Ashes of Oahu - Review @ IndianNoob

Ashes of Oahu is a post-apocalyptic shooter-RPG set in Hawaii and it has been reviewed by IndianNoob, who felt it was lackiong as it only scored a 5.5 out of 10.

Ashes of Oahu is a clear cut example of high ambition restricted by budget constraints and lack of manpower. Amidst the technical mess, there are moments of brilliance and pure fun but they are too far and few between. I genuinely hope that the developers keep updating the game like they have the past few weeks and may it end up closer to their original vision sooner than later. But for now, Ashes of Oahu is a hard pass.

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More information.

This one sounded really nice at the start. Then, they made some drastic change in their plans, which seemed to be a grudging acceptance of reality, and I stopped paying attention.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

This one sounded really nice at the start. Then, they made some drastic change in their plans, which seemed to be a grudging acceptance of reality, and I stopped paying attention.

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Sad really. Bit more than they could chew

I wouldn't write this off because of one review. I'm seeing more positive comments than negative so far. I haven't played it yet myself, but I plan on trying it soon. Maybe tonight if I have time.

As someone who's been to Oahu multiple times, I'm interested in seeing how well the devs were able to translate that environment into a game world.

I tend to find that yemeth's scores align with my take on things.

I'm not completely writing this one off as of yet, but I am taking a, "wait and read reviews before buying" stance on it.

Ripper said:

I tend to find that yemeth's scores align with my take on things.

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Would love nothing but to see this game improve over time. Gave me Boiling Point/Xenus 2 vibes all around

JDR13 said:

I wouldn't write this off because of one review. I'm seeing more positive comments than negative so far. I haven't played it yet myself, but I plan on trying it soon. Maybe tonight if I have time.

As someone who's been to Oahu multiple times, I'm interested in seeing how well the devs were able to translate that environment into a game world.

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The lore and setting is good. But on a technical level, the game is such a mess. I was seeing those positive reviews on steam before I started playing, which makes me doubts its credibility as Oahu was in a more messed up state at that time. Good thin is that devs are pushing out bug fixes and QoL improvements very often. Sadly I don't think they'll improve the op and optimisation or the core of the game according to the chat I've had with the devs in community hub

I'm a bit of a fan of the ol' IndianNoob myself, but I'm not ready to give up hope. In fact, I'm a bit encouraged by the Steam reviews. Words like "Hawaiian Elex" totally work for me. You yourself, Yemeth, uttered another couple magical words for me: Boiling Point. I might buy it just to help out. I'm a closet optimist.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

I'm a bit of a fan of the ol' IndianNoob myself, but I'm not ready to give up hope. In fact, I'm a bit encouraged by the Steam reviews. Words like "Hawaiian Elex" totally work for me. You yourself, Yemeth, uttered another couple magical words for me: Boiling Point. I might buy it just to help out. I'm a closet optimist.

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Great to hear that.
If you're planning to get it, maybe get it on a sale. I find the price point of 40 USD to be quite high.
On other note, someone should seriously make Boiling Point 3 xD

The tutorial so far feels like a cross between Assassin's Creed and Far Cry. Seen a bit of clunkiness, and it's a slow loader to be sure, but no crashes for slowdowns of note yet, but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a working tutorial and a broken game. The new Bard's Tale, for example, was buggier in the beginning for me at launch, however.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

The tutorial so far feels like a cross between Assassin's Creed and Far Cry.

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Funny, I was about the say the same thing. I played it for a few hours last night, and those are the games it most reminded me of, albeit with much lower production values.

I didn't encounter any bugs that I know of, and the game ran fine for me on Ultra settings. That said, it did have a general feeling of wonkiness. The animations are subpar, and I often found myself getting stuck against things that my character should be able to jump over.

The graphics are kind of weak as well. Not terrible, but certainly not up to today's standards. I've no idea what kind of budget they were working with though.

I cleared the first raider camp and did a few minor quests for the Islander faction. Overall, it didn't really grab me. One issue I have is that it's supposed to be a post-apocalyptic setting but it doesn't really feel like one. Granted, I've only seen a tiny portion of the game world, so maybe other areas portray that setting more strongly.

I'll go back to it after a few more patches. I have a feeling they'll be working on this one for quite a while.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

The tutorial so far feels like a cross between Assassin's Creed and Far Cry. Seen a bit of clunkiness, and it's a slow loader to be sure, but no crashes for slowdowns of note yet, but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a working tutorial and a broken game. The new Bard's Tale, for example, was buggier in the beginning for me at launch, however.

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Let us know how it progresses, guys. I'm quite the fan of some janky games of this type (Deep Shadows' games, etc), and it'll be great to have another one on my "must-try" list.

Shagnak said:

Let us know how it progresses, guys. I'm quite the fan of some janky games of this type (Deep Shadows' games, etc), and it'll be great to have another one on my "must-try" list.

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Fwiw, you can already find it significantly cheaper on certain third-party store sites. Just Google "Ashes of Oahu steam key".

That seems like a reasonable way to approach it, JDR, and I may do the same. I agree with what you said but would add I liked all the spirits and Hawaiian stuff right off the bat. And, yes, I even kinda liked the dialogue animations that go on for 10 seconds when a guy says, "No" and stuff like that.