Solar Ash

What to Know

Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 65

Days

Hours

Minutes

Skip It

Solar Ash is a platform playground with an incredibly stylish presentation – but it struggles under the weight of a disengaging narrative and repetitious gameplay.

Skip It

Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 65

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 65

Solar Ash is a platform playground with an incredibly stylish presentation - but it struggles under the weight of a disengaging narrative and repetitious gameplay.

Where to Play

** VSG may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Rate and Review

What did you think of Solar Ash?

Player Reviews0 Votes

Critic Reviews for Solar Ash

Critic Reviews

Distribution

65

Reviews

High Score - 95/100

95%

Average Score - 77/100

77%

Low Score - 40/100

40%

70/100

Sam Greer (PC Gamer)

Despite its strengths, Solar Ash fails to skate free from the gravity of its influences.

December 6, 2021 |

Full Review

This glorious game about movement and adventure also feels like a rumination on something deeper and more personal.

December 1, 2021 |

Full Review

Recommended

Christian Donlan (Recommended)

8/10

Andrew King (GameSpot)

Solar Ash is an exhilarating action-adventure game with strong puzzles and flashy boss fights.

December 1, 2021 |

Full Review

Sam Greer (PC Gamer)

70/100 - (Read Review)

Despite its strengths, Solar Ash fails to skate free from the gravity of its influences.

Christian Donlan (Recommended)

Recommended - (Read Review)

This glorious game about movement and adventure also feels like a rumination on something deeper and more personal.

Andrew King (GameSpot)

8/10 - (Read Review)

Solar Ash is an exhilarating action-adventure game with strong puzzles and flashy boss fights.

