If these mechanics were handled with less expertise, the game would have fallen apart.

Solar Ash is a game that could have come off the rails very easily If the game play wasn’t tuned properly because there are lots of events and challenges in the game that have you string together jumps, rail grinds, speed boosts and combat. Heart Machine could have done another 16 bit entry, but showed their developmental courage with some impressive visuals and gameplay. Using music as an analogy, Solar Ash isn’t a safe follow up album but a much more riskier sophomore effort. In terms of visuals and gameplay, Solar Ash is a very big departure from Hyper Light Drifter, a game that put Heart Machine on the map and was largely regarded by many as one of the best Indies of recent years. The biomes are visually distinct but in terms of mechanics remain mostly similar with some puzzle complexities become more prevalent towards the end. You will need to traverse to different biomes, awaken a colossal beast and then defeat the beast. Solar Ash feels like a blend between Hyper Light Drifter, Shadow of the Colossus and Sunset Overdrive and when you use those words to describe Heart Machines second title, those are great elements to throw in a blender.Īs Rei, you find yourself, air gliding across oceans of clouds and through destroyed lands while trying to reignite the starseed which can close the black hole and save your planet as one of the last void runners.

Initially released as a PS5 exclusive, Solar Ash finally comes to PC on December 6 and Xbox Game Pass this winter. On the inside, Solar Ash shares a lot of the same dystopian, isolated and emotional themes with yet another breathtaking score and crisp gameplay, but on the outside the game is a great departure from Hyper Light Drifter that mostly works. It’s indescribable how different Solar Ash is from Heart Machine’s debut title, Hyper Light Drifter, yet how similar it is.

Download solar ash xbox one