Ashwalkers is a post-apocalyptic survival journey from Nameless XIII (a studio founded by Herve Bonin, co-creator of Life is Strange), and its soundtrack takes the striking approach of naming every track after a card in the Major Arcana of the tarot.
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From "Le Fou" (The Fool) through "Le Monde" (The World), the 22 tracks mirror the tarot's journey from innocence through experience -- a perfect structural metaphor for a game about leading survivors through an ashen wasteland toward an uncertain future.
The music itself is fittingly desolate and atmospheric, matching a game built around difficult choices in a dying world. "L'Ermite" (The Hermit) captures the profound isolation of traversing volcanic landscapes, while "La Roue De La Fortune" (Wheel of Fortune) carries the unpredictability that defines the game's branching narrative paths.
"Le Diable" and "La Maison Dieu" (The Tower) bring darker, more ominous textures for the moments when things go truly wrong -- and in Ashwalkers, they often do. The French-language track titles reflect the studio's roots and add an artistic elegance that suits the game's painterly visual style.
"La Temperance" offers one of the album's more balanced, contemplative moments, while "Le Jugement" and "Le Monde" close the journey with the weight of consequence and resolution. It's a thoughtfully structured soundtrack that rewards listening in order, each track building on the last like cards being laid out in a reading.