The best way to describe ASHES is raw. Everything is structured and composed in a uniquely detailed but unpolished way that makes the level stand out a ton. It starts by throwing you head first into an unapologetically dark and gritty atmosphere for half a minute before finally calming down. The calming part doesn’t last long, as you’re thrown right back into the action. As it starts to calm down again, you get suddenly sent to the sky. The level's entire tone shifts, as you calmly fly through a minute of a heavenly sky. I say calmly, but as hard as the level is, nothing is very calm to play here. All of this is very fitting with the song at hand, resulting in both complementing each other quite nicely.

Most designs in the level are super compact in detail, but it also has a ton of empty areas and designs as well. The part at 0:46 shows this well, as the overly detailed crystal blocks contrast sharply with the simple gray blocks. Paired with a lack of movements on a lot of structures, the level can look super odd at times. For this level though, I really like the strange and unpolished look it has. It does bring it down at times, but it also makes it stand out. This level just feels special, like xHeiDax put their all into making an emotional and compelling level, which is exactly the case. Even though the level looks off putting at times, I simply like how unique it feels. What I’m not a big fan of is the optimization, as the compact details are often made of hundreds of objects, bringing the level to 306,000 objects. This is also the exact reason why some things can feel so off, as so many compact details will always look strange paired next to emptiness. Still though, ASHES is a memorable Extreme Demon, and the Featured Rating it got is fair considering the polish and optimization.