That’s a big problem that makes certain speed-focused 3D platformers feel uncontrollable. Letting the player move so abruptly in a different direction does not work either. It makes sense to have a wider turning radius while moving so quickly, but it’s a bit too dramatic. You can remedy this by slowing down and turning. But sometimes it feels like you’re trying to turn a boat on a dime while skating. You may feel like going as fast as you can at all times since the game pushes you in that direction with wide-open areas. The only blemish when it comes to the movement is the feeling of turning while skating. Jumping from grind rails and using the Timeslip and grapple to pull yourself towards a ledge, then continuing to skate across the ground looks and feels absolutely incredible. It simply does not feel like a studio that has put out its first 3D game. The speed at which you can move through each area while doing cool-looking movement only serves as a testament to the expert-level design in Solar Ash. This leads to some mind-bending visuals and incredibly wild platforming. And if that is not enough, then there is also a gravity mechanic that is reminiscent of Super Mario Galaxy. Almost everything about it from grinding rails to dashing feels extremely fluid and natural. The major focus in Solar Ash is clearly the movement. Rei also has a double jump to get to high platforms. You can also boost by hitting the other trigger button to make long jumps or to quickly evade an enemy attack. Add in the left trigger and you will start skating around the clouds that make up much of the Ultravoid’s ground. Rei moves slowly around the world if you just use the left stick. Fortunately, simply moving Rei around the Ultravoid is one of the best parts of the game. The only thing that needs to be upgraded is your ability to master the controls. You have everything you need to complete the game right from the start. For example, I used Ghozam’s suit which doubled my attack because it let me skate up to enemies at full speed, take them out quickly, and keep on moving without slowing down much.Īnd that is part of what makes the gameplay so great in Solar Ash. Collect all of the caches in an area and you will unlock a new suit that will let you do more damage to enemies, get more plasma (Solar Ash’s currency), or even use your boost more often.Įven though the unlockable suits are not required to make it through any part of the game, they give the player a way to customize Rei to better fit their playstyle. In a fairly smart move to get the players who are only into the gameplay, these caches also contain parts of unlockable suits. However, you should absolutely still search out each of these caches even if the additional backstory is not something that you care for. Still, they are all relatively easy to find since each hidden cache has an arrow pointing to its location left behind by a fellow Voidrunner. These logs help you learn more about the individual characters as well as build out the worlds of the Ultravoid and your home planet.įortunately, these hidden audio logs are not crucial to understanding the basics of the story. Throughout the Ultrvoid, you will find these Voidrunner caches that contain audio recordings from your fellow black hole spelunkers. Voice acting is a bit of a new field for a Heart Machine game (Hyper Light Drifter had no voice acting), but every member of the cast delivered good performances in the audio logs that you can pick up across the game world. Playing two different and highly important characters is no easy task, and she pulled it off flawlessly. But we have no problem saying that Fryda Wolff’s performances as Echo and Rei are fantastic. She plays an important role in progressing the story, but that is as far as we will go to avoid spoilers. You will also encounter a character known as Echo after each boss fight. She is a part of a group (the Voidrunners) that took it upon themselves to save their home planet when the governments of their world could not come to a consensus on how to prevent the world from falling into darkness. You navigate this black hole that is threatening to destroy your home planet as the Voidrunner, Rei. It is a game about going fast and mastering movement, and it tells an important story about cobbling together something worthwhile when life gives you nothing but hopeless situations.įrom the start of Solar Ash, you are thrown into a strange and hostile world known as the Ultrvoid. Solar Ash is a colorful action-adventure experience that sends you speed skating around multiple environments with all kinds of gravity-bending platforming mechanics baked in. And there is one more banger to fill out the calendar from the team at Heart Machine ( Hyper Light Drifter). 2021 has been filled with tons of incredible indie games, like Loop Hero, Cyber Shadow, Inscryption, and so many more.
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