This isn’t structured like an open-world game, though. By doing so, your hope is to reactivate the Starseed and do away with the Ultra Dyson forever. And over the course of around five to six hours, you’ll travel to a handful of increasingly complex areas and clear them of Remnants whether you like it or not. While it’s nothing new, I liked how there’s a thick layer of unease underpinning everything you do. It does that Shadow Of The Colossus thing where downing these creatures doesn’t inspire jubilant celebration, but more of a guilty “Sorry, big fella”.

Thing is, when you do go a-prodding, you don’t feel too good about it. How? By taking that blade of yours and poking their eyes out. Towering monsters called Remnants have left this dark gloop splattered across the land and it's up to you to clear out this corruption. Turns out the Ultra Void isn’t “cracking” but “clogging”. So, it’s up to you to venture into the Ultra Void and see what’s cracking. But for some reason, the Starseed is no longer operational and the Ultra Void seems particularly sucky this time. Normally, you’d twist a knob on this big tower called the Starseed and hey presto, you’d rescue the planet from Suction Destruction. In Solar Ash, you play as space-skater Rei whose planet is being sucked into a massive black hole called the Ultra Void. One that excels when it lets you off the leash, only, that doesn’t happen as often as I’d have liked. So yes, it does retain something from its predecessor, and that’s the element of cool. Solar Ash sees you flipping onto the backs of massive monsters and felling them like you’re performing athletic acupuncture. Except this time it’s not a top-down hack-and-slasher, but a stylish skate to save a civilisation on the brink of collapse. The folks over at Heart Machine have slid back into the fold with a game set in the same universe as their action-adventure debut Hyper Light Drifter.

It's stylish and oh-so-smooth when it gets in the flow, but is hampered by repetition. An action-adventure that sees you topple big monsters with your rollerblades.

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