To Ash

RPG Maker strikes again! To Ash is one of hundreds of low effort retro-pixel RPG Maker asset/construction kit flips spamming the Steam catalog, made with the RPG Maker video game construction kit... in their own words, "Our easy to use tools are simple enough for a child." Like all RPG Maker "games", this is essentially a bunch of low quality/canned assets from RPG Maker coupled with a cringeworthy high school anime club fan fiction. As with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer. The point can be made that the intention of RPG Maker is to make demos and small games to pass around friends, and shouldn't be used for "professional" game development. Like most RPG Maker shovelware and asset flips, the game features extremely low quality copy + pasted 2D retro pixel art, looks awful, and has even worse gameplay. RPG Maker is an absolutely terrible construction kit, and never results in games of any reasonable quality or value to gamers. This RPG Maker asset flip assembles the RPG Maker assets and the high school anime fa…

To Ash, developed by 16 Bit Psych and Kyle B and self-published, is an unconventional role-playing game that deliberately subverts the genre’s most familiar progression systems. Instead of charting a hero’s rise to power, the game centers on decline. It follows Demitri, a once-great adventurer who has already completed his legendary quest, and now finds himself facing the inevitable erosion of strength, relevance, and life itself. This reversal of the traditional RPG arc forms the emotional and mechanical foundation of the experience. From the outset, To Ash signals that it is less concerned with empowerment and more focused on reflection. Demitri does not gain levels in the conventional sense; instead, his capabilities gradually diminish as the story advances. This design choice reshapes how players approach combat. Every battle carries weight, not because the hero is on the cusp of unlocking stronger abilities, but because resources and resilience are finite. The absence of traditional power escalation encourages careful planning and strategic thinking, reinforcing the narrative theme that time and vitality are slipping away. Combat unfolds through a turn-based system anchored …

I have played this game 4 years ago and somehow made it to the end, but in trying again, I cannot run fast enough to get past the blocking black ghost, so uninstalling and moving on.

really good bro keep going :)

https://youtu.be/Tvp6XjAKBf0 Exploring a narrative hook for weakening hero over time has potential but the execution is far to frantic to give the idea space to breath.

I've always wanted a game with a mechanic where you get weaker / lose abilities as the game progresses. The opposite of how you'd expect things to work. What would be the story explanation for such a thing? This game takes that concept and runs with it. An aging hero brought back to save the world one more time. The stance system was pretty good and I'd like to see other games use a similar. As is a good excuse to try and avoid random battles. Making you question if opening a guarded treasure chest is worth it. This isn't the best game ever, but if you enjoy JRPGs it's worth a playthrough. Especially for the cheap price of $2.