Of Ash and Steel

Of Ash and Steel is a truly fascinating world and experience that absolutely has merit. The sheer amount of content the game contains (there's even an 'Arena Master' mode outside of the main story that allows you to enjoy more combat challenges) is remarkable for an indie studio that's just now getting its feet wet. It checks a whole lot of boxes for what a love letter to classic 2000s open-world RPGs should contain, and the care and attention to these details is abundantly clear. That said, it does try to differentiate itself in ways that it doesn't need to, such as the lack of navigation UI elements and skill requirements. It also needs a bit more polish on other fronts, such as its dialogue mechanics, and the cutscenes can feel a bit awkward to watch at times. With a bit more time in the "forge" as it were (or just constructive update patches), this game could truly be one to remember.

Rigorous gameplay and freedom make Of Ash and Steel a challenging but captivating RPG. Every exploration, encounter, and achievement must be earned, offering a unique and immersive experience.

An atmospheric tribute to old-school RPGs, but currently overambitious and unfinished.

If you can temper your expectations and have an impressive tolerance for jank and lack of polish, Of Ash and Steel might have something to offer. The world is sort of interesting, even if the stuff you need to do in it is rarely as fun as it should be. The main character goes through the game sort of annoyed and bewildered. So did I.

Of Ash and Steel aspires to be a juicy gothiclike product, but numerous bugs and flaws test the player's patience. A lot of work still needs to be done here to make it enjoyable to play.

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.

Behind the technical state of Of Ash and Steel, you can occasionally see glimpses of what could have been. A throwback RPG for those nostalgic for the games of the early 2000s. As it stands, the game is barely functional due to a plague of bugs, unplayable performance issues, and systems that barely hold together. Accompanied by myriad smaller issues, Of Ash and Steel feels closer to a first draft than a final launch. Some people might get lucky and manage to thread the needle of poor performance and buggy gameplay and have a serviceable time with Of Ash and Steel. I was, sadly, not one of those people.

Despite some bugs here and there, this game is enticing, captivating and had everything I was looking for in a fantasy RPG like "Gothic" - if not more. It may have been released too early, but I highly recommend this game and it had me in it's grip for more than 147 hours. To bad it had to end...

The concept is great. The ideas and story are really interesting. But man the game is rough! I had to try so very hard to want to love this game. Its very unpolished and very jerky and buggy. The devs are putting out one hotfix and patch after another, but even with them playing catchup, the experience will still not be a great one for most. I read someone else saying that if you were a gamer in the 90syou will get along just fine with the game and will like it, but if you are only used to modern games, of Ash and Steel will frustrate you to much.I think that is very true: There is a fine line between "no hand-holding" and utterly frustrating the player with bad game design, ridiculously hard mini games, stupid AI and bugs. And the game is on the frustrating side more than it is not. That being said, there is something very, very charming about the whole thing that makes me come back to it and (as of now) wanting to finish the game. I cannot exactly put my finger on what it is, but hence my relatively high rating which it would otherwise not deserve. Bottomline, between patches from the devs and mods from the amazing folks on Nexus - I am actually enjoying myself.

A game developed by a small team with great passion. However, it lacks polish and hasn’t reached its full potential due to budget constraints. In its current state, the game doesn’t come close to the standards of games released in 2025. It looks like a game from the early 2010s, and it bears a striking resemblance to ArcaniA—the 2010 installment of the Gothic series that served as inspiration for Of Ash and Steel. I’ve played for about two hours, but I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it to the end because there’s a serious loading screen issue despite having an M.2 SSD, and the optimization seems problematic as well. I understand that the developers’ goal was to create a old-school role-playing game, but by simply gathering all the existing clichés of the genre and adding nothing new, they’ve ended up with something outdated.

probablement trop ambitieux pour un petit studio.. mou et ennuyeux au bout d'un moment..

I really would like to give a better score but with the current state of the game i just can't. I hope they will continuewith bugfixing. Edit: had to lower my rating due to the very frustating combat system against animals, has anyone testet that?