Ashen get 9/10 on GS - Is on MS gamepass as well

'Ashen does more than enough to differentiate it from other Souls-like games. Although its combat utilizes the same stamina-focused mechanics, the inclusion of features that promote a sense of community with the game's characters makes for a wholly different experience. It's frustrating to spawn and see that your computer-controlled partner has a weapon that doesn't complement the one you're using. However, even when playing with NPCs, your allies' efforts to assist you in battle cause you to care about the fates of the colorful cast of people you meet on your journey. The relationships you forge define your adventure through Ashen, and helping your new friends is a powerful motivator that drives you forward through the game's beautiful world.'

Looks great. Will check out when I get home tonight!

Nice!!! Love mah Gamepass.

Thank you MS. :P

Ashen and Below this close to eachother ?

INDIE MASTERPIECES OVERLOAD O_o

Gamepass is becoming a problem for me. MYZ, Ashen and Below all in a short time. Kinda crazy.

The game looks interesting. Need to take look.

Sounds great. I’ll definitely have to try and check this out sometime. So many games, so little time.

Ok so do I buy this or buy Gamepass? First world problems.

@kuu2:

GamePass, you can't go wrong. :)

Epic have made this exclusive to there store. So won’t be on GP or Steam.

Hmm, was interested until the "dark souls-style" part.

i dont do frustratingly difficult games.

@boycie:

Ahh, I thought I read somewhere it was on GP. Oh well, still a ton to play on GP and this will have to wait.

@SecretPolice: it’s on GP for Xbox just not PC.

Its on Gamepass bro.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/ashen/bnxlppcvs0hn?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

@kuu2: I meant PC. Was originally supposed to be play anywhere means PC users would have had it.

@boycie: Got it. I am sure that if you buy it eventually it will be play anywhere. Probably just exclusive for a while but who knows. Either way I wanted this game since I first saw it. I love visually unique games and this one qualifies for me.

@kuu2:

Cool and they're running some amazing sales for 12 month GP right now. saw it for about $50.00 on ebay and Best Buy is selling it for about 70 bucks.

@SecretPolice: There is that and if you do searches with Bing you can pretty much get it free every month. $50 though is really tough to beat.

Wish MSoft would just come out with a platinum package that included Live and GP. $100 for the year or something.

Gamespass for the year $60. That is a ridiculous price considering how much Netflix was costing me.

Exclusive to Epic's platform makes me very wary of this unfortunately. I really don't need or want yet another store profile to manage. Between steam, gog, gmg, uplay, origins, bnet, and even discord now, Epic having yet another platform to manage is getting to the "enough is enough" point.

Looks good though.

Jesus what's wrong with gamespot

Awesome, I bought the game but it is great to know it's on Gamepass seeing as how the online is part of the experience. Did my own research and decided to buy it, I had no idea it was also critically acclaimed, good to know

Nice. I'll check it out on GamePass.

Gotta love Game Pass!!

@kuu2: This and Below are two games I've been following closely since they were announced. They sure took their time, I have high expectations.

Edit: Xbox version already being review bombed.?

Started it last night, been playing it today. Its a fun game with a lot to discover so far.

Yeah after playing it for about an hour, I don't think it's my thing... games like this require patience and perseverance, but there are too many other games I want to play.

It's unfortunate because I think it looks really interesting.

Exactly

i realized (the hard way) i dont have the Patience for these types of games, and my gaming time is very limited to be stuck replaying stages over and over..

and i paid full price; played for about 2-3 hours and haven't touched it since..

i fell for the hype and i paid the price lol

Gamepass for just this month allows me to play Ashen, Below and Hellblade. Now that is freaking awesome.

Gamepass just keeps on deliverin'

@FinalFighters: That's why I downloaded through Game Pass... great way of trying games.

Gamepass has been a great success for MS. They need to focus on the 1st party content.

Ashen has interested me since I heard about it. Like the art style as well.

It is actually listed on Steam. It may only be a timed exclusive on their store.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/649950/Ashen/

'Ashen' will still hit Xbox Play Anywhere for PC and 'other platforms' in the future (update) | http://windowscentral.com/has-ashen-ditched-xbox-play-anywhere-and-steam-epic-games-exclusivity

@Pedro: You should try Mutant Year Zero too.

I have already downloaded it, so its on my to play list. :)

Might as well check it out.

I'm gonna be grabbing it once it releases on Steam. It looks pretty good.

Looks a dark souls clone which is no bad thing.

Is this a game based on a cynical brit reviewing things on a raggedy couch?

Piss 4 misses out on yet another great game, PC's humongous first place lead widens.

Loving the game. Can't get enough of it. Looks awesome on the Xbox One X.

What do you mean by this?

Cool game, I like Dark Souls and I felt right at home with the control scheme, looking forward to seeing how it distinguishes itself from that series, but the completely different art style was a smart move imo, definitely liking it, don't need another game that looks like DS where I spent hundreds of hours already, makes it feel fresh to me. Seems a tad easier than DS so far as well, I have not died once yet.

Here's what they said about the launch

http://www.ashen-game.com/news/ashen-launch

'

Happy launch weekend! We hope everyone is enjoying the world we’ve created in Ashen. It has been a labor of love, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the reception we are getting from players and critics alike after releasing live at The Game Awards last night.

As many of you are aware, some members of our community have questions about the launch strategy and initial platform availability for Ashen, which we would like to discuss before boarding the long flight back to New Zealand.

Let's begin with the Windows 10 availability in the Microsoft Store. The Xbox One launch of Ashen could not have been a better success story, in our opinion, and Microsoft has been unbelievably supportive throughout the development of Ashen. We are currently working with our partners at Microsoft and the ID@Xbox team on bringing Ashen to the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 as soon as possible. We wholeheartedly agree that this would have been better available day one. We are a small studio that just shipped a very big game, but have been actively working to get it there. Rest assured, it is coming.

Launching on the Epic Games Store is a unique opportunity that does not come around for an indie title like ours very often. Our publisher, Annapurna Interactive, approached us with a unique opportunity from Epic Games to make Ashen a hallmark title for their store’s launch. As a developer we want as many players as possible to have the opportunity to play Ashen. A big part of that is having Ashen featured in a place that isn't crowded and at an exciting time when a great new platform, one that genuinely wants to do the best for developers and players alike, first launches. The promotion we are and will be receiving from our partners at Epic is tremendous. It is incredibly rare to have an opportunity like this, and we are honored and proud to have earned this opportunity. This was not a decision that was made lightly.

Epic Games have been with us from the very start, with us having received a huge amount of support from their Unreal team in addition to a development grant when we were first starting. Ashen would not have existed had they not believed in us from the beginning. We have so much heartfelt gratitude for the helping hand they have shown, and we are honored to be a premier launch title on a platform that is so important to them.

Right now you can play Ashen on all the hardware we have promised since day one. We know that is not enough for everyone. We will be coming to other platforms in the future. If you must wait for those, we totally understand. We are super proud of the game and hope you will enjoy it whenever and wherever you play it."

Combat looks basic and on the easier side.

@zaryia: usual gamespot shits on any game associated with Xbox