Review: ASHWALKERS Is As Grim And Surreal As Its Name
I don’t like narrative-heavy games. I enjoy the stories told, but I enjoy gameplay much more. Ashwalkers is extremely narratively driven and I did not think I would enjoy it much if at all. However, once I started wandering through the barren wastelands as my desperate squad of four, I couldn’t help but worry about every decision and care about how their journey would play out.
Ashwalkers is simply a walking simulator with some survival aspects. Players won’t need quick reactions, intense amounts of planning, or extreme amounts of strategy to play this game. This game is a series of many choices that will either bring you to a promised land or a cruel and unforgiving death. While each choice isn’t so intense, every choice to do something has a cost. Build a fire and sleep? Lose resources for possible wolf attacks. Talk to a lonely wanderer? They might give you their extra food. Split up to go explore for medical supplies? You might find some supplies, but the time apart will demoralize and upset certain members. At first, this bothered me, why am I punished for choices that I don’t know the consequences of? Then it clicked, this is about as close to real-life choices that I’ve seen in a game in a long time.
There is practically no way to predict what will come, and so you prepare as best as you can and go with whatever option sounds best. The series choices and resource management game mechanics BECAME the story, and the squad I controlled suffered or were rewarded because of it. It isn’t terribly complicated or difficult to manage, but the choices will be tough and make the story compelling because I was more or less writing it.
The actual story told (at least through my time playing) was mostly good. Some events and consequences seemed unfair or odd, but most of the time I was well engaged and fine with the outcome whether it was good or bad. With so many endings (34 to be exact) and ways to get to those endings, it is hard to speak on the actual story. But if you are interested in making your own story, this may itch that scratch.
As cool as it is to make decisions and see immediate results, there are still some issues with the game. I wish there was a bit more variety in the visuals. I understand the style is to be dreadful, hopeless, and lifeless. But a bit more color, variety in the world's geometry and environments could have helped things stay a bit more fresh, especially if you played through it again to see other endings. The style works well for the game and doesn’t get as tired as I thought they would, but having something to shake up both visuals and the narrative effects would have been warmly welcomed.
If you want a simple experience with some tough choice-making, I think Ashwalkers would be a fine experience. The original ideas, challenging choices, and brutal nature make for a solid package. But the simplicity, visual staleness, and lifelessness of the style can get exhaustive. Overall, Ashwalkers may do a better job of making choices impactful than a lot of other games, making the gameplay so intertwined with the story and character’s reactions, but the style may be a big stopping point for players.
