To Ash is, to start, an amazing concept. Starting out as basically Hercules and having to watch yourself level down as you play really turns the standard RPG on its head and makes every enemy encounter that much more tense.

The battle system is a bit complicated; it works a lot like the battle system in 16-Bit-Psych’s newer game Stories in Stone though with more focus on your battle stance. Because I’d played his other game I came into this knowing how the mechanics work, but I think the average player would have to take their time to figure everything out. This isn’t a problem, though, since as I said before you’re so strong that you have time to learn as you play.

But then, just as you’re starting to learn the ropes, you get the message that will haunt your entire game for the first time: “Demetri has weakened.” While before you could basically cut through every enemy like butter without even having to think about it, you’re slowly forced to play strategically. It’s really fantastic how the game progresses.

All of this ties in amazingly to the plot about death and its inevitability. So not only is it a very novel concept, it is used very well for an actual purpose.

This is definitely a game to check out. If you aren’t interested in these retro-style RPG Maker games then maybe it won’t be your thing, but as far as I know there isn’t any other game that brings to the table what this game does.

You can find more RPG and Visual Novel reviews like this on the Rainbow Role curator page!