Ashen - a new Souls-like

[Zed Duke of Banville]

15 years ago every other RPG was a Diablo-clone, now it's a Souls-clone. Yawn.

If only there were some good ones.

Salt & Sanctuary from 2016 is a fun, visually-inspired, 2D Souls-like.

 

[sullynathan]

Can't trust a man that likes lords of fallen. It's shit.

Salt & Sanctuary also sucks, but not anywhere near as bad as lords of the fallen.

It's difficult to make a souls clone because most devs want to make an action game, not a dungeon crawler.

Souls games are action games after all.

 

[slymer]

Looks fun, and I like the look of the game, but I don't want to spend $40

 

[toro]

The world design is interesting but the gameplay is more like Necropolis than Dark Souls.

Also most enemies have a retarded jumping attack.

Edit: Linear world (no shortcuts, no path going back to Firelink Shrine), around 20 hours, no PvP, most enemies are humanoid.

 

[slymer]

Can't trust a man that likes lords of fallen. It's shit.

Salt & Sanctuary also sucks, but not anywhere near as bad as lords of the fallen.

I liked them both

 

[cvv]

sullynathan likes Dark Souls 3 :micdrop:

 

[thesheeep]

Lords of the Fallen is absolute shit and if anything showed that From Software are talented and that it isn't a formula anyone can just copy and cash in on. Haven't played the Surge but LotF was poor enough that it'll be a long time before I bother having a look.

I actually played LotF a few days ago, and boy was it an utter piece of shit, indeed.
Started with The Surge right after and it is a night and day difference. I must say I was honestly confused by how the same people who developed LotF managed to make a game clearly in the same vein with much of the same systems in place... but actually very enjoyable throughout, with better design in everything.
It's still no Dark Souls contender, mind you, it is just plain worse in pretty much all aspects - but this time, it is an enjoyable game. It even has some of the same design mistakes as Dark Souls (heavy armor being pretty much entirely useless and a noob trap, or for people who want an extra challenge).

If the same people who made both LotF and The Surge made a new game and that new game had the same increase in quality, then I think it would actually be pretty damn good.

 

[cvv]

Ooookkeeyy....

Anyway after reading and watching some more stuff I'm definitely taking this game for a spin, will keep ya'll posted.

 

[Skdursh]

If they don't put it on Steam I'm just going to pirate it. I dealt with Epic in the past (played some free-to-play game of theirs literally one time on PS4 and it forced an account on me) and getting my account removed from their servers took like six months of emailing them and telling them to delete it. I emailed them somewhere around 30-40 times before they FINALLY deleted my account from their servers and there is absolutely no chance I am going through that shit again.

 

[sullynathan]

sullynathan likes Dark Souls 3 :micdrop:

Incline. Dark Souls 3 is far superior to shitty Lords of Fallen.

 

[RapineDel]

Lords of the Fallen is absolute shit and if anything showed that From Software are talented and that it isn't a formula anyone can just copy and cash in on. Haven't played the Surge but LotF was poor enough that it'll be a long time before I bother having a look.

I actually played LotF a few days ago, and boy was it an utter piece of shit, indeed.
Started with The Surge right after and it is a night and day difference. I must say I was honestly confused by how the same people who developed LotF managed to make a game clearly in the same vein with much of the same systems in place... but actually very enjoyable throughout, with better design in everything.
It's still no Dark Souls contender, mind you, it is just plain worse in pretty much all aspects - but this time, it is an enjoyable game. It even has some of the same design mistakes as Dark Souls (heavy armor being pretty much entirely useless and a noob trap, or for people who want an extra challenge).

If the same people who made both LotF and The Surge made a new game and that new game had the same increase in quality, then I think it would actually be pretty damn good.

That's good to know, I might give The Surge a chance then.

 

[Dodo1610]

The artstyle is fantastic, the gameplay seems simplistic but fun. But I have only played for 1h.

 

[cvv]

The artstyle is fantastic, the gameplay seems simplistic but fun. But I have only played for 1h.

From the short gameplay video I've seen it seems there are no stats except HP and stamina? What determines your damage, just weapon stats? Also is there magic?

