To Ash game banner

To Ash

$1.99
Release Date:
Developer:
16 Bit Psych, Kyle B
Publisher:
Self-Publish
Platforms:
Windows Mac
Download Game

Game Tags

About This Game

An RPG By Kyle Ballentine.

Do You Accept Death? Or Do You Fear It?

An old-school RPG made to question your acceptance of mortality.

A unique RPG where instead of becoming stronger, you get weaker as you go along. Demitri is a hero who already completed his journey. He is already powerful, so combat is complex and strategic from the start! But no one can live forever, and everyone’s story must come to an end.
The theme revolves around death and acceptance. Written by a therapist, the story is made help you think about what you cannot control. Age, death, loss... these are all things we must accept in our lives.
For those just looking to experience the story, there are 2 distinct modes.

Key Features

  • No grinding levels, because the hero becomes weaker
  • Complex, strategic battles from the start and no long tutorials
  • Turn-based battles with the “Stance” mechanic, allowing you to strengthen the character in various ways and respond to enemy attacks.
  • Strong themes of acceptance and mortality with an impactful ending, even the towns are modelled after the 5 stages of grief
  • 2 versions, one for RPG veterans and one for those who just want to experience the story
•Full rpg experience with combat (6-10 hours), or...
•"Adventure Mode" (3-5 hours), which removes the element of combat and strategy, but leaves the story, puzzles, and exploration to enjoy!
  • 2 endings depending on your choices
  • Original art by Neon Skies Studio

Developer Profile:



I am a therapist in Santa Ana, California. I currently live with my wife, two cats, and one dog.
This is my first game, To Ash. I’m a life-long gamer, (growing up with two brothers, we played a ton of different games) and an RPG lover. I worked on this by myself, but had input from testers, family, and had some original art made by Jala Prendes.
So you know where some of my influences come from, some of my favorite games are; Castlevania, Mario RPG, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Smash Bros., ‘Tales of’ games, Zelda, and Albert Odyssey.

Screenshots

User Reviews

Very Positive
17 user reviews
82%
Positive
4 hrs at review
Recommended

Overall, I am enjoying this game. The battle mechanics are fun and the storyline (so far!) is engaging. Without getting too much into it, it's an exploration of death and as that, it succeeds. There are two things that I would point out in the interest of fairness. 1) The aging (getting weaker) mechanic is basically the reason I bought the game. It seemed like a very interesting idea. I practice, I can't say the implementation actually changes much. Yes, you get weaker. But you also get stronger weapons as you progress and so it kinda levels out. Mostly, I expected to be invinsible in the early game and have to rely more and more on clever strategy as I progressed. But you're not that strong when you first start out and I've yet to feel the effect of growing weaker. It's still a fun game, but the mechanic is not as noticeable as I expected. I do find myself trying to avoid unnecesary battles but that's something I do anyways in most rpgs that are not horrible grindfests. Maybe a me...

14 helpful
14 hrs at review
Recommended

Like the main character, Demitri, [spoiler]I [i]willed[/i] myself to finish[/spoiler]. This game was a [i]journey[/i]: much like life, I suppose, it started out fairly interesting and then became progressively more tedious, difficult, and even punishing. But what started as a simple resolution to not let yet another game in my library go unfinished transformed into grim determination: to push Demitri, this proud old man terrified of failure, onward. I don't think I'll play through the game again, unless in adventure mode (i.e., no combat). However, despite there being no achievements per se, I feel like I achieved something, and in the end...I'm glad I experienced it. It is truly unique, and thought provoking; not so much in the dialog, but because of Demitri's underlying "personality" and experiencing, through the game mechanics, his descent into frailty.

11 helpful
12 hrs at review
Recommended

Great Game, alot longer than I expected with probably about 10 hours of gameplay, 8 hours if you know what your doing. A fantastic story and theme as well as an interesting twist on RPGs by having you grow weaker. Which is my new favourite thing as it completly removes grinding and left me always weighing loot and treasure over permanetly lost power. It also just feels right for the theme of the game as an old withered hero stands off against evil again and again as his body fails him. Well worth the price and definetly worth your time!

6 helpful
7 hrs at review
Recommended

You will learn to dread the phrase "Demitri weakens."

4 helpful 8 funny
8 hrs at review
Recommended

Fun RPG with a twist. I really liked how avoiding combat was recommended and there was zero focus on grinding (as it would make you weaker). Combat is fun, with Gallium and charge attacks adding interesting new elements to combat. The story is intriguing, and is different from many RPG's. The fact that you get weaker after every fight really makes the game interesting, and makes you wonder whether the treasure in that chest is worth fighting the monsters in front. On the whole, the game really captures the desperation of old age and fading power well. On the downside, the game is short, and doesn't hold a ton of replayability value for me, but it was fun for about 10 hours. I got it on sale for 99 cents, and it was well-worth that price. I would probably enjoy replaying the game once and doing a few things differently, but that's about it. On the whole, a very unique RPG with a couple of twists captured in an adequate, if not entirely sublime, world. Great for RPG fans who are gett...

4 helpful
34 min at review
Recommended

I'm enjoying the game. However, I would not call it an RPG for beginners and not sure what happened to "two game modes."

3 helpful 1 funny
1 hrs at review
Recommended

Decently interesting, not super long but has decent game time and is fun nonetheless. The aspects of the game are very cool and I love it. Somewhat limited though considering its an RPG maker game. 7/10

3 helpful 1 funny
9 min at review
Not Recommended

Concept sounded interesting but game was too slow to get started, there were too many combat options I didn't know what to do with from the start which feels a bit overwhelming. I just followed the instructions which didn't feel tactical either, not to mention you can still win fights without tactics, I guess you'll pay for it later though. Combat wasn't all that interesting to me, but I'm not a huge fan of this type of combat anyway.

2 helpful
9 hrs at review
Recommended

I liked the game a lot, it's a good concept and the ending was interesting as well. I'd pay 5000G for a random encounter repellant though... at least in normal RPGs they help you, here random encounters send you right to the groan zone.

2 helpful
13 min at review
Recommended

really good bro keep going :)

1 helpful

Page 1 of 2

System Requirements

Minimum

Minimum:
  • OS *: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7/8/8.1/10 (32bit/64bit)
  • Processor: 1.6 GHz
  • Memory: 128 MB RAM
  • Graphics: DirectX 9.0 Compatible
  • DirectX: Version 9.0
  • Storage: 1 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 Compatible Sound

FAQ

How much does To Ash cost?

To Ash costs $1.99.

What are the system requirements for To Ash?

Minimum: Minimum: OS *: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7/8/8.1/10 (32bit/64bit) Processor: 1.6 GHz Memory: 128 MB RAM Graphics: DirectX 9.0 Compatible DirectX: Version 9.0 Storage: 1 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 Compatible Sound

What platforms is To Ash available on?

To Ash is available on Windows PC, macOS.

Is To Ash worth buying?

To Ash has 82% positive reviews from 17 players.

When was To Ash released?

To Ash was released on Mar 29, 2016.

Similar Games

AI-powered recommendations based on game description