Among Ashes Review (Mekynism)
Among Ashes is honestly a great game with a fantastic premise. Not many sub $20 games have a game play loop as satisfying and intriguing as it and while it's fun to play there are some things I find it lacking but overall if you wanted to stop reading here I'd say give it a go I'd recommend it on the intrigue and neat concept alone.
Truly one of the stand out things in the game is seen instantly, You're playing a game.. inside of a game. It does this mechanic so well honestly referencing old video games and making me nostalgic for MSN messenger. All of this stuff is the best in the game and as the game went on it wasn't just the references to Silent Hill and RE but also the vibes of old movies like Fear Dot Com and Stay Alive. The visual shift between the game world and the computer world you play in is honestly something of genius. There was a part towards the end I found to be a bit "gamey" searching for switches while evading a monster might be something we need to leave in the past.
Like I said playing the GAME part is top notch and I'd like to give it a 5 star review if that's all it was. That being said I think like a lot of horror properties the premise and story start strong. Your interaction with websites in the computer and your friend on the messenger app are top notch and I want more of that. The stuff I don't like I will put up spoiler tags but I will not get super specific.
Slight Story Spoilers
The plot slowly unfolding is great, getting pieces of information slowly in the real world as you play is awesome. Something I have problems with is games that have stories involving trauma and trying to be very heavy on that. The great thing is that it's not very heavy on it till the very end but when it hits? It felt kinda of forced and not very natural. I think this just comes from not having a seasoned writer and voice cast. Games like Silent Hill 2 nail it but it obviously has a big budget to produce this. I hate to tell people not to try and make that kind of story but maybe make it more subtle to avoid feeling a bit overdone.
Overall I think Among Ashes is a great game and maybe you don't even mind my issues with it regardless of my issues I still had a great time and truly did enjoy most of the experience I had with it. I'm looking forward to more horror games from this developer.
I give Among Ashes my Mekommendation stamp of approval.
★★★★☆