**Read all 65 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (65 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
3DNews	Алексей Лихачев	6 / 10	12-19-2021	A lot of games did similar things to what you can find in Solar Ash, and unfortunately this new Heart Machine's game can't offer anything new. It's still a fine game, but one would expect something much more than just fine from these developers.	Read review
Attack of the Fanboy	Noah Nelson	4.5 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	Solar Ash is a contemplative experience, visual feast, and faced-paced thrill ride expertly wrapped up into one exhilarating adventure. Without a doubt, this game is one of the best indie games of 2021, if not the best.	Read review
CGMagazine	Jordan Biordi	9 / 10	12-07-2021	Solar Ash is a non-stop roller-coaster of pulse pounding gameplay and intriguing narrative. A must-play!	Read review
Checkpoint Gaming	Charlie Kelly	9 / 10	12-02-2021	I’ve fallen in love with Solar Ash. It proves to be one of the best recent action-adventure games with a stunning sci-fi world, rich with bits of lore and worldbuilding to unravel. It may have come just under the wire in terms of 2021 releases, but it’s still a game that’s a must-play. Step on in and you have an experience with none of the fat and all of the glory. Gameplay that feels fluid and satisfying, moments and cinematography that feel like paintings of art, a story that resolves in an impacting way… this game has it all. Heart Machine you’ve bloody done it again.	Read review
COGconnected	Jaz Sagoo	86 / 100	12-03-2021	Solar Ash is a spectacular achievement and a worthy successor to Heat Machine’s previous release. The fast and fluid movement makes exploration a delightful dance through the absurd. Although the structure is a little repetitive, the moment-to-moment gameplay is thrilling. Large and intense boss battles are the highlight of the game, creating jaw-dropping sequences that will leave you yearning for more.	Read review
Daily Mirror	Eugene Sowah	4 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	Solar Ash does a lot of things right but it still lacks some much-needed depth to make it a complete package. It may have come later than expected but Solar Ash is a hidden gem that shouldn't be missed by gaming enthusiasts.	Read review
Destructoid	Chris Moyse	6 / 10	12-01-2021	Solar Ash offers a collection of promising concepts that don’t quite hit realization. While undoubtedly a visually striking experience, Rei’s journey into the Ultravoid suffers due to a disengaging narrative and repetitious gameplay. Solar Ash’s attractive world struggles to provide the player with captivating experiences. The elements do occasionally come together, however, ensuring that while Solar Ash isn’t quite the adventure it might have been, it successfully retains unmistakable Heart Machine charm.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Ben Sheene	8 / 10	02-15-2018	Solar Ash's sin of less than ideal platforming progression is outweighed by its constantly surprising, intoxicating world that features stunning vistas explored using primal speed, asking the player to be along for its dreamy ride.	Read review
Digital Trends	Giovanni Colantonio	4 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	Graceful movement and jaw-dropping fights against colossal monsters make Solar Ash a worthy follow-up to Hyper Light Drifter.	Read review
Easy Allies	Daniel Bloodworth	4 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	While its inspirations are clear, Solar Ash complements its massive boss fights with agility, strong level design, and bold visuals.	Read review
Eurogamer	Christian Donlan	Recommended	12-01-2021	This glorious game about movement and adventure also feels like a rumination on something deeper and more personal.	Read review
Everyeye.it	Icilio Bellanima	8.8 / 10	12-01-2021	Solar Ash comes at the end of the games, with the Top 10 of 2021 already compiled and the nominations for the various year-end awards already awarded, and that's a shame. Because it is one of those endings with a bang in a complicated and fluctuating year, which has undoubtedly given us pearls, but which also feels on the rump the difficulties and challenges that the pandemic has added to the already difficult universe of game development.	Read review
Explosion Network	Wil James	7.5 / 10	12-05-2021	Solar Ash was a bit of a mixed experience, with not all aspects meeting the high quality of its core features. The first-rate visuals and the fluid movement system do lots of heavy lifting and do still outweigh the negatives to provide a world worth exploring in a way that will be hard not to enjoy.	Read review
Flickering Myth	Shaun Munro	6 / 10	12-06-2021	As maddening as it is beautiful, Solar Ash's gorgeous aesthetic is thoroughly undermined by traversal mechanics that are neither fun nor intuitive.	Read review
Game Informer	Marcus Stewart	8.8 / 10	12-02-2021	Solar Ash plays as well as it looks with a strong story at the heart	Read review
Game Rant	Dalton Cooper	3.5 / 5 stars	12-07-2021	Solar Ash is repetitive and short, but that doesn't take away from how fun the core gameplay is. The developers have nailed Solar Ash's traversal system, making it genuinely fun to explore and complete the various platforming challenges. The art style is striking, the bosses are impressive, and while it may not have the same lasting impact Hyper Light Drifter did, Solar Ash is still worth checking out for fans of Heart Machine's work and the 3D platformer genre in general.	Read review
