biteho.com

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Telling a story of the cyclical nature of light and dark and possessing both stamina-focused combat and larger-than-life bosses, Ashen is easy to compare to From Software’s Dark Souls. However, Ashen establishes its own identity by delivering an experience that focuses on creating a sense of community and trust with those you meet. The weapon system can occasionally take away from some of the more strategic elements of the game’s combat when playing solo, but Ashen still delivers an incredible adventure, regardless if you play by yourself or with others.

In Ashen, you start as a nameless nobody listening to the origin of your world, its three races, and how everything became blanketed in darkness after the disappearance of the Ashen–a god-like figure of immense power. When a sudden explosion briefly brings light back to the land, allowing everyone to see clearly for the first time in years, it sparks a search for the Ashen in hopes its return will push the last vestiges of darkness away. Leading the charge, you take over a bandit camp and transform it into an outpost called Vagrant’s Rest. From there, you set out into the world in search of people to join your new home, as well as a means of finding the Ashen.

Your journey takes you from one fast travel point to the next within an interconnected series of open environments, and you’ll find a diverse assortment of enemies along the way. Caverns and dilapidated castles entice you to explore off the beaten path and enjoy lengthy expeditions for hidden weapons, armor, and treasure. You’ll need to sprint and jump your way through most of it at the start, but Ashen’s controls are fairly tight and ledge grabs ensure you safely recover most of the time. It never feels like you’re unfairly leaping to your death over and over again, and unlocking a fun new navigational ability halfway through the game will see you returning to old locales to search for secrets you couldn’t leap to before.

There are very few options for long-range combat in Ashen so for the most part, you’re in the thick of things with your opponents and trying to out maneuver each other. Attacking, defending, and dodging all use different amounts of stamina, and carefully managing how much you have left is key to survival. If you’ve played a good Souls-like game before, Ashen works exactly as you would expect. The controls produce a methodical approach to combat that’s enjoyable to just lose yourself in.

On your travels, you’ll recruit characters and send them back to Vagrant’s Rest to set up shop, where you can interact with them again for side quests and special items. Most will even join you on your adventure whenever you exit camp, aiding you in combat and reviving you if you happen to fall. They can also help with exploration, too, as dungeon doors require two people to open and some ledges can only be reached if a team boosts each other up. As more people join Vagrant’s Rest and you complete more quests for them, your settlement will grow. Roads are paved, structures are built, and the community becomes a thriving town. You can’t manage how Vagrant’s Rest grows, unfortunately, but there are fun little nods to the quests you undergo. Vorsa wears an outfit composed of the pelts from the animals you hunted for her, for example, and Eila constructs a dock so you can ride down the nearby river in a barrel–an activity she speaks of when you first meet her. In a game where enemies are constantly respawning, it’s incredibly fulfilling to see your hard work actually having a permanent impact on your corner of the world.

You can forge relationships with other players, too. If you play Ashen online, you enter a shared world where you can encounter people. Other players will appear as the NPCs you’ve recruited to Vagrant’s Rest, and whether or not you choose to interact with them is up to you. With no voice chat, actions define a person’s character, and this can form powerful bonds that last for the entire game. For example, seeing a player-controlled Jokell silently step in front of my character and take a spear to the chest when I had a sliver of health has, for me, left a long-standing positive impression for the pipe-smoking explorer. I brought a computer-controlled Jokell along with me every chance I had after that, cheering for him when he did something incredible and dropping everything to revive him when he fell. It’s a rather simple example of transference at work when all is said and done, but it’s remarkably effective at creating trust (and I imagine distrust in some cases) with the characters you meet.

If working with others isn’t really your thing, you can play offline with NPCs or use an early game item that allows you to play completely solo. It certainly ups Ashen’s difficulty to play without others and it creates a more traditional Souls-like experience. However, the greater challenge of playing completely by yourself isn’t worth losing out on the misadventures you find yourself in when traveling with another character. Even if you play offline with computer-controlled characters, you’ll still form bonds with a one or two of them, and that improves Ashen’s entire experience. If you really want that greater challenge, there’s a mode that lowers your max health and stamina, which is a much better way of making the game harder.

