• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ashen release imminent? Xbox Store says that the game is available now

Skyn3t

Skyn3t

Banned
kxd4tav7bf221.jpg


This just pops on Xbox Store, found on Reddit.

 
Gavin Stevens

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Wait wait wait wait...

Wait...

Somebody just said this plays like dark souls?

Do they mean plays like dark souls, or is a third person game where you attack and is quite tricky and this must be compared?

Because if this is like Souls then I am so there!
 
InvictusBlurp

InvictusBlurp

Neo Member
Just searched in my xbox and can't find the game in the store.

Good that i turn on my xbox and checked game pass too, downloading Strange Brigade.

Game Pass is killing my HDD space in december :)
 
Gavin Stevens

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Yup, essentially the same sort of thing as souls, in a way. Hyped, and will be purchasing regardless just because of the art style.

Another one I’m lookong forward to is code vein but the release date is... I have no idea. It changes all the time? It’s cureently December NEXT year? Meh...

I hope, so so hope, that Ashen is out Friday, because I’m just about to finish up Lego Harry Potter collection after Spyro, so I need something a bit more ME :)
 
gunslikewhoa

gunslikewhoa

Member
o'dium said:
Wait wait wait wait...

Wait...

Somebody just said this plays like dark souls?

Do they mean plays like dark souls, or is a third person game where you attack and is quite tricky and this must be compared?

Because if this is like Souls then I am so there!
Click to expand...

 
Gavin Stevens

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
I’ve just thought...

Both this and Below are on game pass.

Game pass is currently 2 weeks free. The it’s a £1 for a month. I also have 3 months worth of codes I got for free.

I essentially have game pass for 4 and a half months for a single pound, and get to play a few games I’m hugely excited for, as well as other amazing games on game pass, plus possibly some new bombs at the game awards later...

To say I’m over the moon and excited is an under statement :)
 
Last edited:
Gavin Stevens

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
I’m so tired I can’t play tonight or watch the game awards... plus I want to finish up the last few % on Lego Harry Potter... but tomorrow will consist of catching up on all the news then playing this in glorious 4k :)
 
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
So, how is the game, it's also out on the Epic store but has changed the release on Steam to be TBA or something, guess they got exclusivity arrangements also?
 
Last edited:
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
Al3x1s said:
So, how is the game, it's also out on the Epic store but has changed the release on Steam to be TBA or something, guess they got exclusivity arrangements also?
Click to expand...

Nothing listed on Steam based on a search. Seems like the publisher Annapurna is throwing its lot in with Epic on this one, though whether that plays out for them who can say.
 
Blam

Blam

Member
Wow fuck Epic for moneyhatting this shit. I honestly won't even bother with this launcher if Epic thinks the right way of attracting customers is moneyhatting shit out of other platforms. Especially since it was announced with those.
 
Jigsaah

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I streamed the game for 5 hours last night. It's VERY Dark Souls like. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how similar it felt. If you know Dark Souls controls you know how to play this game already. Not only that but they got the jumpscares down, the two bosses I defeated both had individual mechanics and were wildly different fights overall. I won't spoil it for anyone because it is a slight bit of a puzzle on the first boss.

bumleforce said:
So does this game have a 1080p 60fps mode?
Click to expand...

There is a 1080p mode. However, when I activated it, it didn't seem to improve the frame rate on Xbox One X. I get the feeling there's an error somewhere in there.

Blam said:
Wow fuck Epic for moneyhatting this shit. I honestly won't even bother with this launcher if Epic thinks the right way of attracting customers is moneyhatting shit out of other platforms. Especially since it was announced with those.
Click to expand...

I had a lot of people asking me if I was playing PC or Xbox. Apparently they wanted to buy on PC. I didn't even know it released on PC. All I heard was Game Pass. What's crazy is that its only on gamepass on Xbox. I got Forza Horizon 4 on both platforms with Game Pass. I guess it's because it's published by Epic instead of Microsoft. That's unfortunate.
 
Last edited:
Calibos

Calibos

Member
Half hour in...pleasantly surprised so far. It's very souls-like in nature, but also very polished and slick so far. I am excited to play more tonight which is a good thing since I have been replaying DS for about a week now.
 
InvictusBlurp

InvictusBlurp

Neo Member
Jigsaah said:
I had a lot of people asking me if I was playing PC or Xbox. Apparently they wanted to buy on PC. I didn't even know it released on PC. All I heard was Game Pass. What's crazy is that its only on gamepass on Xbox. I got Forza Horizon 4 on both platforms with Game Pass. I guess it's because it's published by Epic instead of Microsoft. That's unfortunate.
Click to expand...

It was a Play Anywhere title :

ashenucemr.jpg



Epic is snatching games from everyone...
 
Last edited:
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Kadayi said:
Nothing listed on Steam based on a search. Seems like the publisher Annapurna is throwing its lot in with Epic on this one, though whether that plays out for them who can say.
Click to expand...
I was referring to this
unless they've started removing the page altogether region by region showing this "TBD" means "never" in the end thanks to Epic.
 
