Of course, that doesn’t take away from the challenges that double down on speed, but it does make the game’s primary objective more compelling.Īfter Rei slashes her way through a few of these objectives, a boss for that specific area will appear. Needless to say, in a game whose strength draws from its ability to make going fast feel thrilling, the challenges that force you to slow down come as a bit of a letdown, making the journey often more desirable than the destination. The challenges vary from just climbing on black goo until you’re within slashing distance of an exposed nerve, to skating across wide-open areas in speedrun-style challenges. ![]() Each area has a set number of distinct platforming challenges required to wake up the area’s boss. The objectives that dot Solar Ash’s open arenas introduce a majority of the game’s critical path. The open spaces in Solar Ash beg to be sped through in-between the tighter areas, recreating the feeling of entering an open area for the first time over and over again. That’s not to say you’ll feel rushed, though-instead, there’s plenty of open space for Rei to skate around in between landmarks and objectives. In Solar Ash, the levels feel perfectly engineered to be sped through. It’d be one thing if it just felt good to go fast. Speed is important to the feel of the character in any number of Sonic games, or any game that heavily relies on speed and momentum, but that’s not always reflected in the level design. This is where Solar Ash’s world design becomes deeply important. Of course, a mechanic can’t just feel good it has to be utilized well within the game or else the total package will make for a disappointing experience. It allows you to build up just the right momentum to perform a tricky jump or zoom over to an objective in one of the game’s platforming challenges. Sitting at the core of nearly everything you do in Solar Ash, gliding functions as both a means of traversal and a gameplay mechanic. As you hold one button down to glide at high speeds, moving from smaller, more linear spaces to a wide field of clouds feels freeing and exciting.īeyond that, even just the simple act of gliding feels great. ![]() Movement is at the core of Solar Ash’s gameplay loop, and it flaunts that here. Is it also a cheap trick? Perhaps, but Solar Ash justifies the decision. It’s an effortlessly satisfying moment to delay the gratification that comes with exploring an open space, even if only for a moment. ![]() The tutorial feels wrong, but it does what only the best open games do: it puts players through a series of smaller rooms for a few minutes, ending in a long corridor, only to open up into the game’s vast hub. This is also really helpful since the game’s structure relies so heavily on repetition.Īfter a brief prologue explains just how dire the straits are for Rei, she’s immediately thrown into the void the game’s name for the supermassive black hole. Since none of the game’s individual mechanics are particularly deep, these small changes help keep the game from growing stale. That’s due in part to the unique setting of the world, but also is a result of each area’s distinct mechanics. All are twisted by the approaching black hole, contorted by its unbreakable pull.ĭespite the game’s cohesive visual design, each area has a distinct feel to it. Others are former cityscapes or dark forests. Some areas feature the wreckage of a fallen imperialistic civilization, complete with vast reflection pools and grandiose architecture. Fluffy clouds loom over the remnants of the places that were. Solar Ash’s world design and art bolster its cosmic premise. She glides on, determined to save her planet from the unbreakable hold of a world-eating black hole. Rei, the protagonist, recognizes the gravity of the situation, but not the challenge-she’s dwarfed by the scale and design of the world and the odds stacked against her. ![]() Your playground is a doomed world slowly disappearing into a black hole. Despite an occasionally similar color palette and ethereal, dilapidated world design, Solar Ash stands tall to Heart Machine’s last hit thanks it part to its smart level design and understanding of speed and movement. Solar Ash finds itself in the unenviable position of following up Hyper Light Drifter, one of the best games in recent memory.
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