collecting plasma throughout your adventure to purchase more shield slots will benefit you. Getting hit by enemies will break your shields, but they can be repaired through the blue boxes throughout the map. It works as shields that constantly need to be repaired because, after a boss battle, Echo will destroy one of your shields. Each boss battle does many things right: there are no tedious moments, they are pretty short, they offer just enough diversity to feel new, and they test your mettle, making you feel powerful and hungry for the next one.Īnother reason why Solar Ash is fun to play is how it handles health. As the battles begin, the stage that you’ve been traversing to cleanse the land and awaken the boss turns into the boss arena. For starters, they usually occupy the stage in some way before the battle, further making the worlds feel alive. On the other, an air dash or glide ability would be a well-earned unlockable for beating a boss, collecting all of the journals, or completing a side quest that would make playing Rei that much more fun.Ī highlight of Solar Ash is the boss battles. On one hand, it is impressive that, although it is a relatively short game taking about eight hours to complete, Solar Ash remains fun and non-repetitive without presenting new abilities throughout it. From the start of the game, you have access to every ability Rei will ever get. One of the cons of Solar Ash is the lack of abilities. Heart Machine nailed the feeling of gliding through the worlds, allowing players to feel like a true Voidrunner. ![]() Black ooze replaces a climb-anything stamina meter, keeping players always headed in the right direction. You can simply hold down a button and skate on every surface including blue, pillow-like clouds. ![]() Moving around the Ultravoid is a joy because of Rei’s general flow. ![]() Every detail within these worlds works to further immerse you into Solar Ash.Įnough about what makes Solar Ash fun to look at and be in, let’s get to what makes Solar Ash fun to play. The sky color of each stage shifts from light purple, vivid green, and burnt orange while your home planet grows bigger in the sky, drawing nearer to the Ultravoid. Without fail, my favorite level would always change to the newest world I’d encountered, which speaks to each world’s individuality and fun factor. In one word you’ll be grappling from skyscraper to skyscraper, and in another, you’ll be grinding on a mushroom rail upside-down on a lava globe. There are six worlds in total with each one being more eccentric than the last. And though the levels are separate, the lack of loading screens mixed with the memorable silhouettes of each stage filling the horizon makes the entirety of the Ultravoid feel seamlessly connected. Instead of being one massive open world, Solar Ash splits its stages up into bite-sized levels, which works perfectly. Here, she encounters the broken remains of devoured cultures that once were, each offering different architecture, moods, and mechanics. Solar Ash starts with the game’s protagonist, Rei, leaping into a black hole to save her planet. ![]()
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