Solar Ash (formerly Solar Ash Kingdom) is from the makers of Hyper Light Drifter—and that's all you had to say, my dude. I'm going to profess right now, however, that it's hard to get me into a polygonal art style. I don't like the smoothed-off features. So much of it looks like it was drawn by a lava lamp. But if anyone is going to get me to appreciate that art style, developer Heart Machine will.
Solar Ash lives in a magenta world, spliced with neon blades and sparkling particles. Our liquid-haired protagonist stares into a black hole, loosening up their shoulders like they're going for a lite jog. They lasso onto a passing piece of space debris and rollerblade into the black. On the other side, the Solar Ash drifter (?) appears in a Journey-like desert, with ethereal giants sitting on invisible seats, and blood dripping up from the ground and into the sky. Without being an endless runner-style game, it looks like much of it will be predicated on movement and momentum. That's something a stodgy old fan of walking, like me, is willing to broaden horizons for.
I'm not gonna lie: If I saw Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash pictured side by side, I'd still grab Hyper Light first. But Heart Machine is already one-for-one on making my Games of the Decade list, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
Solar Ash is coming 2021.
