Solar Ash
What to Know
Average Score
- December 2, 2021
- Heart Machine
- Action, Platformer
Critics Consensus
- December 2, 2021
- Action, Platformer
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.
Rate and Review
Critic Reviews for Solar Ash
Critic Reviews
Distribution
65
Reviews
Despite its strengths, Solar Ash fails to skate free from the gravity of its influences.
This glorious game about movement and adventure also feels like a rumination on something deeper and more personal.
Solar Ash is an exhilarating action-adventure game with strong puzzles and flashy boss fights.
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.
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 |
Game Info
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):
- Heart Machine
PUBLISHER(S):
- Annapurna Interactive
GENRES:
- Action, Platformer
SERIES/FRANCHISE:
- n/a
GAME MODES:
- Single player
GAME ENGINE:
- Unreal Engine 4
DLC:
- -
BUNDLED IN:
- -
DIRECTOR(S):
- -
PRODUCER(S):
- -
DESIGNER(S):
- -
PROGRAMMER(S):
- -
ARTIST(S):
- -
WRITER(S):
- -
COMPOSER(S):
- -
GAME MODES:
- Single player
GAME ENGINE:
- Unreal Engine 4
DLC:
- n/a
BUNDLED IN:
- n/a
DIRECTOR(S):
- n/a
PRODUCER(S):
- n/a
DESIGNER(S):
- n/a
PROGRAMMER(S):
- n/a
ARTIST(S):
- n/a
WRITER(S):
- n/a
COMPOSER(S):
- n/a
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