![]() Heart Machine is clearly a studio that wears their influences on their sleeves. Thus begins a somewhat familiar-feeling adventure about slaying massive beasts and saving the world. As she awakes, however, her entire team has vanished and the massive inky beasts stand between her and her goal. Rei's home planet is at risk of being sucked into the Ultravoid (a very large black hole) and it is up to her to activate a device called the Starseed that will save her planet from this fate. Wasting absolutely no time, it places you in the shoes of a voidrunner named Rei, who uses advanced technology to explore black holes. This shield system works to remind players how fragile Rei is while incentivizing plasma collection and curiosity.Solar Ash begins, as many games do, with its protagonist waking up confused in a strange space. 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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