![]() Heart Machine knows how to use color and use it effectively. However, the planet would be nothing without the fantastic colorwork on display. Solar Ash features a strong art style of hard-edged geometry juxtaposed with bubbly clouds, making up Rei’s planet’s design. What kept me going was the visual treat that is Solar Ash. Still, you really have to stick through a lot of dialogue that, for a while, feels meaningless to get to the big ending. Ultimately, Solar Ash does tie everything together in the end with a satisfactory conclusion. Going solely through the main story is confusing at times, and I struggled to find much meaning in what I was doing from it. You will be introduced to side characters with their own mini-side quests that flesh out and explain everything a little better, but to get a much better grasp on the world, you will have to parse through many of the collectible Void logs. Throughout the first act, I felt as if I had jumped into Solar Ash after missing the whole first quarter of the story, and it never does much to explain its world from there. If you’re not careful, story concepts like the Ultravoid can go right over your head. With Solar Ash, Heart Machine presents a much more upfront storytelling approach while still attempting to retain a cryptic nature to their created world, which occasionally did leave me puzzled and grasping for understanding in this world. One of Hyper Light Drifter’s biggest criticisms was its muted and cryptic storytelling, making the game hard to follow. Rei must explore the world to figure out what happened. Her home planet has been overrun by some sort of void ooze, her Voidrunner team has seemingly scattered, and a monolithic structure named the Starseed is at the center of it all. Solar Ash starts with our main protagonist, a Voidrunner named Rei, slipping through a black hole and awakening to her planet in a state of cataclysm. ![]() However, it is still a compelling game, both visually and mechanically, that is worth your time should you decide to get sucked into its mysterious universe. Expanding into the 3D realm was always going to be a challenge Solar Ash doesn’t manage to hit the same highs that its influences do. With Solar Ash, Heart Machine wears some new, more contemporary influences on its sleeve, such as Mario 64, Shadow of the Colossus, and even Sunset Overdrive. ![]() ![]() Their first project, Hyper Light Drifter, was a critically acclaimed homage to the 16-bit era that oozed with influences from Zelda and Diablo. Rei’s world then becomes threatened by a massive black hole known as the Ultra Void (which you can see in the trailer) which she must make her way through it in order to save all that she knows.Heart Machine is a development studio that clearly has a passion for games, making games from the games they love. “You control Rei, a spacefaring spelunker who explores alien planets for resources, artifacts, and more while traversing environments through rollerskating-like mechanics. In advance of the release, though, Heart Machine has released a trailer that looks spectacular. The new release date is now tomorrow, December 2nd. ![]() The eagerly anticipated game was set to be released in October of this year, but like many other games, was pushed back due to the pandemic. The studio has been working on a follow-up title called Solar Ash beginning in March of 2019. It was well-received both critically and commercially selling a large number of copies. The game, which developers described as a cross between The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Diablo. Back in 2016, Heart Machine released the game Hyper Light Drifter. ![]()
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