Ashwalkers from Dear Villagers and Nameless XIII is a black and white post-apocalyptic survival experience on Nintendo Switch. Check our Ashwalkers review!

 

Ashwalkers from Dear Villagers and Nameless XIII is a black and white post-apocalyptic survival experience on Nintendo Switch. The air outside of the Citadel has become toxic, and resources are scarce, so a group sets out on a desperate mission to find the Dome of Domes, a special location that will make it possible for the last remnants of humanity to live to see another day. The Squad is the last hope of survival for the 200,000 people that live in the Citadel, and the choices you make in this non-linear experience will certainly have consequences.

The Squad you’ll command is a group of four characters. Petra is the strategic captain, the Citadel’s military engineer. Sinh is a savage warrior from the outside that specializes in hunting. Kali is a young researcher, an orphan who is a scholar from the authority of the Citadel. The last member is Nadir, a veteran scout hero that is part of the Citadel’s pathfinders. Each character will have different stats to consider, as well as different skills that you’ll have to put to good use in order to stay alive.

 

Before you start to play Ashwalkers, I suggest you take on the tutorial so that you can learn the basics and can have a better understanding of what you’ll be going up against. You’ll move your group with the left analog stick as you try to survive against bad weather, hostile forces, and the wrath of time itself. You need to find resources to stay in as good shape as possible. To gather resources, you’ll have to spend energy, so you should make sure to pay attention to each character’s stats so that you can change with the L button who is going to perform an action.

As you play through Ashwalkers, you’ll need to make decisions to progress further. The choices you make will have an impact on the story paths you’ll take, leading you to one of the 34 endings that the game has to offer. You’ll have to manage your group’s resources, physical well-being, as well as the mental health of the characters. Each character will have stats to consider for satiety, warmth, and energy, and they need to be kept at as high as possible with the resources you collect.

 

What will happen if a character’s stats for satiety, warmth and energy run low? They will start to lose health points. As you can probably guess, this is bad since, unless you correct course, this will lead to their death. If three of your Squad members die, then it’s game over, and you’ll have to give it another go from the start. Give your team members food for satiety, use fuel so that campfires keep them warm, and heal their wounds with medication as needed. No energy means that a character won’t be able to walk or perform actions, so be sure to give them a chance to rest.

Your characters will also have another stat to consider: hope. The level of hope that each character has will improve or lower the efficiency of the tasks they perform, as well as affect some of the event choices that will be available along the way. A Squad member can also stand guard to protect the rest of the group from any potential danger. You could also send one of them to explore to try and find some much-needed resources so that you can have a better shot at reaching the end of your journey. Some characters will have skills that will increase or decrease the effectiveness of their camp tasks, and you’ll have to find out what they’re good at by, well, playing through Ashwalkers.

 

You have access to an Encyclopedia, where your group will automatically note down any important information about the places they visit, the flora and fauna they encounter, any people they meet, the snippets of history they uncover, information on the Citadel, on Lazarus, on any documents they locate, as well as information on Petra, Sinh, Kali, and Nadir.

Ashwalkers is an experience that is not going to be for everyone since, other than the intro tutorial that gives you a glimpse at the basics, you’re going to be on your own as you learn how to survive in this harsh post-apocalyptic world. When you do things right and manage to reach one of the endings, a run should take you roughly two hours and change. With 34 endings to obtain, there’s plenty of replay value, but do consider that the game’s framerate and resolution are far from ideal on Nintendo’s console. Ashwalkers is available at a $19.99 price.

Disclaimer
This Ashwalkers review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Dear Villagers.