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In praise of Solar Ash

A sorta review (But more of a love letter) to Heart Machine and their new game Solar Ash

By JR StinePublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
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Most games today just aren't for me these days. I'm no longer young and lean with plenty of time to spend in front of a screen. Instead now I have fun things to deal with like a 9–5 job (Read all about it.), a loving wife, a small child, car payments to be made, rent to be paid, and plenty of other things that if I think to hard will make my head ache. Don't get me wrong my life isn't bad, could be a lot worse, trust me I've been their, and it's not a fun place to be so I'm not complaining but sometimes something comes along that is beautiful and makes you feel strong, something to brighten your day and make you feel all warm and fuzzy like a well insulated sarong. For me that little something just happens to be, Solar Ash a video game you have to see to believe.

I have to admit I was unsure of it at first. The developer Heart Machine was transitioning from pixelated 2-D to fully rendered 3-D a hard hurdle to cross. Yet having seen HyperLightDrifter (A really fun game told solely through pictures.) I wanted to give it a chance having been captivated by their creators ( One Mister Alx Preston) story, a genuine man who really seems to care, and who puts all of himself into his games giving a cool style that is wholly his own.

So I thought what the heck? I'll give it a try, the game seems fun and the main character looks like Raziel the Soul Reaver but this time made in space! So I paid my forty dollar and watched that download bar slide until the game was ready to try.

From the moment Rei awoke not looking so well but still got up and started running than grinding, I was hooked like an adrenaline junkie on a new roller coaster ride. Watching her gain momentum reminded me of a certain blue hedgehog I'd first met long ago, and the way she grinds rails, well just let me say, there's a group of taggers from my old Dreamcast days, who'd be more than happy to claim Rei as one of their own. Though I can't say if Rei's artistic skills are up to their par, they'd probably appreciate her abilities when it came time to hunt down some Golden Rhinos. The world is simply beautiful, whether sliding across clouds or slashing pink crystals to collect some plasma so you can pay, the visuals are a treat, all lovely to look at even those harmful creatures made out of black goo.

I can see the criticism when people say the words spoken aren't super lively or fly. And I can't help but laugh when people say Heart Machine should just stick to stories told through cartoons. Though I kinda like their delivery, it felt cheesy and cool, like watching old B movies at night as a kid.

Now before I go I have to talk about Cyde, she's naive and cool, I really love her design, it fresh and cool and oh how I want that fancy left arm, could get so much more done if I also had one arm worth two. The other few NPCs are pretty cool too, a mix of sad and funny in all shapes and sizes adding some much needed context to the chaotic black hole world called the UltraViolet you find yourself navigating. The story is straight forward and simple yet meaningful too, gave me plenty to think about so all I can say is thank you and I hope you enjoyed this fun little rant. And if you haven't already looked up Heart Machine, please do! Than enjoy their tableaux of games!

Thank you so much for reading I really appreciate it. Also Heart Machine if you read this, thanks so much for making this awesome game. And if you ever need a writer my schedules free…

This article originally appeared on Medium.

action adventure
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About the Creator

JR Stine

Just your average working dude with a passion for the written word. Working on a book but always looking for free lance work in between. Hope you’ll stop by and take a gander at what I’ve got to offer.

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