 

[Funposter]

i'd rather play dark souls 2 again than play any souls-like

 

[Villagkouras]

Somehow, it reminds me another failed Souls clone, Blade & Bones (which had pretty bad gameplay, but some interesting ideas like controlling day/night cycle and permadeath). Ashen has much better gameplay, combat may be a little floaty but it's fine. I hate the small freeze when you sprint, but sprinting jumps are so satisfying. Platforming in general is tight.

Thankfully they didn't include base building crap.

I've played for about a couple of hours, the only way to increase HP or stamina is either for finding items that do so permanently or by completing quests. There are no other skills like strength or dexterity. No weapon stats or scaling. Of course no weight load or varying rolling speed. Everything is streamlined.

Also, you always have a companion which makes the game easy.

But the mood is definitely there, so I'm going to continue and if anything changes drastically, I'll keep you updated.

 

[Elex]

15 years ago every other RPG was a Diablo-clone, now it's a Souls-clone. Yawn.

at least is not another battle royale.

 

[cvv]

First impressions - game feels like a high-quality indie. Sound design is great, visuals are stylized. I prefer more realistic art but it's not a dealbreaker. Combat feels great and I'm getting my ass kicked so my fears about casual difficulty have been dispelled (for now). Character development is limited, too soon to know if it's detrimental to the overal depth and replayability. You won't be doing build runs with this game, that's seems for sure.

The only problem is I got an AI companion forced on me for the prologue, no idea if I can get rid of him later. I fucking hope so. Also loading after dying takes like 10 seconds, seems excessive for a game with such seemingly simple graphics.

Overall the Dark Souls is stronk in this one and I'm enjoying it.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

what does "souls-like" even mean?

 

[Siveon]

The only problem is I got an AI companion forced on me for the prologue, no idea if I can get rid of him later. I fucking hope so. Also loading after dying takes like 10 seconds, seems excessive for a game with such seemingly simple graphics.

It's required in multiple dungeons to have an AI companion or someone to co-op with from what I read of a review. They even take people who you've played with and let you get them as companions - weirdly enough.

what does "souls-like" even mean?

What do you think? Closely similar to or resembling the pacing/combat mechanics of Demon's Souls/Dark Souls/Bloodborne.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The only problem is I got an AI companion forced on me for the prologue, no idea if I can get rid of him later. I fucking hope so. Also loading after dying takes like 10 seconds, seems excessive for a game with such seemingly simple graphics.

It's required in multiple dungeons to have an AI companion or someone to co-op with from what I read of a review. They even take people who you've played with and let you get them as companions - weirdly enough.

what does "souls-like" even mean?

What do you think? Closely similar to or resembling the pacing/combat mechanics of Demon's Souls/Dark Souls/Bloodborne.

so... cat mario?

 

[V_K]

what does "souls-like" even mean?

What do you think? Closely similar to or resembling the pacing/combat mechanics of Demon's Souls/Dark Souls/Bloodborne.

so... cat mario?

I have long been saying that Souls are essentially an evolution of Metroidvanias but people get too butthurt by the comparison to see my point.

 

[cvv]

I have long been saying that Souls are essentially an evolution of Metroidvanias but people get too butthurt by the comparison to see my point.

This is technically true, as much as saying DeS/DS is an evolution of King's Field. But the differences between those are so huge the comparison is basically meaningless.

Btw after getting addicted on Souls I tried to branch into the 2D metroidvanias like Salt&Sanctuary or Hollow Knight but I can't play those. It's just not the same and I'm bored.

 

[V_K]

But the differences between those are so huge the comparison is basically meaningless.

It's not meaningless in the sense of creating expectations. If you go into the game expecting a TES-like or Diablo-like you're gonna be severely disappointed, yet coming with Metroidvania territory, you'll feel right at home as they require the same mentality in your approach to gameplay. Of course, it's not necessarily going to work the other way around.

 

[toro]

The artstyle is fantastic, the gameplay seems simplistic but fun. But I have only played for 1h.

That's the only good thing about the game.

* There are throwable spears.

 

[sk2k]

40 Euro? Only available in Epic's shitty store? How much money the devs got from Epic to make it exclusive?