10 Most Criminally Overlooked Video Games Of 2018

9. Ashen

A Souls-clone through and through, Ashen wears its influences proudly on tattered sleeves.

At this stage you know exactly what to expect from a Souls-like. FromSoftware's runaway success has birthed an entire movement within gaming, and here the general feel of combat, desolate sense of exploration and knife-edge difficulty is intact, but with some awesome key differences.

First is taking the idea of Souls' bonfires as a resting spot, and making that a place where you can base-build your own homestead. It gives the formerly checkpoint-only aspect of banking your souls/XP a sense of place, and that factors into how you'll always have an A.I. companion alongside when going from place to place.

Dedicated Souls fans will naturally kill this companion as fast as possible, but as a way to not feel quite so starkly beset upon when trying to conquer such an imposing world, it means you've got a hand in battle, and a helping hand from beginning to end.