Gamefa	آریا مقدم	8 / 10	12-15-2021	All in all, Solar Ash is a well-built, well-colored and unique game that you won't regret experiencing.	Read review
GameMAG	Unknown	7 / 10	01-17-2022	Solar Ash feels like a middle ground between something like Jet Set Radio and Shadow of the Colossus. Sadly, the new game by Heart Machine lacks any meaningful ambitions or novelty, and yet if you love the genre, Solar Ash is worth a try.	Read review
Gamers Heroes	Johnny Hurricane	8.5 / 10	12-02-2021	Anyone who likes fast-paced platformers with a gorgeous sense of style will enjoy Solar Ash. Who knows	Read review
GameSkinny	John Schutt	9 / 10	11-30-2021	Solar Ash is a complete package, with stellar gameplay, a well-told story, and a realized world ripe for exploring.	Read review
GameSpew	Kim Snaith	7 / 10	12-01-2021	There’s a lot more to Solar Ash than simply gliding and grinding around its luscious world, but by god is it good fun.	Read review
GameSpot	Andrew King	8 / 10	12-01-2021	Solar Ash is an exhilarating action-adventure game with strong puzzles and flashy boss fights.	Read review
GamesRadar+	Austin Wood	4.5 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	Solar Ash is a platforming playground that never loses steam, and it hides a memorable story of unfathomable tragedy.	Read review
Gaming Nexus	Henry Yu	9 / 10	12-07-2021	Solar Ash defines the new standard for open-world indie games by providing an absolutely lovely world to traverse, with a beautiful soundtrack to listen to. From the flow of movement and smooth platforming, to the giant colossi and heartwarming story, I had to step back to discover I was playing a fine piece of art.	Read review
GamingBolt	Ravi Sinha	7 / 10	12-01-2021	Even with some rough edges, Heart Machine's latest is an endearing 3D platformer with its own unique hooks, carried by some strong lore, level design and aesthetics.	Read review
GamingTrend	David Flynn	85 / 100	12-06-2021	Controlling Rei in Solar Ash's beautiful world is an absolute joy, with fluid, precise, and simple controls as well as a diverse set of challenges to overcome. Unfortunately, there are more than a few moments where the normally excellent level design suddenly becomes tedious and annoying.	Read review
Guardian	Tom Regan	2 / 5 stars	12-08-2021	This unquestionably beautiful game about saving a planet from an encroaching black hole boldly goes where few have remained awake	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Kyle LeClair	4.5 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	Solar Ash is another triumph from Heart Machine, a fast-paced burst of vibrant, surreal science fiction where players get to glide and jump around fascinating worlds with terrific bits of platforming and action spread out across a series of unique worlds with jaw-dropping visuals.	Read review
Hobby Consolas	Álvaro Alonso	85 / 100	12-02-2021	‎Solar Ash has the audiovisual style of Hyper Light Drifter, the clashes against titans of Shadow of the Colossus, the scrolling mechanics of Jet Set Radio and the level design of Super Mario Galaxy. Is there really more to say?‎	Read review
IGN	Cam Shea	7 / 10	12-01-2021	Solar Ash may not get everything right, but its kinetic platforming and incredibly stylish presentation make its world a lot of fun to explore.	Read review
IGN Italy	Diego Cinelli	7.8 / 10	12-07-2021	A compelling game, which loses a few shots due to a narrative that is not quite up to par.	Read review
IGN Spain	David Oña	7 / 10	12-01-2021	‎Solar Ash does not hide his influences, moreover, he becomes strong in them. Do not expect an indie of those who seek to revolutionize classic proposals, rather it is the opposite. It is a title that knows how to mix with success some of the most interesting ingredients of the video games that serve as inspiration. But most of all, it's a remarkable three-dimensional platformer, and that's always good news.‎	Read review
Luis Alamilla	Luis Alamilla	7 / 10	12-06-2021	Video Review	Read review
Metro GameCentral	GameCentral	9 / 10	12-02-2021	An excellent sci-fi platformer with exquisite art design and sublime traversal mechanics, which finds distinctive ground among its obvious inspirations.	Read review
New Game Network	Dylan Blereau	69 / 100	12-28-2021	Solar Ash is a visually pleasing adventure that pulls you in quickly with its swift and elegant movement mechanics and a snazzy synth soundtrack. Despite the strong start, the experience begins to lose its grip the longer it goes, with unreliable performance and mundane combat.	Read review
Paste Magazine	Charlie Wacholz	8.8 / 10	12-06-2021	Despite the comparisons it might draw to Shadow of the Colossus, Jet Set Radio or Hyper Light Drifter, Solar Ash delivers a wholly unique experience that combines a smooth, unparalleled sense of speed, incredible level design, and a gorgeous art style. Even if the same can't be said about its narrative or controls, Solar Ash skates in at the last minute to become one of the year's most interesting games.	Read review
PC Gamer	Sam Greer	70 / 100	12-06-2021	Despite its strengths, Solar Ash fails to skate free from the gravity of its influences.	Read review
