Solar Ash Nintendo Switch review: An amazing puzzle platformer with a lot of heart

Solar Ash is a very complicated game to describe, let alone review. It's a title that does very little to differentiate itself from the vast crowd of traditional third-person puzzle-platformer adventure releases. However, what it delivers with both its art style and subtle storytelling is something that makes it a really unique experience.

Solar Ash was a game I had no prior knowledge of, so I was not expecting much. However, once I started playing it and made my way to the credits, it easily became one of the most memorable experiences that I've had on my Nintendo Switch this year, right alongside Tears of the Kingdom.

Everything about Solar Ash, including the simplistic puzzle platforming, the effortless traversal system, the unique art style, and the impactful story, gripped me right from the get-go. Although there were a few hiccups along the way, for the most part, I enjoyed my time with the game a lot, albeit with some caveats.

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Solar Ash: Skating its way to excellence, albeit with some technical hurdles along the way

Presentation and soundtrack

Solar Ash, more often than not, offered a zen-like gaming experience that I used to enjoy on my old Windows Phone almost a decade ago. It felt more like a game that I could play every now and then, in between work, during my spare time, or maybe even before taking a nap, to ease my mind out of the day's stress.

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I've always been a fan of the cell-shaded art style, something that Solar Ash makes use of in an interesting way.

Much like developer Heart Machine's previous title, Hyper Light Drifter, Solar Ash features a unique visual style that mixes gritty sci-fi esthetics with the simplicity of cell-shaded art. I also really liked the use of simple colors throughout the game.

Another big standout feature of Solar Ash is its levels and enemy designs. Each level in the game feels distinct, with their own identity. The same element of uniqueness is shared by the title's hostile NPCs, featuring some really cool designs. All-in-all, I was really impressed with the visuals despite mostly playing the game on Switch's handheld mode.

The soundtrack is also great, especially the combat and exploration themes. I previously mentioned the game's zen-like element; well, that's partly due to its ambient soundtrack that plays in the background while you're exploring and skating through the immaculately detailed levels.

The immaculate and breathtakingly beautiful levels (Image via Heart Machine)

While Solar Ash's soundtrack might not be a stand-out feature, akin to some of the other games that I played this year, such as Armored Core 6, Final Fantasy 16, or The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, it is not something to be scoffed at. In terms of visual presentation and soundtrack, the game does not disappoint.

Gameplay and level design

In terms of gameplay, Solar Ash is a fairly straightforward puzzle platformer with a few combat segments sprinkled on top. Although the title's combat can be quite fun, it certainly isn't the focus. Instead, the biggest and most impressive gameplay element that kept me coming back to Heart Machine's offering is the fluid and effortless traversal system.

The high-octane traversal makes the moment-to-moment gameplay incredibly engaging (Image via Heart Machine)

Skating through the game's highly detailed levels, each with its own set of platforming and combat challenges, is a lot of fun. Much like Hyper Light Drifter, Heart Machine focused a lot on making the moment-to-moment traversal and the act of getting from point A to point B engaging without making it feel monotonous.

As for the combat system, it's quite fun at times. The highlights for me were the boss fights, both due to the spectacle and the challenge they posed. Being a massive fan of the souls-like genre, I really adored some of the earliest boss fights in Solar Ash. Honestly, I was really surprised at how difficult some of these encounters were.

However, none of these boss fights or general combat encounters felt like a chore or a forced deviation from the excellent traversal system.

Every facet of Solar Ash's gameplay gels really well with one another, making the moment-to-moment gameplay really engaging, which is really important for the title's brief runtime.

Story and a few shortcomings

I was pretty impressed with what Heart Machine was able to cram in terms of narrative within what's essentially a six- to seven-hour-long puzzle platformer. You don't usually see decent storytelling in such games, let alone one that's anywhere near as thought-provoking as Solar Ash's narrative. However, there are a few caveats.

The boss fights are among the most impressive aspects of the game (Image via Heart Machine)

I personally did not find myself attached to the game's story, which is quite a surprise given I genuinely adore this kind of "indirect" approach. I mean, there's a reason why I love the story and the setting in every single FromSoftware game. Despite the developer's rather oblique approach to storytelling, I even liked the way Dark Souls 2 delivered its narrative.

However, I never clicked with Solar Ash's narrative, which, I think, was mostly due to the fun gameplay system, which felt like a contrast to the slow and methodical storytelling approach it employs. Don't get me wrong, though, the title features an incredible narrative which, if you're the right audience for it, will undoubtedly leave a mark on you.

Apart from the story, another major gripe I have with Solar Ash is its performance on the Nintendo Switch. I mostly played it on the Switch's handheld mode (which I personally prefer over docked). Despite the visuals looking quite good for a Switch port, the performance was all over the place. While the game rarely stuttered, there were some framerate issues.

The game looks really impressive, even on the Nintendo Switch (Image via Heart Machine)

The game also has a tendency to crash quite often if booted from an SD card. However, moving it to the Switch's internal memory seemed to fix the crashing issues for me. There are also audio bugs in the title, with crackling sounds in certain levels when traversing fast.

I should also mention that I played the game on a Switch OLED.

In conclusion

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Solar Ash is a fantastic puzzle platformer, one that weaves its narrative and immaculate art style perfectly with its high-octane and fun gameplay.

Although the game's Nintendo Switch port could do with a few updates to iron out the technical issues, those are very minor shortcomings on the face of what is essentially one of the best platformers on the device.