This forum post is about some issues I see with the current terrain in Ashes of Creation. Some of these problems can probably be fixed later in development, but others need strong foundations from the start. These foundation-level problems are what I will focus on here.
Riverlands
Let’s start with something simple. The area is called Riverlands, and yet there is no river big enough to actually sail a proper boat on. That feels strange for a zone with that name. Sure, you can swim or float a small raft on some of the rivers, but they are too narrow and shallow for real boats. There are a few spots where the rivers are decently wide, but it’s just not enough for a whole region that is supposed to be defined by rivers. A place called Riverlands should have at least one or two big, impressive rivers that feel like important parts of the world, not just small streams scattered around.
Topography
Ashes of Creation terrain seems to be either very flat or very bumpy, with not much in between. It almost feels like a large landmass was compressed into a very small area, forcing all the hills and elevations to be packed too closely together. The result is that hills appear very aggressive and dense, often popping up without any kind of smooth transition or buildup. It doesn’t feel like natural terrain formed over time—it feels like random bumps placed by hand. Below, I made a quick paint drawing to show what the current topography in Ashes looks like, together with some in-game screenshots. As you can see, there are no soft lines or natural shapes, just lots of sharp changes in elevation that don’t seem to follow any logic or flow.
If we look at a screenshot from Crimson Desert, we can clearly see how the terrain builds up in a natural way. Every hill, every valley has a smooth transition. The land slowly rises or drops, and nothing feels out of place. Big elevation changes don’t just appear out of nowhere—they are prepared by smaller slopes or rolling terrain that leads up to them. This kind of buildup makes the world feel more believable and realistic, like something shaped by nature over time, not just placed by a level editor. It also helps with exploration and navigation, because the land has a clear shape and flow that makes sense to the eye.
In contrast, Ashes of Creation flat terrain is often very flat and that also doesn’t feel natural. In the real world, even flat areas usually have small changes in height, gentle slopes, or soft curves. But in Ashes, these flat zones often feel empty and artificial, like a flat sheet stretched between hills. If we look at the screenshots below from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, we can see how immersive and natural the terrain looks. Even areas that are supposed to be flat have small ups and downs that make them feel alive and believable. I also want to make it clear that I understand Ashes can't match Crimson Desert or Kingdom Come in terms of graphic quality or visual fidelity—that’s not the point here. What I’m focusing on is just the shape and layout of the terrain. It’s not about textures or lighting, but about how the land flows and how natural it feels to move through.
Ashes terrain also lacks any interesting points of interest, especially natural, grand structures like the ones shown in the images below. These kinds of features are very important in open-world games. They catch the player’s eye, make the world feel more alive, and give you a reason to explore. A big cliff, a massive canyon, strange rock formations, or a huge waterfall. Things like that help make the world feel unique and memorable. They also help with navigation and give a sense of direction and scale.
While technically you can add these kinds of structures later in development, if you want them to look authentic and believable, the terrain around them needs to be built up properly. A giant rock arch or mountain peak shouldn’t just sit in the middle of flat land. The landscape should slowly lead up to it, with changes in height and style that match the structure. The environment around it should support it, both visually and in terms of gameplay. That’s why I think it’s much better—and more natural—to design the terrain from the beginning with these structures in mind. That way, the whole area feels like one connected and well-thought-out piece of the world, not just a flat space with a cool rock dropped into it. This approach helps create a truly unique and grand environment that feels crafted, not random.
Cohesion
Something that, to a certain degree, can be improved without completely changing the landscape is the lack of cohesion in Ashes of Creation. When we look at games like Crimson Desert or Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the screenshots from those games look much better than Ashes in terms of how the environment feels. Of course, it’s easy to say that these are single-player games with better graphics and higher fidelity, so the comparison may not feel fair. That’s why it’s useful to look at a game like Chrono Odyssey instead. In Chrono, the textures are worse, the grass looks more basic, and the overall graphic fidelity seems lower than in Ashes.
And yet, many screenshots from Chrono Odyssey still look much better and more visually appealing than those from Ashes of Creation. Why is that? The main reason is cohesion. In Chrono, the foliage, the color palette, the shape of the terrain, and the style of buildings all work together. Everything looks like it belongs in the same world. The environment feels grounded, natural, and well thought out.
Ashes of Creation, to be fair, has good environmental fidelity, especially considering that it's still in early alpha. The graphics are sharp, the assets are high quality, and the lighting system shows potential. But right now, the overall art direction of the environment feels rough and unfinished. The different elements, trees, rocks, terrain textures, buildings, often don’t blend well together. They feel separate, like they were designed without a shared style or vision. Improving this cohesion would make a huge difference to how immersive and believable the world feels, even without raising the graphics quality.
Variety
Ashes of Creation also suffers from a lack of land variety. Right now, all of the Riverlands region looks almost the same—just bumpy plains with small rivers and some trees randomly placed here and there. There are no clear areas that feel different or unique. You don’t really get that feeling of “Oh, this is a forest,” or “This is a wide-open field,” or “This is a hilly region,” or “Here’s a large flat area,” or “That’s a massive lake.” Everything blends together too much, and because of that, the world feels repetitive and less interesting to explore.
Forests, for example, are basically nonexistent in Ashes. There are trees, yes, but they are scattered and sparse. They don’t create a real forest atmosphere. Below, I’ve added screenshots showing what proper forests look like in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Chrono Odyssey. In those games, forests feel dense, deep, and immersive. The trees are packed close together, the lighting changes when you walk through them, and there’s a clear shift in the environment. You feel like you’re inside a forest, not just passing through a group of trees. Even New World managed to create immersive forest, so I'm sure Intrepid can do it too.
Then at the end, there’s a screenshot of Jundark in Ashes of Creation, which was supposed to be a dark and dense jungle. But instead, it looks just like the rest of the Riverlands—some trees on top of bumpy terrain. A jungle should feel thick, overwhelming, full of heavy foliage and shadow, almost like a maze. Right now, that kind of biome doesn’t really exist in Ashes, and that’s a big missed opportunity when it comes to making the world feel alive and diverse.
There is hope, though, because even Intrepid Studios themselves have shown Jundark as a dense jungle in their official concept art and thumbnails, like the one below. In those images, the jungle looks thick and wild, with heavy vegetation, tall trees, and a dark, moody atmosphere. It’s clear that the original vision for Jundark was much more than what we currently see in the game.