PC Invasion	Andrew Farrell	8 / 10	12-01-2021	An endearing experience with a well-integrated narrative, Solar Ash trades the action of its predecessor for speed-based platforming. It's a compelling play, but it feels a little light.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	Sebastian Hawden	8 / 10	12-06-2021	While I would have liked a bit more variety, what Solar Ash gives is a beautiful, vivid, technological adventure that drips with style. Its fluid traversal, combat and puzzle-like sections are a joy to navigate, as are its hulking bosses. Solar Ash is like nothing else on the market at the moment and that alone is enough for me to recommend it. What more could you want than a stunning, fluid, unique game? Not much, I reckon.	Read review
Press Start	Brodie Gibbons	9 / 10	12-02-2021	By making Solar Ash radically different from Hyper Light Drifter, Heart Machine has avoided boxing themselves into a niche while being able to continue and build a universe they clearly care for. It wears its influences on its sleeve and comes together as a cosmic mix of a few games held dear by many, and as long as they continue to do this, I'll eat it up until I am far beyond full.	Read review
PSX Brasil	Thiago de Alencar Moura	85 / 100	12-12-2021	Solar Ash is an amazing and beautiful title that not only tells a nice story, but has a challenging and fun gameplay that will keep you hooked for its entire duration. Another great title by Heart Machine.	Read review
Push Square	Stephen Tailby	7 / 10	12-01-2021	Solar Ash pushes for a sense of momentum and fluidity with its take on 3D platforming, and it does work very well indeed.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Ed Thorn	Recommended	12-01-2021	An action-adventure that sees you topple big monsters with your rollerblades. It's stylish and oh-so-smooth when it gets in the flow, but is hampered by repetition.	Read review
Saving Content	Evan Rowe	4 / 5 stars	12-30-2021	Solar Ash is a fun, fresh adventure that’s perfect for players who love getting lost in strange new worlds and being rewarded for exploring their every nook and cranny. Its tale is engaging enough to keep you moving forward (and backward, and up and down and every which way), and the final reveal is both well earned and well executed. It might not be the best game you play this year, but diving into the Ultravoid to explore it’s vast impossibilities and unearth it’s deepest secrets is an experience that shouldn’t be missed.	Read review
Screen Rant	Leo Faierman	3 / 5 stars	12-07-2021	In its lesser moments, it comes off as a singular presentation looking for a more involved game underneath, better combat and better bosses which could more effectively serve these assets. It still remains a worthwhile quest to see through to the end, but games like Solar Ash are frustrating in that they could have been so much more.	Read review
Shacknews	TJ Denzer	8 / 10	12-09-2021	Solar Ash is another hugely stylish venture from Heart Machine, though it’s not terribly long. Exploring any area to its fullest ran me about two to four hours and the whole thing ran about 11 hours for me when it was all said and done. Nonetheless, the graceful feel of movement, platforming, and combat in this game can’t be denied, and it’s accompanied by a lush and interesting mix of neon, natural, and industrial landscapes caught up in Solar Ash’s Voidspace. There’s a little jank in the controls here at here, but generally, for such a quick game, Solar Ash glides like a cosmic dream.	Read review
Sirus Gaming	Adrian Morales	7.5 / 10	12-02-2021	Solar Ash is at its best when you can skate a line perfectly and enter that satisfying flow state where nothing can stop you. The only thing Solar Ash asks of you is to fall into its groove and fall in love with its style, and if you can do that, you will have a wonderful time.	Read review
Slant Magazine	Steven Scaife	3 / 5 stars	12-04-2021	That emptiness only becomes harder to ignore when the story foregrounds itself, pulling you back for chats with your AI partner or scattering insipid post-apocalyptic lore documents all over the levels. For all of Solar Ash’s sense of genuine, thrilling speed in its mechanics, the game fails to muster any sense of accompanying narrative momentum, content to warm over imagery and ideas from Anno Hideaki’s Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shadow of the Colossus, and countless media inspired by each. Solar Ash reaches for awe and splendor somewhere beyond its overall poverty of imagination, succeeding occasionally yet also suggesting that the wordless storytelling of Hyper Light Drifter had been the right way to go.	Read review
SpazioGames	Gianluca Arena	7.6 / 10	12-14-2021	Solar Ash is a solid second effort from the talented people at Heart Machine Games, with an intoxicating sense of freedom, good boss fights and a gorgeous soundtrack. It's less polished and less deep than its predecessor, but it's worth your time and money.	Read review
TechRaptor	Joseph Allen	5.5 / 10	12-09-2021	Solar Ash has a strong core gameplay loop, but its weak story and heavy repetition make it tough to recommend.	Read review
The Escapist	Marty Sliva	Recommended	11-30-2021	Video Review	Read review
The Games Machine	Emanuele Feronato	8.1 / 10	12-08-2021	When you want to get rid quickly of level bosses just so you can get back to running down ramps and trampolines, there is something amiss with the balance of the game. And this is exactly the issue with Solar Ash: common enemies aren't a big threat and boss battles break the flow, and not a in a great way. Exploring the game's bizarre worlds, on the other hand, is extremely fun, and requires above average amounts of skill and timing. If you are looking for a fast-paced 3D action platformer that also offers a good story, Solar Ash is a solid choice.	Read review
