Inner Ashes

Calathea Game Studio · Jun 29, 2023

PC · PS5 · Series X|S · PS4 · Xbox One · Switch

Everyone

About

Inner Ashes is a first-person narrative adventure in which the player experiences how Alzheimer’s affects people and their memories through an emotive story of a father and daughter set in dreamlike sequences. The main character, Henry, must go on an introspective journey through two different realities on his quest to remember why he and his only daughter, Enid, have been estranged for so long. Exploring his mind: Explore Henry's mind manifested as several dreamlike islands that represent different symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and unlock his memories by solving puzzles. Unraveling his story: Find out the truth about Henry and Enid by collecting the fragments of their past. Understanding his illness: Experience the daily life of an Alzheimer's patient and confront their day-to-day struggles.

Trailers & screenshots

Critic reviews

Xbox Tavern
Corey Lyle · Jul 29, 2023
6.0
Inner Ashes is a game that tries very hard to deliver facts about a terrible real world disease mixed with an emotional story in a videogame and it misses the mark for me. As a walking simulator at it’s core the gameplay is expected to be a little slow, however they can hold their own ground when they come with great stories. Unfortunately Inner Ashes is mediocre for me.
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NoobFeed
JustAnotherJake · Jul 13, 2023
4.0
It is pretty obvious that there is something within Inner Ashes worth talking about and discussing, especially with its narrative based around such a sensitive topic. However, as it stands, it is a game that I foresee most players walking away from this experience, being only able to make it through thanks to the story and maybe the dream world visuals or not being able to finish the game due to the lack of actual gameplay. The story here is the golden key to it all, and it shouldn’t go to waste, but either Inner Ashes should be something completely different or it needs a lot more time to be developed into something a lot more in-depth than what is here right now.
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GamesCreed
Morgan Wagener · Jul 12, 2023
2.0
Overall, Inner Ashes is an emotional rollercoaster of a walking simulator where every day that you live in Henry’s shoes gets more difficult as time goes on. The game does an excellent job of building awareness of what people with Alzheimer’s go through on a daily basis, and it has a captivating story and fun puzzles to go along with it as well as extra tidbits of information about Alzeihmers hidden on most levels.
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TheXboxHub
Gareth Brierley · Jul 11, 2023
7.0
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.
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AnaitGames
Juan Salas · Jul 14, 2023
7.0
Inner Ashes is a bold and unusual proposition in the industry. It is perhaps surprising that it is the debut feature of the very young Calathea studio, but at the same time it is a hopeful sign of the normalization of the video game as a cultural medium in which to address any type of subject, with mechanics closely linked to the theme that drives the story. of the game and with a documentation work as excellent as it is respectful is the final result for Alzheimer's patients.
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IGN
Alejandro Morillas · Jul 03, 2023
7.0
Aunque peca de sencillez en algunos aspectos de la representación de la realidad del Alzheimer, transmite una visión respetuosa y bien informada de la misma a través de una emotiva historia y unas mecánicas simples, pero efectivas.
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