Ashwalkers

57%
Game Brain Score Based on 54 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Ashwalkers Game Cover
Ashwalkers is an inventive survival sim that puts the story centre stage. Whilst managing resources and the survivor's physical and mental health is important, the choices you have to make are where it's at its most inventive.
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"Ashwalkers" is a single-player adventure game with a good story from the co-founder of Dontnod . The game features a non-linear narrative with meaningful choices, party management, and a hostile post-apocalyptic world. With 34 different endings, each playthrough offers a new path to explore, lasting roughly 2 hours.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

57%
Audience ScoreBased on 54 reviews
story8 positive mentions
stability3 negative mentions
  • The game features beautiful graphics and a unique art style that enhances the atmospheric experience.
  • It offers a compelling narrative with meaningful choices that can lead to multiple endings, making it engaging for players who enjoy story-driven games.
  • The soundtrack complements the atmosphere well, adding to the overall immersion of the gameplay.
  • The gameplay is slow-paced and repetitive, often feeling more like a walking simulator with minimal interaction.
  • Character development is shallow, and the story lacks depth, making it difficult for players to feel invested in the characters or their journey.
  • Many players found the resource management and survival mechanics to be overly simplistic, detracting from the overall challenge and engagement of the game.
  • story40 mentions

    The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding the characters bland and the plot unconvincing or formulaic. While some appreciate the potential of the narrative and the choices it offers, others criticize it for being shallow and lacking depth, leading to a lack of engagement. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a central feature, but it struggles to deliver a compelling experience, often leaving players wanting more.

    • “Recommended for casual players and anyone who likes a good story.”
    • “The real pull of the game comes from its storytelling.”
    • “If story is what connects you to games, this is definitely worth picking up.”
    • “Characters are really bland, the story is just plain bad, and there are a handful of meaningless interactions.”
    • “The stakes and initial setup of the story are really weak.”
    • “It's a generic 'save the world' story and fails to explain what, why, or how.”
  • gameplay32 mentions

    The gameplay is generally described as simple, repetitive, and lacking depth, with many players finding it easy and unchallenging. While the survival mechanics and atmosphere are appreciated, they do not compensate for the limited interactions and formulaic story progression. Overall, the game offers a basic experience that may appeal to those looking for a casual, short session but falls short for players seeking more engaging and complex gameplay.

    • “The story is interesting along with the survival mechanics of scavenging, managing your resources, and managing character needs.”
    • “That game, while short, does its best to make the time spent feel much longer than it is between the unique art style of both the world and its inhabitants, and the survival mechanics of the game which help add a needed sense of weight to the smaller choices.”
    • “Look, overall the game has great mechanics, a great overall theme, and every little thing in this game helps every other little thing in this game to give you a very specific experience.”
    • “Gameplay is simple and fairly easy.”
    • “The gameplay tends to be repetitive, and the story rarely strays from being formulaic and familiar.”
    • “While Ashwalkers has an interesting art style and atmosphere, it does little to capitalize on its survival mechanics, choice-based narrative, and is far too easy for what it wants to be.”
  • graphics17 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the unique and minimalistic art style that contributes to its atmosphere and worldbuilding. However, issues such as character clipping, limited color palettes, and draw distance problems detract from the overall experience, leading to a sense of repetitiveness and visual dullness over time. While the visuals are noted for their cool aesthetic, they often fail to compensate for shortcomings in gameplay and narrative depth.

    • “Graphics and sound are great.”
    • “The art style and music give this game its unique feel.”
    • “That game, while short, does its best to make the time spent feel much longer than it is between the unique art style of both the world and its inhabitants, and the survival mechanics of the game which help add a needed sense of weight to the smaller choices.”
    • “You can have, I think, 40+ different endings, but once you've played the game 2-3 times, you'll be bored to death with the white and dark graphics and the slow progression.”
    • “The grayscale art style can feel dreary, and resource management can feel stressful.”
    • “Lots of walking without much else; the black and white visuals can be a hindrance, and there are a lot of ignorable mechanics.”
  • atmosphere8 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its immersive setting, music, and art style, which effectively convey a sense of post-apocalyptic dread. However, some reviews note that while the atmosphere is strong, it often overshadows the gameplay, which can feel shallow and simplistic, particularly in terms of survival mechanics and narrative depth. Overall, the atmosphere enhances the experience but may not fully compensate for other gameplay shortcomings.

    • “A slow-paced and atmospheric choose-your-own-adventure with some minor strategy involved.”
    • “Very atmospheric casual survival game, simple resource management, decision-focused, kind of hardcore towards the end, controls and GUI are very simple.”
    • “Atmosphere has that nice sense of post-apocalypse dread and this extends to gameplay.”
    • “The music, atmosphere, and art style almost make up for the shallow and unimaginative story, dialogue, and gameplay.”
    • “Slow gameplay, limited interactions, and audio detracts from the atmosphere.”
  • music7 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some praise it as phenomenal and integral to the atmospheric setting, others find it underwhelming and bland. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's unique feel, despite criticisms of the story and gameplay.

    • “The soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal.”
    • “The music is great!”
    • “The art style and music give this game its unique feel.”
    • “It's really boring, especially since the environment is very bland and the music is mediocre.”
    • “The music, atmosphere, and art style almost make up for the shallow and unimaginative story, dialogue, and gameplay.”
    • “The atmospheric setting and music do not compensate for the lack of engaging content.”
  • stability3 mentions

    Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with most users reporting no significant bugs or glitches. However, some players have noted minor issues, including bothersome camera angles, occasional audio glitches, and crashes. Despite these concerns, many still enjoyed their experience.

    • “The camera angles can be bothersome, and I experienced a few audio glitches and crashes.”
    • “Overall, despite some minor bugs and glitches, I enjoyed my time with this game.”
    • “I noticed no bugs or glitches.”
  • character development3 mentions

    Reviewers note that the character development is lacking, primarily due to the unappealing character design and absence of distinct features like faces and voices. This results in a dull experience, compounded by a simplistic risk and reward system that fails to engage players.

    • “The character design and story setting are surprisingly similar to one I've written a couple of years ago, which adds a personal touch to the experience.”
    • “I appreciate the unique character designs, even though they may not be a popular choice, as they allow for a more imaginative interpretation of the characters.”
    • “The lack of character development and a risk and reward system makes for a very dull experience.”
    • “I believe that the given character designs are not a popular choice, since they have no faces or voices.”
    • “Mostly because of character design and story setting, which is surprisingly similar to one I've written a couple of years ago.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect tedious due to slow movement speeds and the rapid decay of character needs, leading to monotonous walking and micromanagement that detracts from the overall enjoyment and replayability of the game.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Unfortunately, the slow walking speed and fast decay of the characters' needs mean that moving between landmarks involves a lot of boring walking and tedious micromanagement, hampering replayability.”
  • optimization1 mentions

    The game suffers from poor optimization, which detracts from the overall experience, and the plot is described as unconvincing.

    • “The game is poorly optimized, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering.”
    • “I experienced constant crashes and long loading times due to the lack of optimization.”
    • “The graphics are stunning, but the optimization is so bad that it ruins the experience.”
  • replayability1 mentions

    Reviewers note that the slow walking speed and rapid decay of character needs lead to tedious micromanagement, which detracts from the game's replayability.

    • “Unfortunately, the slow walking speed and fast decay of the characters' needs mean that moving between landmarks involves a lot of boring walking and tedious micromanagement, hampering replayability.”
    • “The lack of meaningful choices and consequences makes it hard to find motivation to replay the game.”
    • “Once you've completed the main storyline, there's little incentive to go back and experience it all over again.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

62% average critic score

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