Solar Ash review – ambitious sci-fi adventure leads to a boring new world

PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC; Heart Machine/ Annapurna Interactive
This unquestionably beautiful game about saving a planet from an encroaching black hole boldly goes where few have remained awake

Life is about the journey, not the destination, the saying goes, and the speed-obsessed Solar Ash is built on that principle. Kitting the player out with invisible space roller skates, this colourful space adventure sees heroine Rei gliding across a gorgeously vibrant planet. Reminiscent of thatgamecompany's Journey, a soothing collage of oil paintings and minimalistic comic-book design, Solar Ash's gorgeous ruined cities and pastel-coloured plains rarely fail to stop you in your tracks. In some moments, Solar Ash is glorious, the sort of freeform, wind-in-your-hair joyride that shuts down your thoughts and delights the synapses. But the illusion shatters once you turn to an objective.

Charged with saving Rei's dying home planet from an ominous black hole, you drift and slash your way across the wheezing planet, seeking out poorly signposted tar-like anomalies and slaying the big beastie responsible for birthing them. These anomalies are obtusely hidden, and Solar Ash provides little in the way of subtle visual language to help you find them. I spent hours roaming the same areas in search of what to do next, slowly losing any lingering sense of intrigue and, eventually, my will to live. Solar Ash is all about movement, an experience that prides itself on speed and flow - but all too often, it grinds to a halt.

Solar Ash is out now, 31.99