A split between visual novel and turn based combat (with other roguish-like bits sprinkled in), you would think that it's a quencher for any game-related boredom. But does it measure up?
Coming from Aurum Dust with high accolades from the start, is Ash of Gods: Redemption.
This title is hard to pin down in a genre-sense, as it is many things.
On the whole, the game is a wonderful idea with some really nice points to back that up. The graphics are fantastic--the art style is a lovely take on 80's animation, giving a very Dragon's Lair (1983) feel to it. To watch the characters move on screen is endearing to say in the least--the lovely movements, idle animations and overall design. Visually, the fighting is well thought out and you can tell just by witnessing that some heart was put into this side of the project as well.
Unfortunately, for me, this game has more downs than it does ups. I'm going to note here that what I'm about to say is able to be overlooked if you really enjoy these elements of game play, or have a soft spot for the title itself. However, I just couldn't find it in myself to turn a blind eye.
The biggest problem of Ash of Gods is the English localization. Now, this doesn't seem to be a massive problem across the board--after all, we wouldn't have 'Someone set up us the bomb!' without legendary bad translations. With Ash of Gods though, the main point of the game is to tell a story, and a serious one at that. There's a fair amount of death and intimidation that the game bases its plotline on, and without great care in translating the script, it's lost in a sea of immersion-breaking. The characters themselves suffer from poor dialog that was perhaps meant to have more meaning behind it originally. For example, the first woman you meet looks to be strong in appearance. She's got a sword, some really nice fencing moves and a fetching set of leathers on. Yet, when she speaks it comes off as painfully childish. You hear her calling "Momma!" in that tone that I even tell my eight year old to knock off. It's disappointing to say in the least, and not isolated either.
The other thing about the dialog that really tends to bother me, is the use of swearing. Now, in no way shape or form am I against strong language in a video game or out of it. A well placed cuss word is just the thing to get the hair raised on the back of your neck sometimes. In Ash of Gods, it all seems comical, like walking past teenagers at the park who purposely raise their voices with it to sound cool. But we all know what that does--the exact opposite. Aside from sounding just plain silly, it's completely immersion breaking. The setting speaks to me with a medieval tone, but the in-game language is something I would see on a Twitter feed. It's dating, and I would say had to be the breaking point of taking any of the game seriously...and that's not even counting the voice acting.
A massive fuss thrown up about the dialog, but the problem here lies within it being mostly a graphic novel. You can make decisions that affect your characters as well, but they never seem to be as big of a deal as you initially think. If you're a fan of turn-based combat and bought it for such purposes, you might find yourself disappointed in that respect--battles happen roughly every fifteen to thirty minutes, leaving a massive gap filled with story between the two.
Not is all bad though. As I said before, it's not my personal cup of tea, but if you're a fan of any of the genres this game pieces from it could be very much yours. To be noted, however, is that many that looked forward to it's release have been sadly let down. The choice is always down to you, dear reader! In closing, I'm reminded of a simple phrase that speaks true: one person's garbage is another person's treasure.