Of Ash and Steel

Of Ash and Steel brings to mind games like Risen or Gothic – you know, janky RPGs that were objectively kind of terrible but that sort of had their own charm, even if you had to look hard to see it.

It's a bit of a cop out to say that this is a game for fans of the genre, but it is entirely appropriate with Eurojank. If you've ever played and enjoyed a Piranha Bytes game, then Of Ash and Steel is easy to recommend, especially given the patches and improvements since release. It's also a good entry point for newcomers to the subgenre, though you will still need to tolerate some  teething problems. If the game gets its teeth into you then it'll become your new obsession. For others, however, they'll bounce off the game and go back to more polished and forgiving titles.

Apart from the frustrating nature of ‘Of Ash and Steel’s no handholding, the game is filled with bugs, and some of them are game-breaking. At the time of this review’s publication, the game is already over a month old, and it is still filled with different bugs, and the optimization is still very poor. While Of Ash and Steel could have been a great hit back in the early 2000s, sadly, for today’s gamers, it lacks the right amount of fun and difficulty. In its current state, the no-handholding sits way back because the game needs optimization and bug-fixing. It is a shame because the game, on the other hand, has a great world and a lot of different things to do that can keep you busy for hours. I recommend that you sit this one out for the time being and try some other RPG for your fill.

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Of Ash and Steel has some technical issues that can exacerbate the difficulty, but once these are fixed, we should have a very challenging, if not brutal, Action RPG on our hands that is likely to be enjoyed by a certain crowd. You can't really argue with the price for the amount of content you're getting, either. And while it isn't great on the Steam Deck, it's still an enjoyable game and one worth checking out if you are a fan of old-style RPGs.

While the game captures a certain sense of wonder, Of Ash and Steel is unreasonably unpolished and miserable to play. If the game were still in testing, I would call it ambitious, but changes still need to be made to the core experience and a lot of QA still needs to be done on what is being called a finished game.

With engaging combat, crafting, and the ability to turn this simple cartographer into a worthy soldier, Of Ash and Steel became an adventure worth taking on. If you like Euro-jank style RPG’s this one is definitely for you.

Of Ash and Steel is an ambitious, fascinating RPG that tries to capture a bygone era, but does so with often insufficient means and with an approach that requires a patience that many will not have.

Of Ash and Steel is a big, old-school RPG that pays you for being patient, paying attention, and planning. It’s hard and fun to play because of the survival rules, the way the skill trees are connected, and the amount of exploration. There are some technical problems with the game, like stiff animations, strange sounds, and sometimes annoying AI, but the depth of the gameplay and sense of earned growth make it worth playing.

Of Ash and Steel is a classic tale of a zero-to-hero journey that's willing to show off its flaws, intentionally and unintentionally. It's the type of game that's built for a particular audience, one that revels in relishing the masochistic nature of old-school RPGs.