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Solar Ash Developers Encourage Speedrunners to Break The Game
Ahead of the October 26 release date for Solar Ash, the game's creative director has expressed his excitement to see how players will break the game during speedrun attempts. After a thriving speedrun community developed around its previous game, appears that the developer is anticipating a similar reaction for Solar Ash - the upcoming title is the second release for developer Heart Machine, following their 2016 game Hyper Light Drifter.
As quick, fluid movement will be at the center of Solar Ash, speedrunning will fit well with the game's theme and aesthetic. Described by the developer as a 3D open world platformer, combat will take a back seat in Solar Ash in favor of agility and stylish traversal through the game's world. The game takes place inside of a black hole, and features a protagonist named Rei who enters the black hole to stop it from consuming her home.
In an interview with PLAY Magazine (via GamesRadar+), the developers of Solar Ash revealed they are excited to see how quickly players will be able to get through the game. Alx Preston, the creative director for the game, stated that he's "fascinated by the efforts that go into the speed runs" and he approves of the way video games have started to cater to speedrunning in recent years. Whether Solar Ash will have a mode dedicated to speedrunning is currently unknown, but its clear that any attempts to cut through the game have the developer's full approval.
To many speedrunning fans, including Solar Ash's developer, the community that grows around the game is the most exciting part of the activity. "It's one of my favorite things about games just because the community around it seems so good, good-natured in a lot of ways," Preston said later in the interview. Given Heart Machine's track record, the title will likely have little difficulty in developing a following.
Speedrunning has been part of video games for nearly as long as the medium has existed. Enthusiasts continually add parameters to a run to make it more difficult, to the point of playing a game as difficult as Sekiro blindfolded. The nature of this challenge sometimes puts it at odds with game developers, as speedrunning techniques often involve glitches or breaking the game in some way. Heart Machine's enthusiasm for speedrunning will likely make Solar Ash a good choice for the task, and perhaps add another dimension to what's shaping up to be a great indie title.
Solar Ash is set to release for PS4, PS5, and PC on October 26, 2021.
