okay I suppose I've gushed about Ashen a lot but it is really good
it's like Dark Souls met Journey, and both were better for the experience?? (except not literally because Journey is pretty much flawless with its only exception being sometimes your co-op friend can just... vanish. and it's a total crapshoot whether you find THEM again or someone else entirely different ;; )
but yeah Dark Souls definitely needed some work, and Ashen has it. It's... got a really great aesthetic, it's mysterious and lonely without being FAR too bleak, it's built for co-op from the ground up and is thusly very balanced for it, weapons look and feel nice and meaty, and feel impactful, motion is intuitive and good, the geometry is really nice, animations are slick and clear without being super easy to predict and read... Voice acting is GREAT too, plus you got a clear idea of what to do
further more, one of the things I loved about Dark Souls 2 was the Majula hub area, that place of "home". Ashen has that, but WAY WAY BETTER, you really get a sense of a community building up amidst these ash wastes. Buildings get constructed, people move in, every time you complete a few quests it gets upgraded, things happen organically over time. It's GREAT! really gives you a proper feel of the community and home space.
Also the fact that you always (unless you disable it) have an AI companion with you, who is replaced with a player controlled NPC when multiplayer is connected (but looks exactly the same as said NPC) saves on having to transmit player model data, and works within the story nicely.
There ARE some strange points. So far there are no swords (booooo D: ), just axes and clubs, in both one and two handed variants, shields, throwing spears, and a lantern. So far anyway. That might change later. Though this isn't REALLY a bad thing I guess. It's definitely A Feel the game has, andthere's a LOTTA different looking weapons within those categories (also allows them to be more themed with each of the four types of melee weapons).
Enemy (and Friendly) AI is... okay?? It's not spectacular, but it's certainly one of the better ones I've found. Enemies do sometimes just rush you, and you can still kite certain enemies out from hiding , to pull them away from larger groups, especially teaming up with a friend.
Definitely the game is better with a buddy.
Also it's literally two player and that's it (with player 2 being AI controlled if there's no other player). it's also a touch weird not being able to see your friend's avi.