There is one unfortunate wrinkle that becomes apparent when playing with computer-controlled characters, however, and it has to do with Ashen’s weapons. Weapons can be one of three types–axe, club/hammer, or spear–but tools from the same class can attack very differently. Some axes use a leaping vertical slam animation that allow you to get the jump on your enemy before they react, while others have a horizontal slash that can more easily hit multiple targets, for example. This adds additional levels of battle strategy other than simply picking whatever in your inventory is strongest. Problems arise when you’re playing with NPCs though, as you’re unable to choose which weapon a computer-controlled character brings into battle. Pretty much every enemy in Ashen can be tackled with whatever weapon you want, but there are a few locations and one boss battle where a weapon’s animation speed has a pretty substantial effect on you and your partner’s chances of survival. Not having the choice to pick your partner’s weapon introduces an unfortunate element of luck into some battles that should be entirely based on skill. It rarely happens, but it’s noticeable when it does.

Despite how you play, boss battles are where most of your deaths are probably going to come from, as each are five- to 15-minute affairs that push you to constantly adapt on the fly. No two bosses behave the same way, and many have a gimmick that can transform the fight. For example, one of the mid-game bosses is a staff-wielding giant woman who uses her magical lantern to deliver devastatingly powerful area-of-effect attacks and buff her health. If you put some distance between the two of you, you can bait her into throwing her lantern at you in frustration and then destroy it. Doing so allows you to carve out larger chunks of her health, but she goes into a violent frenzy and starts attacking you differently once her precious lantern is destroyed. It’s up to you whether or not you destroy the lantern, and when you’ll do it if you decide to do so.

In some cases, like this example, finding a boss’ gimmick makes the battle much easier, but it can also just change how it plays out–which is a wonderful thing for any fight you’re struggling with. Instead of feeling like you need to implement the same strategy over and over against every boss and just do it better, you’re occasionally rewarded for experimenting and trying something new. It helps dull any frustration that might arise from repeatedly losing to the same foe, too.

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.

We’re giving away the Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bundle to one (1) lucky fan! Reply to the tweet below directly on Twitter with your favorite Nintendo memories for a chance to win.

Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bundle Giveaway

Official Sweepstakes Rules

NO PURCHASE OR WIRELESS DEVICE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM (EXCLUDING NORTHERN IRELAND), WHO ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. IF YOU ARE ACCESSING THIS SWEEPSTAKES VIA YOUR WIRELESS DEVICE, DATA RATES MAY APPLY.

Administrator, Sponsor & Prize Provider: GameSpot, a Division of CBS Interactive, Inc. (“CBSI”), 235 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94105.

Sweepstakes Entities: CBSI

THIS SWEEPSTAKES IS NOT SPONSORED, ENDORSED OR ADMINISTERED BY TWITTER.

1. Acceptance of Rules. By entering the Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bundle Giveaway (the “Sweepstakes”) operated on the CBSI social web site accessible at the domain “twitter.com/gamespot” (the “CBSI Service”), you hereby accept and agree to these official rules (the “Official Rules”) of this Sweepstakes and the decisions of the Administrator in connection with this Sweepstakes, whose decisions are final.

No purchase, entry fee or use of wireless device is necessary to enter or win. If you are a wireless service subscriber and have a smartphone, tablet and/or other wireless device that allows you to access the Internet, you may enter the Sweepstakes via any of those devices during the promotion period, as defined below. If you decide to participate via any such wireless device, you may be charged data rates in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of your Service Agreement with your wireless carrier.