Last edited:
gunslikewhoa

gunslikewhoa

Member
I wasn't sold on it until I got up early this morning and watched a stream of someone who had played all night, I think. I'm a couple hours in, and I think I'm really going to enjoy this. It's not as difficult as Souls so far. At least the early areas are MUCH more open, which has worked out fine so far. It's Souls combat. R1/R2, shields, dodge/roll/jump and so on. I don't have any complaints about the combat yet. The aforementioned stream assuaged my fear of lack of enemy variety. I think it will be OK. There's climbing that's a bit jank, but it's for exploration purposes (like reaching items or secret areas) only afaict, so not a big deal. The only player stats are health and stamina. Most of the stat side has to do with upgrading equipment. No invasions but there is co-op. There are co-op NPCs as well, but I don't understand exactly how that works yet. Recovery system and bonfires are in. I don't think there is any magic beyond weapon infusions/buffs. Maybe some enemies use magic?

I don't know a lot about it yet, but if you're itching for some Souls action, this is probably a good choice.
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Good to see it's getting good reviews.

Since it was a stealth release, I was thinking MS knew it would bomb so keep it quiet.
 
Jigsaah

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Norse said:
Does it have difficulty setting? If it's as hard as souls games I'm sol lol
Click to expand...

I didn't see a difficulty setting for the game when I started it. Though I'm not at home and can't confirm yes or no at this time.

AgentP said:
Is it as hard as a Soul's game?
Click to expand...

It is as hard as Dark Souls in many ways, but easier in other ways. For example, in Ashen, you have a map and actual quests. The quests are mainly fetch this, kill that but anybody who loves darksouls knows that the enjoyment comes from traversing an expansive map, finding hidden treasures and facing off against multiple enemies simultaneously. It's about the Journey, so the fetch quests don't bother me at all. There's a fair amount of backtracking to spend orbs (think souls currency in Dark Souls). You do lose all orbs when you die, however you can be resurrected in multiplayer if somebody is in game with you. So in that way, it's a bit easier.

Traversal in this game is more vertical than Dark Souls. You can't vault up walls in Dark Souls, but there's a bit of platforming in Ashen and can vault yourself up walls and find new paths. It's pretty free flowing too as you can sometimes find some pretty interesting jumping puzzles in the games towering castle ruins and you're usually rewarded with a new weapon or some gear. Fast travel is unlocked fairly early in the game.

Enemies are absolutely relentless, varied and do not care if it's 1 vs 10. You can find yourself running from a group of enemies, only to be cut off by another group hiding in the wings. Now it's a party, you got 10 enemies to dodge and hack through. Thankfully, there is hope. You can choose to enable or disable multiplayer, also enable or disable your AI companion. AI companion is fairly useful at distracting the hordes.

Multiplayer is automatic, when enabled. So basically they just match you up with people who just so happen to be on the same main story arc that you are on. Once in game, you never know their gamertag. They become your AI companion. you can choose to work together or not. You can also team up with friends using a multiplayer password kinda like Dark Souls 2 and 3 and Bloodborne.

If you have more questions let me know.
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
Al3x1s said:
I was referring to this
unless they've started removing the page altogether region by region showing this "TBD" means "never" in the end thanks to Epic.
Click to expand...

Ah, my bad. For some reason, it was excluded from my tags. I see it there, but yeah TBD. Art style looks great (a lot of nice stylistic games revealed at the Game Awards, Among Trees and Last Campfire especially) but this is probably more a game for certain friends of mine versus a purchase myself.
 
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
It looks really well done for sure, in combat and world design and everything, more than other Souls-likes that attempted the style. If it lasts throughout the whole game.
 
Gavin Stevens

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
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 :)
 
Last edited:
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
The "git gud" people say of souls is not about leveling up to brute force things though, it's about playing better, learning the mechanics, enemy behaviours, etc. >_>

Some degree of RNG in how much damage you'll get exists in all of these games, both for the enemies and for yourself, it doesn't seem like much of an issue? Chances are you need to be super careful around an enemy that may one or at best two-hit kill you, don't get hit seems like the intent. But whatever works for you, I'll probably enjoy the differences as much as the similarities. I mean, From Software's very own Sekiro does away with leveling too, not every game has to have that stuff.
 
Last edited:
Gavin Stevens

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
I enjoy progression. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say. The feeling of becoming more powerful, not just better, works for me. That’s not here :(
 
InvictusBlurp

InvictusBlurp

Neo Member
I downloaded 3 Game Pass games in december, Mutant Year Zero, Strange Brigade and Ashen.

Ashen is the only one that i probably won't play more, the game is a good try to make a souls clone but the details are missing and
Gavin Stevens Gavin Stevens 's post in this thread describes well my feeling about the game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Front Mission 2: Remake will be releasing April 30 on PS4, PS55, Xbox One, Series X|S, and PC (Demo available later today on Steam)
News Trailer
23
1K
Crayon replied
The Crew Motorfest coming to Steam on April 18 (currently available via Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store)
News
6
401
Teamhelperjr replied
Microsoft’s gaming chief hints that Xbox could get PC stores like Epic Games one day
Rumor 2 3 4 5
221
8K
Hero of Spielberg replied
Xbox Winter Demo Event 2023 Now Live, 20+ Games Available
15
2K
Punished Miku replied
Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been added to the Microsoft Store for PC. Could be coming to Game Pass.
Rumor
3
295
thicc_girls_are_teh_best replied
Top Bottom