In the first moments of the demo, I saw her barreling down a cloudy slope. She essentially skates around the world, as if traveling on rollerblades. The two games really start to separate as soon as the main character, Rei, starts moving. Even its main character feels cut from the same cloth as the drifter. Despite ditching Hyper Light Drifter’s signature pixel style for smooth 3D textures, it’s still instantly recognizable as a Heart Machine game with its deep purples. Solar Ash is a 3D action-adventure game where players explore gorgeous, surreal spaces. Instead, it’s entirely about movement - even during its most action-packed moments. Solar Ash doesn’t dial in on hack-and-slash action like its predecessor. While its colors and atmosphere are familiar, the developer has made some fundamental shifts to its style. Getting those two elements to not only coexist but thrive together is a needle that Hyper Light Drifter confidently threads.Heart Machine isn’t looking to do the same trick twice, and that became clear when I attended a demo event for its long-anticipated follow-up, Solar Ash.
In our review of the developer’s Hyper Light Drifter, we praised the top-down action game for its combination of story and gameplay: “It replaces traditional narrative structures with moods, but punctuates those contemplative, quiet moments with constant scenes of breakneck, pitch-perfect action. “The giant spaces, the feel of movement, the flow of combat, and the high stakes battles atop enormous beasts all come together to bring players something we think is incredibly unique, and more importantly, fun.” “ Solar Ash is Heart Machine’s vision of the adventure platformer,” game designer Alx Preston said of Solar Ash earlier this year. The developer promises fluid controls, with rail-grinding, grappling, and cloud surfing. Players take on the role of Rei, a Voidrunner who will journey through a colorful, stylized world as she fights to save her planet from the Ultravoid. Heart Machine first revealed Solar Ash in 2019 (as Solar Ash Kingdom). Solar Ash is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC via the Epic Games Store.
26, publisher Annapurna Interactive announced Thursday. Hyper Light Drifter developer Heart Machine will release its next game, the 3D action-platformer Solar Ash, on Oct.