Heart Machine's Hyper Light Drifter made quite a splash among indie game fans when it came out back in 2016. Naturally, fans of that title have been anxiously waiting to play their next title, Solar Ash, which was announced back in 2019.
Today, as part of the Summer Game Fest Kickoff Live stream, we got a good look at what Solar Ash is going to look like. And if this brief trailer is anything to go by, this might be an even more incredible experience than anything this developer has done before. It'll be especially exciting for fans of grinding rails and stabbing giant monsters.
This shows the protagonist as they move about they glide around the orangey-red world of Solar Ash. They're soon attacked by what looks like an enormous flying pterodactyl-dragon thing that fires projectiles that turn the ground into green crystals (you know, that old trope.) Our hero then grinds up the side of a giant rock like they're Tony Hawk and begins slashing at some kind of jiggly mass at the top. This action calls the airborne beast over so they can leap on its back and hack away at its wings. It looks pretty neat.
Judging by this gameplay trailer, it looks like Solar Ash will be a very fast-paced action game that features plenty of big-time boss battles. The movement shown seems very fluid with plenty of grinding and skating around. It also employs the sort of unique art style you might expect from the creators of Hyper Light Drifter.
As for when we'll get our hands on the game, a definite release date wasn't given in this trailer. However, do we know that Solar Ash is set to release later this year for PS4, PS5, and PC via the Epic Games Store. We'll likely receive the actual date soon, but for now, we'll just have to wait until we can play this odd mash-up of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Shadow Of The Colossus. Guess it's time for another playthrough of Hyper Light Drifter in the meantime.