Ashen’s development team come from a movie background, with credits on The Hobbit, Avengers and Prometheus
Ashen
WILLYOUWANTTOBESOULSMATESWITHTHISINDIEACTION-RPG?ALEX SPENCER
PUBLISHERBANDAI ANNAPURNA INTERACTIVE, MICROSOFT STUDIOS/DEVELOPERA44/RELEASE DATEOUT NOW/COST£33.49 (FREE WITH GAME PASS)
And you’ll have to rely on it,
because the game never announces
their arrival. It doesn’t change the
character model – except for a
possible change of equipment, they’ll
appear exactly like whichever AI
companion you were partnered up
with beforehand. There’s no gamertag
over their head, or voice chat. The
two of you just fight side by side until
death, or disconnection, do you part.
This lack of communication can
actually lead to some surprising
moments of human connection, as
you’re left guessing what your silent
companion is thinking: do they know
this area already? Are you slowing
them down, or propping each other
up? It’s amazing how much you can
infer from the way a person moves and
uses, or disregards, the game’s single
all-purpose ‘call’ button.
This assumes, of course, that
your partner is at least vaguely on
the same page as you. Sometimes
you’re pulling in opposite directions,In our darkest
moments, the
presence of a good
friend can make all
the difference. As in
life, so in Ashen, an
open-world-meets-dungeon-crawling
action RPG with a difficulty curve that
can quickly bend from unforgiving
to outright sadistic. If that sounds
familiar, it’s because Ashen owes a
huge debt to one specific game – for
now, let’s just say its name rhymes
with ‘Schmark Schmouls’.
The biggest difference is that, in
Ashen, you’re never alone. There’s no
need to summon someone into your
game, you’ll always have a companion
to pal around with. Early on, this will
be an AI-controlled NPC, but eventually
you’ll start to notice they’re behaving
strangely – rushing ahead, pushing
off in a different direction, unwisely
picking fights. It’s a surefire way of
knowing a fellow human has entered
the scene.
at which point you’ll be untethered.
It’s not always seamless – we had
one experience where our original
companion disappeared, and we
were dropped into another player’s
game. Except they were well ahead
of our current location, having cut
a swathe through the level already,
and we could only track them down
by following the empty space where
enemies should have been.Space invader
The companion system works best in
dungeons, where you’re both moving
through a restricted space, fighting
your way towards the same goal.
Being paired with a good guide, one
who already knows the contours of a
dungeon, makes the dark less scary.
For you, that may be a downside.
For many, the oppressive atmosphere
of the Souls games – sorry, ‘Schmouls’
games – was a large part of their
charm. The game seems to realise
this, with an option to turn offshort
cutWHATISIT?
A gorgeous and
sometimes brutally
difficult mix of
hand-to-hand
combat and
exploration.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
The Surge,Nioh,Titan
Souls,Bloodborne...
Hmm, feels like this
list is missing
something.
WHO’S IT FOR?
Non-talkative types
who still want to
make the most of
their Xbox Live
subscription.088 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
REVIEW