From the developer Fire & Frost comes a new title called Of Ash and Steel, which I have recently been granted the opportunity to do a hands-on preview of, allowing me to try out roughly the first 2-3 hours of the title. During my hands-on experience, I had the opportunity to explore some of the world within Of Ash and Steel, as well as the early parts of the game’s story and many other things that I will go into more detail about within this article.
The World Within Of Ash and Steel
While playing Of Ash and Steel, I got the opportunity to explore a portion of the game’s world within the first act of the game’s story, and during my time with the game, I found that there was a lot to explore and find, keeping me both invested and interested.
Whether it was exploring the forests, investigating some ruins, or just taking on side quests or taking a break to fish, there was plenty to do within Of Ash and Steel that kept me interested, as each of these locations had plenty of secrets to find as well as some hostile enemies to defeat.
To make Of Ash and Steel even better is that the game allows you to explore the world at your own pace while also allowing you to figure things out on your own. Due to Of Ash and Steel not using quest markers, players will have to feel things out for themselves in order to discover where, who, and what they need to do next, which can be a lot of fun or frustrating, depending on your opinion.
Even though I was only able to play the early portions of the game, which only revealed to me a small cove by the water and a forest, Of Ash and Steel does boast numerous settings for the player to explore, ranging from cities, villages, frozen volcanoes, dungeons, and so much more.
Of Ash and Steel Doesn’t Hold Back With the Combat
As stated above, players will be taking control of a cartographer within Of Ash and Steel, meaning that this character isn’t especially adept at using weapons, and this fact is demonstrated in their combat abilities. Even though combat is a large part of the game, it isn’t exactly a smooth experience, and this is by design, as the game isn’t about rushing headfirst into battle and being a skilled hero from the get-go but more about a random character being shoved into the role of a hero.
It is safe to say that this mindset from the developers did make its way into the game, as combat is fairly difficult to get a hang of, as well as incredibly punishing for those who rush in blindly. With my experience, I found this to be a refreshing change of pace, as it encouraged me to think differently about combat in order to get an edge against the enemies that blocked my path.
Although combat is relatively simple within Of Ash and Steel, it can be quite a challenge to get the hang of, as there isn’t much to learn regarding it, but more about getting the timing right and keeping an eye on your stamina bar. I found myself often on the low end of the stamina bar and struggling to fight enemies rather than beating them to a pulp, leading me to die a few times over. However, there is one way to improve your chances of survival in Of Ash and Steel and that is by crafting.
Of Ash and Steel Takes Crafting to a Whole New Level
Since I only had access to the early sections within Of Ash and Steel, I understandably didn’t get an in-depth look at the crafting systems; however, it is clear that the developers have put a lot of time and effort into the crafting systems, whether it be simply crafting new armor or even crafting a brand-new weapon by hand.
From what I saw within the hands-on preview, crafting will be an essential pastime for players, as they will need to rely on the resources they find in the world as well as the numerous recipes they will unlock to help them survive the harsh world set before them.
Even though I didn’t manage to try my hand at the weapon crafting, we can see from the trailers that players will be able to craft their own array of weapons to use within combat, providing them with two senses of achievement: crafting a weapon by hand and using said weapon to crack some skulls.
The Story Within Of Ash and Steel Looks Like it’s Going to be a Good One
Although I only got the opportunity to play the early portions of the game, I wasn’t able to get a very in-depth look at the game’s story, as I was only able to partake in the prologue and a tiny section of act one; however, in order to keep this spoiler-free, from what I was able to witness, it does look like a story that will have players on the edge of their seat while also trying to uncover numerous mysteries.
For me, this is the most fascinating part, as there is a lot of intrigue within Of Ash and Steel about the story itself and what led the character to take part in the expedition they are a part of, leading me to want to play further than I was able to.
At the time of writing, Of Ash and Steel does not have a set release date but does have a release window of 2025 and is set to release on PC.
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I am a long-time writer who enjoys talking about numerous different game genres as well as playing them. My main focuses are games like Helldivers 2, Warframe, and so much more.