The Outerhaven Productions	Ryan Easby	3.5 / 5 stars	12-10-2021	Solar Ash is a beautiful adventure across worlds. While it can feel rather empty pacing-wise and overly ambitious to a fault, it’s still worth playing for people who love colour-filled skies and a huge expanse to skate across. Just don’t expect the combat to blow you away or the story to give you an existential crisis.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Gareth Chadwick	9 / 10	12-07-2021	Solar Ash is one of the best games of the year. It looks gorgeous, its story is pretty unique and surprising, and its set-piece moments get really intense, as you might expect from skating along the back of a black goo and bone dragon. It's a nice surprise to end the year with that any "skating combined with combat and gigantic monsters" enthusiasts, which is definitely already a thing.	Read review
ThisGenGaming	Justin Oneil	9 / 10	12-08-2021	Solar Ash just managed to make it out in 2021 but it instantly became one of my favorite games of the year. It has an interesting story that got its hooks in me from the get go and the visuals and art direction are jaw dropping. Even though you spend a lot of the time doing a lot of the same things over and over the gameplay never got old to me as the fast and fluid movement system is so darn thrilling as are the towering boss fights. Solar Ash is a lot different from Hyper Light Drifter but it’s another must-play from Heart Machine.	Read review
Twinfinite	Omar Banat	4 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	If you have a few hours to spend and want to play something that is unlike anything else this year, then Solar Ash is absolutely worth checking out. Anyone who is a fan of the action-adventure genre will no doubt enjoy this memorable experience.	Read review
VG247	Tom Orry	Not Recommended	12-01-2021	It's not far from being a bit special, the kind of indie gem that everyone has to play, but it's unfortunately just not quite there.	Read review
VGC	Jon Bailes	4 / 5 stars	12-01-2021	Solar Ash is a highly original open-plan platform game. A slim move set that rewards momentum is the perfect means of exploring its swirling, broken landscapes and executing its more exacting challenges. While some of its elements feel overly simple, that doesn’t detract hugely from a clinically focused and fresh experience.	Read review
VGChartz	Miles Gregory	6.5 / 10	12-12-2021	The developers at Heart Machine have created a game with an impeccable amount of heart, it’s just a shame they didn’t give it enough soul.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	7.6 / 10	12-11-2021	Solar Ash does fast-paced platforming brilliantly and it features a super-exciting formula to boot. At the same time, that's really all it has going for it so with some much-needed additional variety, it could have been an even greater experience.	Read review
VideoGamer	Josh Wise	8 / 10	12-10-2021	Where Solar Ash goes from an intriguing ambient platformer to one of the year’s most fascinating releases is in its fixation on living as an act of being stuck.	Read review
Wccftech	Nathan Birch	7 / 10	12-01-2021	Solar Ash makes a good first impression with its silky-smooth controls, eye-catching visuals, and bombastic boss battles, but a lack of character progression or changes to core mechanics eventually drains some of the life from the game. Solar Ash is a solid action-platformer, but it doesn't really rise above the many other indies occupying the same space, and ultimately, you may find your memories of the game disappearing rather swiftly into the void.	Read review
We Got This Covered	David Morgan	3 / 5 stars	12-14-2021	Solar Ash hinges itself upon two core mechanics -- and almost nothing else. Skating around and dispelling corrupted masses of black goo is fun for a while, but when you've seen a game's whole hand in the first half-hour, it's a little hard to stay on board for the remainder.	Read review
WellPlayed	Mark Isaacson	9.5 / 10	12-03-2021	Solar Ash is a neon dream that will not fail to delight fans of Hyper Light Drifter and beyond.	Read review
Zoomg	علی گودرزی	7.5 / 10	12-13-2021	Solar Ash is a very well-built $20 platform that offers you a very entertaining package of stages, maps and platforming.	Read review

** Learn more about how to become a MetaMeter-approved Critic.

Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Journey through a surreal, vivid and highly stylized world filled with mystery, wild high-speed traversal, endearing characters, and massive enemy encounters. The Void beckons…

RELEASE DATES:

DEVELOPER(S):

PUBLISHER(S):

GENRES:

SERIES/FRANCHISE:

GAME MODES:

GAME ENGINE:

DLC:

BUNDLED IN:

DIRECTOR(S):

PRODUCER(S):

DESIGNER(S):

PROGRAMMER(S):

ARTIST(S):

WRITER(S):

COMPOSER(S):

LINKS:

AGE RATING:

Detailed Information

GAME MODES:

GAME ENGINE:

DLC:

BUNDLED IN:

DIRECTOR(S):

PRODUCER(S):

DESIGNER(S):

PROGRAMMER(S):

ARTIST(S):

WRITER(S):

COMPOSER(S):

Developed by Heart Machine. All titles, content, brand names, trademarks, logos, artwork, and associated imagery are trademarks and/or copyright material of their respective owners. © All rights reserved.