Ok so after putting in some time, I’m finally going to leave it be for a while. It’s just not working for me...
So here’s the thing. It’s gorgeous, it really is. It’s a beautiful game to look at. With the exception of colour banding... which, and I can’t lie here, is the worst I’ve seen in any game in many years... this takes me back to the old days of early GLIDE gaming and no 32bit colour on pc. I walk into a dark area and BOOM, it’s like a time machine... how did they not see this? But the gameplay isn’t hooking me at all.
It’s very similar to Souls, which I LOVE. However at the same time, it’s not. You see at its heart, Souls is all about farming. Gitting Gud. Can’t do an area? Farm souls, level up, try again. Simple loop that keeps it fresh and makes it so you are never REALLY stuck, just, a little bit under levelled.
But Ashen? They got rid of levels altogether. Instead you find weapons and items in the world... Very rarely. You can upgrade them, for a price (Souls), but by the time you get to do that you’ve already had to face some tough enemies.
The hook, for me, isn’t there. No swords? No level system? This AI partner, is he actually with me or not? One second he’s there the next he’s not... I turned off the multiplayer because I just don’t want that. I want a nice simple AI guy to follow me... but sometimes he’s there and sometimes he’s not, and this is in the same area at the same spot.
Sometimes, I’ll get hit and live. Sometimes with the same enemy doing the same thing, it’s a one shot death. Sometimes I can recover with my partner helping me. Sometimes it’s just instant death, back to the worlds most awful loading screen (seriously... I know what game I’m playing, I don’t need it on the loading screen with nothing else).
The trouble is that it’s just, well... a bit boring. I’m already bored. In Souls, bloodborne, immortal etc, I’m there in the action, levelling up and feeling awesome. Here? I just feel like... like there’s nothing to do. Big bland worlds that look pretty but... nothing more?
Bit shocked to be honest that I feel this way... On and did anybody else feel issues with the controls? It’s almost like I’m using a GameCube pad? There’s no smooth 360 degree movement. Instead you sort of snap into a direction? Almost like you can only move in degrees of like 20 or something? It’s very jarring.
Oh well... Inmortals New Game + should be certified any second, I’ll just play that again