2. Eligibility. This Sweepstakes is offered and open to persons who are: (a) Registered Users; (b) followers of GameSpot on Twitter (@gamespot) (c) legal residents of United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) and (d) at least 18 years of age or older at the date of entry in this Sweepstakes. For purposes of these Official Rules, “Registered User(s)” means a person who has successfully completed the registration form, obtained a user identification, an associated password on the social website Twitter. There is no fee associated with becoming an Twitter Registered User. Employees, directors, and the immediate family members of the Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotion agencies and legal and financial advisors are not eligible to participate in this Sweepstakes. For purpose of the foregoing, “immediate family” means parents, spouses, children, siblings or any members of the same households of such employees and directors. This Sweepstakes is void where prohibited by law.

3. Entering the Sweepstakes: To enter the Sweepstakes, if not already, (a) become a Registered User (as specified above); (b) become a follower of the GameSpot account (www.twitter.com/gamespot); (c) reply to the tweet related to this Sweepstakes with your favorite Nintendo Memories using hashtag #NintendoMemories! during the Promotion Period (as defined below) and you will receive an entry into the Sweepstakes. For purposes of clarity, users can only tweet their reply once during the Promotion Period. Users who retweet the same reply multiple times may be disqualified at Sponsor’s sole discretion. If any changes occur and they affect the Sweepstakes, including without limitation, the need to cancel the Sweepstakes, such changes will be posted on the GameSpot page, found at http://www.twitter.com/gamespot, on the Twitter Service.

Limit of one (1) entry per person during the Promotion Period.

4. Promotion Period. The Sweepstakes begins on December 7, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. British Summer Time (“BST”) and ends at 9:00 p.m. BST on December 9, 2018 (the “Promotion Period”).

5. Prize. The Sweepstakes will award one grand prize (the “Prize”). The Prize consists of a one (1) Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bundle. The Prize has an approximate retail value of Three Hundred Twenty Pounds (£320).

6. Prize Restrictions. No assignment, transfer, conversion to cash or cash redemption or substitution of a Prize is permitted, except Administrator reserves the right to substitute a Prize with a prize of comparable or greater value, should a Prize or part of a Prize become unavailable. Prize is solely for personal use and may not be used in conjunction with any other promotion. All Prize details are at the sole discretion of the Sweepstakes Entities.

7. Odds/Drawing/Winner Notification. Odds of winning a Prize depends on the number of eligible entries received during the Promotion Period. On or about December 10, 2018, the Prize drawing will be conducted at random by Administrator, whose decisions are final and binding in all respects. The potential Prize winner (the “Winner”) will be notified by Administrator, via a message to their Twitter Service account. Potential Winner will be asked to provide their personal information, such as their name, physical address, date of birth and phone number in order to confirm eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. Administrator will select up to two (2) alternate Winners. If no contact has been made with the alternates after a reasonable effort has been made during three (3) business days from the first notification attempt to the last alternate, the Prize will not be awarded.

8. Prize Taxes. All tax liabilities (if applicable) arising from this Sweepstakes, including, without limitation, winning a Prize, will be the sole responsibility of the Winner.

9. Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release and Publicity Release. Winner may be required to complete, execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release, and where lawful, a Publicity Release (collectively, the “Release Forms”) within five (5) days of notification of winning. Failure to return Release Forms timely, or if Prize notification(s) or the Prize is returned as non-deliverable, or if a Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, may result in disqualification with an alternate Winner selected in accordance with these Official Rules.

10. Publicity Release Terms. Except where prohibited by law, a Winner’s acceptance of a Prize constitutes permission for the Sweepstakes Entities to use Winner’s name, photograph, likeness, statements, biographical information, voice, and address (city and state) worldwide and in all forms of media, in perpetuity, without further compensation.

