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Ashen is an action role-playing game developed by New Zealand studio A44 and published by Annapurna Interactive. Set in a low fantasy environment, the game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on December 7, 2018.

Gameplay

The game is set in a sunless world and tells the story of a character seeking a home. Gameplay is described as including open-world exploration, co-operation or competition with other players, and combat with in-world monsters. The game is presented in a third-person view, with a muted cel-shaded graphics presentation.

The game has been described as containing gameplay elements of classic role-playing games such as King's Quest, as well as games such as DayZ. Both combat and exploration in an open world were key design elements of the game. Multiplayer elements include interactions with other players, which are incorporated into the game as providing traditional RPG elements such as crafting. Combat includes ranged and melee weapons.

Character growth is primarily dominated by equipment, rather than player 'stats'; "Talismans", either found or crafted, are used to upgrade character abilities or provide other in-game perks.

Development

Initial publicity material for the game was released mid-2014. During the Xbox conference at the 2015 E3, Ashen was revealed as an Xbox console launch exclusive being developed by Aurora44 (now A44) under the ID@Xbox independent developer program. — Initially released 2014 design elements of the game included survivalist elements and elemental effects, such as the wind as a help or hindrance. The world's geography and ecosystems were intended to be realistically modeled, to play into intelligent play styles within survival mechanisms; additionally, natural geography was intended to be based on an underlying geology. One in-world game element is an enemy known as the "Gnaw", which has the ability to erode the environment "like a searing acid". Much of the background, setting, and feel of the world was influenced by Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road. Combat was described as similar to the Souls series, being high risk, with stamina being a major factor in combat.

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