Of Ash and Steel Preview
As someone who plays a lot of different games, I like it when I come across a title that has ambition beyond the basics. Especially when coming from a small team, ambition is usually a sign of passion and dedication. That’s certainly true of Fire and Frost’s upcoming Of Ash and Steel. I attended a hands-off preview last November, and now I’ve spent some time actually playing the game. It’s nothing if not ambitious.
Of Fire and Steel is a third-person action RPG, very much influenced by classics such as Gothic and The Witcher. Described as “low fantasy,” it’s less about monsters and magic than surviving a harsh medieval world. Which is not to say monsters and the supernatural are entirely absent. Not at all.
NOT a Navigator
You play as the Cartographer, who finds himself tossed ashore on an island with his crew after a storm. The island is called Grayshaft, which clues you into where the game’s cheeky sense of humor rests. The Cartographer runs around the little starting grotto completing quests for a few NPCs, which serves as a tutorial of sorts. Your crew is attacked and slaughtered by the locals. You survive and wake in the humble hut of a farmer named Narest.
After completing some mundane chores for Narest, you set off into the surrounding woods of the Forgotten Reach. In the slice of the opening chapter, I was able to explore and complete a series of mini-quests, battle some bandits and monsters, and generally get a feel for the game. Of Ash and Steel has a very old-school RPG mission statement, with the emphasis on free-form exploration and discovery. The player is totally free to wander into too difficult encounters and die immediately. Or, just chill, gather, and do some fishing in a little pond.
Free Play
Taking its cue from Gothic, Elder Scrolls, and other open-world RPGs, the Forgotten Reach is pretty dense with stuff to find or to do. It’s a dark and moody fantasy forest with lots of medieval-influenced detail and danger, and quirky NPCs lurk around every bend in the path. Of Ash and Steel’s environment and fully-voiced NPCs are where Fire and Frost most engages. There’s a ton of dialogue, and many of the characters have hilariously long-winded stories to tell.
In the little slice of Chapter 1 that I played, I was unable to really get a sense of how the larger narrative developed or how the Cartographer fully developed his skills. There is no class system in Of Ash and Steel. Players can focus on Survival, Crafting, War, and a host of weapon-based skill upgrades. The Cartographer starts as a blank slate, and the game promises a lot of freedom in making a unique character.
Ironically for a game about choice, freedom, and discovery, there’s no character creator — at least in the demo I played. Not every open world has one, of course. And I get that, given the amount of voiced dialogue the character has, it would be prohibitive to include multiple alternatives.
The Good With the Bad
Early RPGs such as the original Gothic were drowning in jank. In fact, “Euro-jank” became shorthand for describing generations of AA-action RPGs. So when the developers talk about Gothic being an inspiration, Of Ash and Steel’s current technical state fits right in. To be fair, Bethesda games are usually in this clubhouse too, so it isn’t a characteristic exclusive to games from smaller teams.
At least right now, Of Ash and Steel has some issues. Not so much with bugs, but still-to-be-refined movement and combat animations, pacing, and mission design. One of the game’s biggest annoyances is that you have to run through every character’s dialogue tree to progress the story. At the same time, the game sometimes doesn’t seem to know or care if you’ve completed a quest, as long as you pick the dialogue choice that says you did. It’s unclear if this is an intentional jab at other RPGs or simply bad design.
Of Ash and Steel’s world often looks interesting and full of little details, but character models — especially faces — are not quite up to contemporary standards. Quest items are often hidden and not well identified, creating a lot of wasted time. I get that the game is going for less hand-holdy mechanics, and gamers are now used to RPGs that go too far with hints and markers. Still, alternatives would be welcome.
Where to Go Next?
I’d admit, I was pretty turned off by Of Ash and Steel’s bland tutorial area and dull beginner quests, and the game’s lack of polish. But once I got into the game proper, I started to see its ambition and potential. Fire and Frost are not trying something different so much as reminding gamers of how an action RPG feels with an open world uncluttered by markers and artificially gated by character level. With some time spent polishing and refining some of the game’s rough edges, Of Ash and Steel could become an RPG standout.
***PC code provided by the publisher for preview***