11. Improper Conduct. Administrator, in its sole discretion, may disqualify any entrant from participation in or use of any or all portions of this Sweepstakes, and refuse to award the Prize, if Winner engages in any conduct Administrator deems to be improper, unfair or otherwise adverse to the operation of the Sweepstakes or detrimental to other entrants of the Sweepstakes. Such improper conduct includes, without limitation, falsifying personal information required during entrant registration or Prize claim, violating any term or condition stated herein, accumulating entries through methods such as automated computer scripts or any other programming techniques, allowing others to use entrant’s personal information for the purpose of accumulating entries, or intentionally trying to defraud, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise tamper with the computer programs in connection with this Sweepstakes. Winner agrees that Administrator may void a Prize or any part of a Prize that a Winner may have won and/or require the return of a Prize or any part of the Prize that a Winner may have won as a result of such improper conduct. Winner further acknowledges that any forfeiture of the Prize and/or return of a Prize shall in no way prevent Administrator from pursuing other avenues of recourse, such as criminal or civil proceedings in connection with such conduct. WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS SWEEPSTAKES MAY BE A VIOLATION OF ENGLISH CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, EACH OF THE SWEEPSTAKES ENTITIES RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

12. Integrity of Sweepstakes. If, for any reason, the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned by reason of infection by computer virus, worms, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which Administrator, in its sole opinion believes could corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Sweepstakes, Administrator reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this Sweepstakes and select the Winner from entries received prior to the action taken or in such other manner as Administrator may deem fair and appropriate.

13. Lost or Corrupted Entries. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, lost, late, incomplete, corrupted, stolen, misdirected, illegible or postage-due entries or mail, if applicable; or for any computer, telephone, cable, network, satellite, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, unauthorized human intervention, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information, or the failure to capture any such information. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by registration information submitted by end users or tampering, hacking or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Sweepstakes, and assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to the Sweepstakes.

14. Damaged Property. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, injury or damage to any entrants or to any other person’s computer or property related to or resulting from participating in this Sweepstakes or downloading materials from this Sweepstakes.

15. Sweepstakes Errors. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with errors and/or ambiguity: (a) in the Sweepstakes; (b) in any related advertising or promotions of this Sweepstakes; and/or (c) in these Official Rules. In the event of any ambiguity(s) or error(s) in these Official Rules, Administrator reserves the right to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes or to correct any such ambiguity(s) or error(s) without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes.

16. Prize and Winner. The Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you/entrant hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, the selection and announcement of the Winner, the distribution of the Prize, the acceptance/possession and/or use/misuse of any part of a Prize and/or any injury or damage to any entrant’s or third person’s property related to or resulting from any part of a Prize or any part of this Sweepstakes.

17. Release and Indemnity. Each entrant in this Sweepstakes, including, without limitation, the Winner, hereby releases and agrees to hold harmless the Sweepstakes Entities and their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to person, including death, and property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a Prize, participation in this Sweepstakes and participation in any activity related to this Sweepstakes.

18. Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT WILL THE SWEEPSTAKES ENTITIES, THEIR PARENTS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES AND RELATED COMPANIES, THEIR ADVERTISING OR PROMOTION AGENCIES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS, BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SWEEPSTAKES OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM THE SWEEPSTAKES. THE UNITED KINGDOM MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.

19. Disclaimer of Warranties. THE SWEEPSTAKES AND PRIZE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

20. Identity Disputes. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be declared made by the Authorized Account Holder of the email address and/or wireless phone number submitted at time of registration into Twitter and/or entry into the Sweepstakes. For purposes of these Official Rules, “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.

21. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. This promotion is governed by English law and is subject to the courts of London. Void where prohibited by law. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrant and Administrator in connection with this Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of London without giving effect to the conflict of laws rules thereof.

22. Winner’s List/Official Rules. For the name of the Winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope for receipt by December 15, 2018 to “Winner List, Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bundle Giveaway” c/o GameSpot, a Division of CBS Interactive, Inc., The Warehouse at The Bower, 207-211 Old Street, London EC1V 9NR. For Official Rules, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the above address marked “Official Rules: Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bundle Giveaway” for receipt by December 15, 2018. The name of the Winner may be posted, and the Official Rules will be posted on the CBSI Service (i.e. GameSpot.com).