Inner Ashes Review

Games that deal with health issues have frequently graced our consoles over the last few years. There have been those that have examined mental health issues; games like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Night in the Woods. Others have dealt with addiction and abuse. There have been those focusing on Alzheimer’s too – which affects over 55 million people worldwide – with Alzheimer’s: Memories being a point-and-click adventure on Steam.

Inner Ashes is the latest game to cover the subject, coming from a Spanish developer as they tackle the illness interestingly and compassionately, taking us through someone’s life. 

Inner Ashes starts in the house of the protagonist, as you find him walking around his kitchen, living room, and study. Henry’s life seems normal, but as you explore you see messages on kitchen boards, post-it stickers reminding him of tasks to do around the house. He has early onset Alzheimer’s and is having trouble re-ordering his memories. He is an artist and maker at heart, and Henry continually goes into his notebook, poring over his life. As you go into his memories, there is focus on his daughter Enid; we see the good times and how an event manages to split them apart. 

The story in the memory world becomes a symbolic fantasy world, representing the stage of Alzheimer’s that Henry is going through. The narrative is strong and – as you may expect – emotional. It’s a great idea to tell a person’s life through this terrible disease, all while ultimately being very hopeful. There are also documents and letters you find lying around that give scientific facts and medical insights into the disease and treatment involved.

The gameplay takes place via the first person, with Inner Ashes coming across as an adventure game; almost a walking sim. You walk around each area solving very simple puzzles, activating switches before moving on to the next section. Strangely the game’s main bit of puzzle solving has close ties to Tetris. At the end of each area, you are presented with a shape and several Tetris-like blocks that need to fit into a shape to unlock the puzzle. These become particularly tricky as the game progresses and are quite a lot of fun. In fact, there’s a good range of little puzzles included, helping to keep the interest throughout, even if some of them seem at odds with what is going on in the narrative

The main problem I have with Inner Ashes is in the pacing. I think not being able to run is a bit of a problem, and the slow walking pace does begin to grate after a while. I understand why the developers would want to keep the contemplative elements of the game intact, but I think it needs a bit more speed about it, especially when you backtrack in some of the later levels. Overall though it is a relaxing game, and it’s nice to play through a tale without anything attacking you. 

Inner Ashes does a good job in terms of the visuals too, putting you into Henry’s mind through the real world and his imagination. In that real world we wander his house as things change reflecting on how Henry’s mind is working. At one point you get tasked with making a cup of coffee, but the cup disappears, or the coffee is back in the cupboard, visually showing the effects of the disease. In the imagined world, it is more symbolic, with huge landscapes crafted in fantasy that you explore. Wherever, Inner Ashes looks very good without being breathtaking. That said, the animated cutscenes are pretty special.

The soundtrack does a great job of running the same vibes as the pace of the game. There is nothing too dramatic or amazing here, but it does a solid job throughout. 

You have to send credit the way of the development team for tackling a subject like this, dealing with it in a compassionate and heartfelt way. There’s no doubt that the story of Inner Ashes is very good, with a great representation of the struggles involved in coping with Alzheimer’s. But the pacing can feel too slow at times and if I am being picky there are a few too many Tetris-styled puzzles.

On the whole, Inner Ashes is a good game with a great message.